72 Banquet 
Lewis didn’t say anything more and turned to leave. 
Frankie frowned and said, “Lewis, how could you be so ungrateful? You….” 
Before he could finish his sentence, Lewis abruptly halted and whipped his head around. 
His gaze revealed a glimmer of sullen anger. His expression was dark and terrifying, like a fiend 
crawling out from hell, making Frankie choke on his 
words. 
Lewis stared at him, his voice low yet ominous in the evening air. “Mr. Allen, our relationship is purely business. You’ve crossed the line.” 
Having left these words behind, he briskly walked 
away. 
Frankie stood rooted in shock, his face taut. 
In this collaboration, Lewis was seen as cold but gentlemanly, and the latter quality made Frankie forget that once upon a time, Lewis had a reputation for being ruthlessly malevolent and aggressive. 
19.14 
1.9 
<  72 Banquet  Frankie had thought it was all rumors, but Lewis’s  fierce countenance just now made Frankie realize he wasn’t one to be trifled with.  As Frankie kept his eyes on Lewis, he saw the aggression that threatened to overflow from Lewis fading away as he approached Keira.  By the time Lewis returned to her side, he was just that slightly cold-hearted normal man once more.  Draped in Lewis’s jacket, Keira was no longer feeling  the chill.  The well-tailored black suit was warm from his body heat. It enveloped her and subtly gave off a masculine  scent of vanilla.  Her heart became tender.  Seeing that Lewis was only wearing a black shirt, she picked up the little puppy. “Let’s go.”  “Okay.”  It was the following morning.  Lewis had gone to work. Keira was basking in the  72 Banquet  warmth of the sunlight from her spot on the sofa, finally wrapping up the research on Alzheimer’s disease. After sending the email to the overseas biopharmaceutical research base, she stood up and stretched.  She picked up her phone, only to find a WhatsApp message from Rebecca. “Miss Olsen, do you have time tomorrow night? Can you come to see me?”  Keira replied. “I’ll be attending the celebration dinner of the Horton and Allen family tomorrow evening.”  Just as she finished sending the message, a call came in from Samuel. “Boss, we’ve encountered a bit of trouble with our project.”  Keira asked calmly, “What happened?”  Samuel responded angrily, “We’ve always purchased our hydrogen energy materials from the Allen family. I intended to purchase more today, but they’re suddenly not selling it to us! With the burgeoning development of new energy, production can’t keep up with demand. Even if we want to buy from other suppliers, it’ll take time… The problem is, we’ve agreed on delivery dates with our customers, and if something stalls us, we’d be  29  72 Banquet  breaching the contract!”  Keira frowned. “The Allen family in Clance?”  She had always entrusted her company’s matters to Samuel to manage, whereas she was only responsible for technical issues, so she never expected her company to have dealings with the Allen family.  Samuel replied, “Yes, them. I’ve always bought from them. I tried prying for information from their sales manager. They haven’t lined up another buyer, but someone from the top apparently ordered not to sell  to us!”  Keira lowered her gaze. “I understand. I’ll go ask.”  After hanging up, she got up and headed toward the rehabilitation ward.  She was friends with Rebecca and on good terms wit her parents, so she decided to ask them directly, in case someone was stirring up trouble.  Not long after reaching the hospital ward, she ran into Frankie by chance.  It seemed he had just returned and was about to go upstairs.  4/9  (  72 Banquet  Keira quickened her pace and called out, “Mr. Allen,  hello.”  Frankie halted and turned his head. His gentle demeanor turned noticeably frosty upon seeing her.  Keira asked in confusion, “I’m Dr. South. My company has been continuously purchasing hydrogen energy materials from your company. However, your company suddenly announced this month that it would no longer sell to us. Is there a misunderstanding?”  “No misunderstanding.”  Frankie’s face was cold, his eyes filled with disdain. “It was my order. We won’t sell anything to you.”  Keira was taken aback, “Why?”  Frankie frowned. “Miss Olsen, have you already forgotten what you casually said?”  Keira was confused.  Did she accidentally say something wrong when she was accompanying Rebecca?  But she had no recollection of such an incident. Moreover, every time Rebecca ended their  conversation she seemed quite cheerful and even inst  10:34  5/9  < 72 Banquet  now she was messaging her…  Keira couldn’t recall anything and said, “Even if I did say something wrong, Rebecca probably doesn’t hold a grudge. So, in consideration of the little favor I did for Rebecca, can you not be petty, Mr. Allen?”  A little favor…  At those words, Frankie mistakenly assumed she was referring to helping out with witness testimony at the police station, given that making a call to save  someone was worth merit.  Frankie reprimanded, “How dare you mention Rebecca? You ought to help her with the testimony! That’s the duty of every citizen!”  Keira was displeased, her voice turned cold. “Mr. Alle nothing should be taken for granted.”  Frankie was even angrier. “You’re right, so the Allen family also doesn’t have to sell the hydrogen energy materials to you.”  Keira took a deep breath.  Initially, when she met him for the first time at the hospital, she thought Rebecca’s brother wasn’t half  10  bad, but she didn’t expect him to turn on her so cold-heartedly.  Before she could say anything else, Frankie had already strode into the rehabilitation department, with his assistant stationed at the entrance, “Miss, please keep your voice down and avoid disturbing the patient’s  rest.”  Keira was shocked.  The fury welled up within her, and she turned around  to leave.  Forget it. She would properly address the issue with  Mr. and Mrs. Allen at the dinner tomorrow.  Time soon came to the next evening.  Both the Horton Group and the Allen family’s new project were major billion-dollar deals, hence it was quite a grand celebration.  They had organized a large celebration dinner at the Imperial Hotel.  A considerable number of employees from the Horton Group attended, and some people also flew in from Clance on behalf of the Allen family.  20 34  7/9  Back in the hospital,  Rebecca got dressed up and was lifted into a wheelchair by Frankie.  Mr. Allen sighed. “You always hated these kinds of events. Why are you insisting on going today?”  Mrs. Allen also advised, “Don’t go if you don’t want to. If you don’t want to be alone, I will stay with you.”  Rebecca seemed dispirited, her expression was quite downcast. Looking at her phone, she said, “Since yesterday, Miss Olsen has been distant with me. When I asked her to come to see me, she made an excuse to decline, so I have to go to the banquet to find her! Let’s  go now.”  Frankie pushed her out of the room and to the parki  lot.  Just as he was about to lift her from the wheelchair  into the car, a Bentley drove by.  The Allen family turned to look and saw Keira and Lewis sitting in the back seat of the Bentley.  Rebecca brightened up and said, “Miss Olsen!”  89