Love’s New Bloom By Simone Hastings

Chapter 49 Awkward Encounter 

“What?” Erin thought she misheard him. 

Her surprise looked like disappointment in Caleb’s eyes. If he had made the right guess, that wouldn’t be her reaction. 

He lowered his gaze and said calmly, “It’s nothing. I was just joking.” 

“Joking?” 

Erin was still a little confused, but Caleb had already changed the topic. “What would you like to eat? I’ve already ordered some food. Have some with me. If you don’t think it’s enough, we can order more.” 

Erin shook her head at Caleb, who passed the menu to her. She said, “It’s my treat! You paid for coffee last time.” 

Caleb found it hard to accept her way of thinking. He said with a smile, “You don’t have to count down to the penny with me. Do you think I’d be so broke that I can’t afford to buy you a meal? If that’s the case, it would humiliate me as the director! 

Erin immediately explained, “Mr. Grant, don’t take this the wrong way! That’s not my intention! I just think that as colleagues, we should pay for ourselves.” 

What she said instantly drew a line between them. Caleb’s hand that was picking his glass of water up stiffened in midair. He looked at Erin for a long while, speechless. Naturally, he looked unpleasant. When he came to his senses, he took a sip of water and placed the glass down. 

He sighed and said, “You don’t have to reject me so fast. I’ve already said that I’ll wait for you to deal with your relationships.” 

Erin didn’t know what else to say. She felt if she were to continue being overly polite with him, it would hurt him, so she merely smiled at 

Caleb and remained silent. 1 

When the food was served, they ate in silence. 

Right at that moment, lan and Tracy exited the booth to pay for their meal. Walking past the open seating area, they noticed Erin and Caleb sitting by the window. 

Tracy sneered and said, “lan, look at how desperate Erin is. She has barely divorced you, yet she has already found a new lover.” 

They were standing not far away from Erin and Caleb. Tracy clearly said those words so that Erin could hear her. At that point, lan could no longer pretend he didn’t see them, even if he wanted to. After all, they were in public, and he didn’t want to get into an argument with Erin. He swept Tracy a cold glance and instantly pried her hands off his arm. 

lan’s suddenly distancing himself from her made Tracy grit her teeth. She knew that what she said just now had upset him. 

Erin was also looking at lan and Tracy right at that moment. When she saw her ex–husband and his mistress together, she instantly lost 

her appetite and placed her cutlery down. 

Caleb looked at lan before looking at Tracy, who was dressed in a revealing outfit. He could not hide the disdain in his eyes. 

From what Tracy said, he had already guessed who they were. He ignored them and merely placed a piece of steak onto Erin’s plate. He 

said dotingly, “Erin, look at how thin you’ve gotten. Come, have more.” 

As a man, lan’s instinct immediately told him that this good–looking man liked Erin! His suppressed anger was instantly raging. He walked over to Erin and said mockingly, “Erin, what a coincidence! Who is he? Shouldn’t you introduce him?” 

Before Erin could say anything, Caleb stood up and reached his right hand out, saying, “Hello, I’m Erin’s friend. Caleb Grant.” 

lan looked at Caleb’s hand and shook it out of indifferent politeness. 

“Ian Sloan. Erin’s ex–husband. From what I can remember, I don’t think she has ever mentioned you,” lan mocked. 

Caleb looked straight into lan’s eyes and said, “You’ve already said she’s your ex–wife. It’s only normal that you won’t know about her new friends, right?” 

“Ah, Erin, you have an interesting friend, but how come he doesn’t even know you don’t like beef? Turns out your friendship is not quite what it seems.” 

Caleb had a rather awkward smile upon hearing what lan said. Erin was also speechless, being put on the spot. 

Suddenly, lan found it no longer interesting. He said, “Have a nice meal. We’re leaving.” 

Tracy, who was by lan’s side all this while, quickly chased after him. She was a little angry at him for not introducing her to Caleb. It was not as if she was still the shameful mistress! 

After they left, Erin looked at Caleb and forced a smile. “I’m sorry you had to witness that.” 

Caleb sat down and looked at her. He said with a guilty tone. “I’m sorry, I don’t even know what you like to eat.” 

She replied, “It’s normal since I’ve never told you. You’ve never asked me either.” 

At that moment, Caleb had hope in his eyes. He tried hard to suppress his excitement and asked her seriously. “Erin, have you already gotten divorced from him?” 

Erin looked at Caleb’s eager face with hesitation. Since she had indeed gotten divorced from lan, she no longer needed to hide it, so she 

nodded. 

Her confirmation caused Caleb to grab her hand. “Congratulations!” he said excitedly. “You’re free! Erin, please don’t reject me. Say yes, 

please?” 

Erin was stunned by Caleb’s sudden confession. 

It just so happened that Kyle was passing by when this happened, and he witnessed the entire scene. He was walking back to the office 

with a lakeout box in his hand. 

Kyle furrowed his brow. He thought that since Erin had already become Mr. Frost’s woman, how could she still be involved with Caleb? He 

could see from Caleb’s expression that the man liked Erin a lot. 

At that thought, Kyle walked faster. He had to rush back to report it to Chandler. 

Since arriving at the office, Chandler had been working with a gloomy countenance and had yet to eat anything. 

Ten minutes later, Kyle was at the President’s office. 

When Chandler noticed that Kyle had placed lunch on his coffee table, yet he was still not leaving, he looked up and asked, “Is there anything else?” 

Kyle looked a little conflicted. Although he felt like he was telling tales to Chandler, it was still much better than Erin cheating on him. 

“Mr. Frost, I walked past a restaurant when I saw Miss Lane and Mr. Grant having a meal together.” 

Chandler instantly placed his pen down and said frostily, “Get to the point.” 

Kyle was a little nervous. He said gently, “I saw Mr. Grant holding Miss Lane’s hand. 

Then, he waited for a long while, but no response came from Chandler. Just when he thought he was being unnecessary, Chandler suddenly barked, “Get Erin to fucking come here!” 

“Yes, Mr. Frost.” 

Kyle walked out of the office, his heart almost popping out. He started to feel that Chandler truly cared about Erin. 

Half an hour later, Erin arrived at Chandler’s office. 

At that moment, Chandler was glaring at her. The hostility in his eyes grew heavier. When he saw her innocent expression, he truly wanted to punish her badly! 

Emotions overtook logic. 

Erin watched as the terrifying Chandler approached her. She was so frightened she wanted to flee, but the towering figure grabbed her by the waist and picked her up. 

She said frightfully, “Chandler, what the hell are you doing? Have you gone nuts? Let me go!”