He Was Ignored

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Vince repeated his question. 

Fred suddenly turned timid in front of his son, and it was because of his bastard nephew, Carl. He coughs to clear his throat; he replies to Vince. "I have some business needed to take care of around here, and I asked Carl to accompany me. Then we stop by your penthouse to check out the place, and we might stay there once in a while." 

"I see. Carl mentioned it to me. Anyway, I'm glad that I've seen you this evening. Please, watch my yacht if Carl uses it. I will only let him borrow it if you go fishing with him," Vince's rendered a request from his father. 

And hearing this, Carl dropped his jaw to the ground; he was in disbelief that Vince would punish him like this. He wanted to protest, but Hailey was there, and all he could do was accept the humiliation he was receiving from Vince.

If he has predicted, this is what will happen. He should not trick his uncle into intruding on Vince dating Hailey this evening.

But it was only an accident he heard that Vince ordered the restaurant to prepare dinner on his yacht. The luxurious penthouse has five different restaurants exclusive to the Two Towers Garden residents, where Vince is a co-owner of these restaurants.

"Well, then... There is more food on the yacht. You both enjoy the night."

"Wait, cousin, and the night is still young. Why are you in a hurry? It could be..."

Meaningful smirk playing on his mouth, both Vince and Fred glared at Carl, while Hailey also understood Carl's tease, now blushing pink.

Sometimes, Fred doesn't like how Carl's jests go overboard as he invades privacy. Although he is unhappy that Vince has a mistress, there are circumstances it's none of their business to mention or discuss.

Tightening his jaw and throwing sharp glares, Vince snapped at Carl. "We must drop by at M City Market before heading home."

Even though Vince's irritated tone is unmistakable, Carl does not stop teasing him.

"Seriously?" His eyes displayed disbelief, scanning both Vince and Hailey's outfits. "Are you guys going to the wet market wearing clothes like that?"

"What's wrong? Does the wet market have a dress code for shopping what should and what isn't? Could I not buy a fish in a wet market wearing an Armani custom-made suit and Louis Vuitton leather shoes?" 

Upon hearing this, Carl burst out laughing while Hailey suppressed giggling. She thinks Vince is too cute tonight.

After a while, Carl shut his mouth and explained.

"Ahem! That is not my point, cousin. It was..."

Carl glanced at Hailey, who was now wearing Vince's coat. Honestly, his eyes popped out to see the beautiful girl clutching onto Vince's arm. Her clothes are darn sexy, but it does not look vulgar.

The woman who wears it carries herself with elegance. That is why sometimes he is too intrigued to know her background. She's too mysterious in his eyes. Her presence seemed so deadly that he could feel she was trying to conceal it.

Before leaving, Vince informed his father. "Dad, I might talk to you one of these days."

Nodding, Fred smiled awkwardly at Vince. "Alright. Just ring me."

"Okay, dad. We're going ahead first."

Upon Vince saying this, Hailey partly bowed at Fred Shen and her professor Carl Johnson. The older man nodded while Carl saluted.

Fred watched Vince and Hailey enter the car. His son carefully assists his girlfriend, settling in his car before walking toward the driver's seat.

Fred discerns. His entire life is mostly about work, and he could not remember if he was this intimate with Hilda in the past. Both he and Hilda were busy and had many things to take care of as individuals. They may attend events and parties together, but they talk to different people regarding business and politics most of the time.

Hilda Lopez was from a Clan of politicians, and she was active in helping her family run their Camp; she handled many government projects. Every Lopez family has one or two members who entered politics and have an important position in local and national government.

And because they are both busy, their children grew up with only nannies and bodyguards.

Now he realizes he has nothing remarkable he teaches his son but only sends him to school to educate himself with all the school lessons and books he can read.

It gladdens him to see how Vince succeeds and surpasses his achievements. But he's happy his son learned one thing he didn't witness from him, and a woman loving that.

Although he's still opposed that his son had a girlfriend inside his marriage, Eva refused to live with him but chose her career.

People could not blame their son. He is a man, and he needs a woman. If for whatever reason, Eva, the Shen could give her fame even if she lived in P Country, they could provide her resources and back up whatever she wanted. But where is she now?

Fred and Carl waited for the car to exit and disappear from their sight before they walked toward the yacht. 

"Uncle, Vince's girlfriend is an intriguing woman, isn't it?"

Coming back to reality, Fred snaps at his nephew. "Shut up!"

"Huh? Why are you snapping at me, uncle?" Carl pouted, and the father and son only bullied him tonight.

"Of course, I would! Look at yourself! How dare you drool over Vincent's girlfriend!"

"Huh? I did not! I only appreciated her beauty! Besides, I was only racking my head. Where did I see her before."

"Really?" Fred glared at his nephew suspiciously. Many rumors say that maybe that girl was working for an International Escort agency.

"Yes. She is familiar to me. But I could not recall where. Maybe I've seen her abroad, like in New York? Or Paris? London?"

"Is that so?" Fred ponders whether he should rerun a background check on her because, from the last time, he could get no suspicious information against her and almost nothing about her.

"I'm not certain, actually. Well, let's drop this subject, Uncle Fred. I'm so hungry already!"

"We could already have dinner two hours ago, but you say the preparation has not been done yet. Now I know what you mean. You want to invade Vincent's date!"

"Not really!" He denied even being caught red-handed. The grin on his lips is evident in how his actions contradict his words.

Fred shakes his head. He crossed the boarding ramp and headed inside. Finally, he could have a break from Hilda with her no-ending rant about her son.

~ ~ ~

Meanwhile, Vince's Lambo made a smooth drive toward M City Market, and it was just fifteen minutes away from the Two Towers Garden.

Most people strolling around that area are workers and vendors in the wet market. Tonight, fish vessels are delivering fresh fish. So then, night shoppers are coming. But seeing the latest Lambo pulling over in a parking lot is rare. No one dared to park near Vince's car, leaving both sides empty. And when he pulls over, everyone's eyes pop out, staring at his car.

Anyway, the vendors in this market knew Vince very well. He is the one who designs this new city market and constructs it by SHEN GROUP.

Now, it is the cleanest and the broadest market in the country. That even wearing Ralph and Russo heels is not trouble at all.

However, their presence was too attention grabber. Every pair of eyes glanced in their direction, particularly scanning their outfits.

In their eyes, they were like supermodels suddenly made a walkway in the middle of fish stalls.

They were absolutely overdressed for a shopper. Especially Vince, whose aura could intimidate anyone. 

"Boss! What a surprise is seeing you tonight! But you are not here for inspection, right?"

The person who approaches them is the overseer of the market, called Mr. Bill.

Bill knew that his question was dumb and lame. But he has nothing else to say. He glanced at Hailey, whom he knew was the rumored girlfriend who comes here once in a while to shop during the daytime. 

"Good evening, Miss Hailey."

"Good evening, Mr. Bill! How was your night?"

"It's alright, ma'am." Bill couldn't take away his eyes from this beautiful woman. He only came back to his senses when he heard a rough cough in front of him.

Immediately, his eyes flashed fright after realizing that he had made a massive mistake of staring at the boss' woman.

Now he began bathing in a cold sweat. Bill meets Vincent's eyes, and a chill runs down his spine. Vince's black pupil was casting a cold glare downward. He feels his foot nailed to the hard tile floor.

"Ahem. We don't need your assistance, Mr. Bill, and we can shop independently."

Bill understood that Vincent Shen wanted him to disappear as he blocked their way. Bill ran to the side, bending his body, stuttering the words from his mouth.

"Of… of course, boss! I would no longer bo… bother you! Please, enjoy shopping!" 

Without looking at the guy, Vince nods and resumes walking. Hailey, who was tightly gripping one hand at Vince's arm, could sense that he was somewhat upset, but she had no idea what triggered his mood again. Figuring out, she heard Vince speak in a low voice.

"Would you lessen how sweet your smile is to others?"

Hailey was utterly puzzled by what Vince was saying now. 'When did I overly smile sweetly to others? Is he referring to Mr. Bill?' she mused.

"When did I do that?" She wanted to make sure that her suspicion was correct.

"Just now," answered Vince solemnly.

His expression is expressionless, so Hailey cannot tell whether he is joking or mad. But isn't that ridiculous? 

"Okay… But, Mr. Bill is kind to me and always helps me carry the bags of seafood I shopped. He even sends me off. Make sure I could get out of the parking lot smoothly."

Upon hearing this, the corner of Vince's mouth twitched. Later, he muttered that shocked Hailey.

"I'm jealous."

Hailey dropped her mouth to the floor. 'Is this a prank? Or, one of Vince's jokes?' Nah. He never joked with her before! Hailey thought inwardly. 

It took a long moment before Hailey recovered from the surprise.

Meanwhile, Vince is waiting for Hailey's response. The truth is, he is pretty nervous. He glanced at the girl next to him; he could see the bewilderment on her face.

"Wow! That was huge!" Hailey exclaimed upon seeing the lobster display. She rushed to the stall and talked to the middle-aged woman's vendor.

Vince, who was left behind, felt like the roof fell onto him. He was only ignored!