Jayson finally pulled out the cigarette again and lit it.

After some thought, Matt said, “You’re not seriously thinking of bringing Ariel to the party, are you? Most people there will know who’s who. Won’t that basically be admitting Ariel is your wife?

“I think she’s probably dying to go with you. Making your relationship public has always been her dream. Trust me, when the time comes, she won’t even wait for you to bring it up. She’ll call you herself, asking to go together.”

Matt clicked his tongue, making a guess based on Ariel’s past behavior.

As for her cold and dismissive attitude earlier, he assumed she was just playing hard to get.

Jayson didn’t seem to care. “She won’t.”

Matt wasn’t sure what he meant. Did he mean that she wouldn’t go public with their relationship? Or that she wouldn’t ask him to attend the party with her?

He still felt the need to caution him. “I think you should prepare for this. Figure out a way to keep her from showing up.”

Just in case she might cause a scene. Plus, it could damage Nancy’s reputation.

Jayson lowered his gaze in thought. He glanced at the message that had just arrived on his phone and said quietly, “She’ll be there.”

Matt was confused.

But Jayson didn’t offer any explanation. He simply walked into the private room.

Meanwhile, Ariel and Janice entered their own private room. Chad immediately leaned in and asked, “What took you so long?”

Janice was fuming over Nancy’s earlier remarks and Nancy’s condescending attitude. Without hesitation, she laid out the whole story.

“Who do they think they are? You should’ve seen the way they acted! Ari is the actual wife, and they had the nerve to mock her?”

She was so riled up that her voice rose a couple of octaves.

Across the table, Noah and two engineers from the technology department, Alexis Rutledge and Seth Maxwell, looked over curiously.

“Wait, did you say Ms. Walker is a wife? She’s married?” Noah didn’t catch the full conversation, but he heard the key words.

He turned to Ariel in surprise. “Ms. Walker, who’s your husband?”

The others all turned to look too. Seth immediately asked, “How come you never mentioned it? Is he in our industry?”

Ariel didn’t respond.

Janice quickly changed the subject and put on a mock–stern face. “Alright, alright. Why are you all so nosy? Go order food!”

Chapter 245.

Everyone was itching with curiosity but knew they wouldn get any answers now.

Janice brought up a concern that had been weighing on her mind. “If Ari really goes with Jayson to the party, he

might just ignore her or deny their relationship. Ugh, just thinking about it is infuriating.”

It was easy to imagine.

Betty didn’t know about the divorce and insisted that they both attend. Jayson was clearly using Ariel’s presence to placate Betty.

But once they were there, then what?

Would Jayson go along with the act and pretend they were still happily married? Or did he have something else planned?

Chad quietly considered the situation before saying, “Actually, I received an invitation to Mr. Spencer Senior’s birthday party too.”

Both Ariel and Janice looked at him, surprised.

Chad tapped his fingers on the table, then said, “Here’s what we’ll do. Ari, you go with me. That way, you show up like Jayson wants, but it has nothing to do with him.

“More importantly, the event will be full of people in our industry. It’s a great chance for Faye Tech to network and expand. Let’s just focus on being pragmatic.”

Ariel thought it over.

From the perspective of Faye Technologies, this made perfect sense.

If it were just Jayson requesting her to go, she might’ve found a way to avoid it. But with Chad accompanying her, and with it being beneficial for the company, she no longer had those reservations.