Enraptured

Chapter 67

"Sir? I think you might have accidentally left a smudge on your neck?"

I glanced at my reflection in the car window in confusion and soon realized what Lukas meant. I fixed the collar of my shirt a bit and straightened out my suit before replying, "It's from Belle. She's been feeling a bit... possessive recently..."

He arched an eyebrow in the rearview mirror. "But you're only meeting with the heads or successors of each family. There won't be any other ladies there."

I sighed as I leaned back into my seat. "I know... She said it's for the waitresses..."

He hummed in amusement as he pulled into the valet section in front of the restaurant. "The madam is quite an interesting lady."

I chuckled lightly in agreement, "It's all a part of her charm and I'm the one lucky enough to experience it."

He chuckled softly as he turned off the engine. Changing the topic, he informed me, "The guards are already stationed around the building. All of the attendees should be waiting on the upper floor in a private room. I will be waiting outside until you're done."

I nodded in understanding as one of the valets opened the car door for me.

I stepped out of the car, completely unfazed by the hushed whispered surrounding me as I walked into the restaurant. It didn't take long for the usher to notice me in the crowd of waiting patrons in the front lobby. He immediately guided me upstairs to one of the privates rooms, informing that all the other guests had already been seated inside.

I thanked him politely before stepping into the room.

It only took my presence for all of the other guests to bolt out of they seats to come greet me the moment I entered. I didn't pay much mind to obligatory pleasantries, but at least the newly appointed heirs knew better than to get on my nerves before anything had even happened yet.

However, I did take note of one in particular, the one that I set up this dinner in particular to meet, Liam Albedo. Matching Lukas's report, he had dull brown hair with similarly colored eyes. Not too tall nor too lean. Meek, but still knowledgeable enough to come across as competent.

He had such little presence that I never really noticed him before, even when I met with all the newly appointed heirs in the last meeting. He was actually from one of the few families where I did not demand any changes in the appointment of their successor.

Once we settled back down into our seats, I was on the opposite end of the table from Liam, leaving me completely barred from speaking with him during the entire dinner.

Instead, the other successors made light chit-chat with me, carefully prodding me with questions out of curiosity of why I called them out all of a sudden.

I simply lied and said that I was just wanted to catch up on the state of all the families before I took some time off. I could tell that a few wanted to ask me about why I was taking time off, but they seemed to know better than open their mouths.

The new heir for the Chancellor family, Maverick Chancellor, knew this better than anyone in particular, especially after seeing the state of his old brother from our last meeting. However, he had a bit of a problem with holding his head up high even though his family's company was already thriving much more under his leadership than his brother's after just a few weeks of switching over. His timid nature was probably a result of his brother's overbearing nature.

On the other hand, the Wilson family had a pair of twins who worked well together as co-heads. Although I wouldn't say they were doing a superb job, they did well enough and didn't create any unnecessary drama. However, it did make me a bit curious if the rumor about their relationship with Olivia Albedo was true. They weren't very young, just a few years younger than me, but Olivia was well into her mid-forties.