As their displeasure grew, I maintained myposure. "What''s wrong? Did I say something inappropriate?" Martin''s face darkened. He was quite unpredictable.From N?velDrama.Org.


    Jeremiah feltpelled to intervene. "Ms. Chloe, this is Bourdamun, not Foswood. Don''t-" Before he could finish, Martin mmed the table. He yelled at Jeremiah, "Who do you think you are? Do you have the right to speak here? Don''t pretend to be something you''re not!" I shivered at his sudden outburst and involuntarily looked at Martin. I could tell that his words were actually aimed at me. Martin was quite arrogant.


    The room fell silent. The other three dared not breathe, and my heart raced.


    I chuckled, breaking the tension. Leaning back in my chair, I nced casually at Martin and remarked, "Looks like you have quite the temper, Mr. Martin." He raised an eyebrow and looked at me. "Sorry, I didn''t mean to startle you. He''s short-tempered." I forced a strained smile. "It seems dinner isn''ting." The unidentified man immediately gestured to lower the tension. "Martin, don''t be so angry. Ms. Chloe is a youngdy, and you might scare her off. Jeremiah, hurry and check on dinner!" Then he turned to me. "Ms. Chloe, please don''t mind him. Mr. Martin''s temper isn''t great, especially today. Grandpa was upset, and he was a bit agitated. I can see that you are from a big city. You''ve gotposure." The man chuckled and continued, "Letintroduce myself. Myst nis Jake Lawson. I''m Martin''s uncle and the vice president of Mars Group." It seemed he was Martin''s partner in this y, with one ying the good cop while the other yed the bad cop.


    "We sincerely wanted to discuss sproject issues by inviting you here. You''re right. It''s about the development of the new district. Ms. Chloe, you''re an outsider who isn''t familiar with Bourdamun. That''s understandable!" Jake looked like a smooth talker, and he had clearly handled such situations before.


    "Bourdamun has beengging behind due to its location," he continued. "Many people have et worked hard to change this. Finally, there''s a good opportunity to e develop Bourdamun, but thises with increased scrutiny. S "Martin may not be pursuing a formal career, but he has big ns. All Bourdamun residents, particrly Martin, share the desire to see their hometown develop. So he''s eager to find a breakthrough. Mars Group can change Bourdamun!" S He paused and observed my reaction. I had to admit that Jake was a skilled speaker, adept at handling situations like this.


    I understood that he was about to reveal the actual situation and was testing my response. So, I remained focused.


    Indeed, when he saw I didn''t object, he nced at Martin. He chuckled again and continued.


    "In other words..." Jake said, "Ms. Chloe, if you want to take on this project, you might need to take a different approach." "How so?" I asked as if I were genuinely curious. "Mr. Jake, you''re right. I''m new to the city and don''t understand the customs here.