Ariel immediately noticed the look Nancy threw her way. It carried a hint of amusement–a look that felt especially cutting.

Jayson’s face remained cold and unreadable, showing no trace of familiarity toward her.

As curious gazes swept in from all directions, a faint smirk tugged at the corner of Ariel’s lips. “Ms. Stanton already has a man by her side. I’m just wondering. What role are you playing in this, Mr. Swanson?”

The comment made Frederick’s face twist awkwardly.

He instinctively glanced at Nancy.

He was annoyed. Was Ariel seriously taking shots at him now?

“He’s her lapdog, of course,” Janice said.

She wasn’t going to show Frederick any respect. If he was targeting Ariel, then Janice would stand firmly with her.

And it was obvious Frederick was the one stirring trouble here.

Frederick’s expression darkened. “That’s out of line, Janice. I just admire Ms. Stanton, that’s all.”

Even Nancy couldn’t help but frown.

She’d expected Ariel to be flustered or embarrassed, but instead, Ariel had flipped the script and dragged Frederick and her into it.

Nancy actually thought Frederick was decent, but she really didn’t appreciate being mentioned together with him. After all, no man could ever compare to Jayson.

Ariel knew things had gotten awkward, but she didn’t care.

She glanced up without much thought, only to lock eyes with Jayson across from her.

He looked at her calmly. His face was still impassive, but was that a hint of amusement in his eyes that he had caught?

Ariel froze, confused. She couldn’t make sense of it. She’d just made things uncomfortable for everyone, so why was he smiling?

She had no idea what was going on in Jayson’s head.

Frowning, Ariel grabbed Janice and made her way to another part of the exhibition.

Once Ariel had left, Nancy’s frown relaxed. She turned to Zach, who had been watching the scene play out like entertainment. “Mr. Quinton, fancy running into you again.”

Zach gave a polite smile. “Ms. Stanton, Mr. Larkin, it’s been a while.”

“When is Liam coming back to the country?” Jayson asked casually.

Zach let out a soft sigh. “Liam Spencer? That guy’s always off the radar, saving lives. I have no clue when he’ll come back. As you can see, I’m stuck handling the exhibition for him.”

“Who’s Liam Spencer?” Nancy hadn’t heard of him before, so she asked curiously.

Frederick jumped in to explain, “He’s the heir to the Spencer family. But he went into medicine. He’s a top–tier doctor overseas. He and Mr. Quinton are cousins.”

Nancy suddenly remembered.

Perry had mentioned the name once, saying Liam was a good friend.

She hadn’t realized he came from such an influential background.

“Well, Mr. Quinton, since you’re busy, we’ll check out the rest of the exhibit,” Jayson said smoothly with a nod.

Zach gestured politely for them to go ahead.

As the two walked off, Frederick glanced again in the direction Ariel and Janice had gone. His face darkened all over again.

With Ariel throwing out a line like that, how was he supposed to carry on with Nancy now?

“What’s wrong?” Zach asked.

Frederick gave a heavy sigh and shook his head. “I’m just worried about my sister. She’s not the best judge of character. Sorry you had to see that, Mr. Quinton.”

Zach thought back to Ariel’s calm, distant expression from earlier. To him, she didn’t seem nearly as terrible as Frederick made her sound.

“You probably don’t know this, Mr. Quinton.” Frederick scoffed. “Ariel might act all quiet and refined, but I’ve seen her target Ms. Stanton firsthand.

“She left her waiting outside in the dead of winter for over an hour. As a fellow woman, all she did was make things harder. Lucky for her, Ms. Stanton was gracious enough not to hold it against her.”

Zach raised his brows, surprised. He hadn’t expected that kind of backstory.

If what Frederick said was true, then maybe Nancy really was the gracious one here. At least she kept her

composure.

Zach just shrugged. He wasn’t about to jump in and judge.

Meanwhile, Janice was giving Ariel a quick rundown on Zach’s background.

“Zach’s grandpa used to be a top–level government official. His dad works in the Department of Defense. But Zach went into business, doing high–end tech exports. With a family like that, you can imagine that his path’s been pretty smooth.”