She is a CEO novel Chapter 1169

Chapter 1169 Difficult to Conceal Emotions

The bouquet was still destroyed and thrown away as usual, but Lucia had kept a few cards, which were now lying on her desk. One of them was from Padma Monpa's book "See Me Or Not," with one line sent to her every day. Today's card had the final line, "Silent love, quiet joy."

Lucia looked at the jumbled cards with furrowed brows and clenched and unclenched her hands on the desk. Jacob used to like pretending to be a literary type, and this was his favorite poem to recite. It used to sound so deep in emotion back then, but now...

She grabbed the last card and crushed it in her palm before letting it fall onto the table. Her once bright eyes were now filled with complex emotions that she couldn't put into words.

Just as Lucia was lost in thought, the office door suddenly opened, startling her. She looked up to see Arthur talking with Gracie outside before coming inside himself. Panicking, she quickly swept all of the cards into a drawer just as her heart began racing uncontrollably.

Arthur had just finished speaking with Gracie when he turned around and saw Lucia sitting up from her seat with a smile on her face asking how he got there.

He tilted his head slightly at first, feeling an inexplicable sense of discomfort seeing what seemed like a fake smile on Lucia's face. But quickly he dismissed it, thinking that there was no way she would do such thing when facing him.

"It rained today. It feels cooler outside than usual," Arthur said as he sat down on the couch.

"Let's go over Eduard's place tonight?"

"Sure! Daphne told me she hasn't been feeling well these past few days so I wanted to check up on her anyway," replied Lucia hastily without immediately walking towards Arthur because she hadn't yet calmed down from earlier.

Arthur felt a sense of unease again as he sat down on the sofa and noticed Lucia still standing behind the desk. He smiled lightly and asked, "Why not come over?"

Taking a quiet breath, Lucia glanced at the closed drawer to make sure it was securely shut before walking towards Arthur.

Arthur glanced at Lucia's expression, then raised his hand to gently lift her chin, giving her a "serious" look as he carefully observed her face. "Are you hiding something from me?"

When people love someone, they won't miss any subtle reactions from them, especially not Arthur.

From the moment he entered the room, he sensed that Lucia was acting strangely, but he couldn't figure out the reason behind it. So he used a playful tone to coax her into opening up.

"Am I?..." Lucia raised the corner of her lips and tried to smile naturally, "I'm just worried about Daphne."

This sounded reasonable. Arthur smiled and kissed Lucia on the cheek, then whispered as he withdrew,

"Don't lie to me."

Lucia's back teeth clenched and she obediently nodded.

In the evening, several good friends gathered at Eduard's house for a party. Daphne, who was now heavily pregnant, exuded a radiant glow, with her figure becoming fuller and more abundant. Her cheeks were rosy, and her belly looked quite large for just five months of pregnancy, making it a bit difficult for her to walk comfortably.

Lucia had been busy with work lately and hadn't seen Daphne for a long time. Not only her, even Arthur was a little surprised when he saw her figure.

"Daphne, how come your belly has grown so big in just a short time since I last saw you?" Lucia couldn't help but ask.

Upon seeing Arthur's expression, Eduard immediately put aside his playful demeanor and glanced at Lucia before asking, "Is it about Lucia?"

"You can tell too?" Arthur finally spoke up.

"We've known each other for so long, of course I can tell. Something's bothering her," Eduard replied. During dinner tonight, she had been distracted several times and couldn't keep up with the conversation like everyone else.

Kane thought for a moment before saying, "The only person who could be causing trouble for Lucia right now is probably that guy."

No explanation was needed. Everyone knew who Kane was referring to. Kane's words had no hidden meaning, but they didn't sit well with Arthur. He furrowed his brow and raised his head, downing the rest of the drink in his glass.

Realizing how serious things were getting, Eduard quickly asked Arthur, "What are you thinking?"

"She's hiding something from me again, something about Jacob. What else am I supposed to think?" The alcohol-laced words that came out of Arthur's mouth were filled with helplessness and bitterness.

Jacob had deceived Lucia in the past - something she was well aware of - but despite everything, she still loved him before. The mere thought that she might be keeping secrets from him because of Jacob made it impossible for Arthur to remain level-headed. Jealousy began clawing at his heart.

Kane let out a small sigh and understood how Arthur felt since he had been involved in what happened back then as well.

"Don't worry too much about it," he consoled. "Lucia definitely hates Jacob now. It just so happened that when they first met years ago... well... Jacob left an impression on her."