Chapter 1060

Hearing the commotion, Shanley and Juniper both looked down.

Juniper gave the completely obliterated cake a mournful look before shifting her gaze to the waitress's face. The girl was dressed in a standard uniform, a short skirt showing off long legs, and her hair was pulled up into a messy bun.

Juniper raised an eyebrow, her expression darkening slightly. Why did this face look so familiar?

Shanley, on the other hand, didn't spare the waitress a single glance. All of his attention was fixated on the ruined pastry. He had driven two hours across the city just to buy it, instructing the club to keep it perfectly refrigerated so the texture wouldn't be compromised.

And now? Juniper didn't even get a single bite.

"Is this how you train your staff?" Shanley's gaze turned lethally cold, a terrifying, suffocating aura rolling off him in waves.

"Mr. Schwartz, I am so incredibly sorry," the manager stammered, horrified that a simple delivery had turned into a disaster. He rushed forward and practically dropped to his knees. "I'll send someone to buy a replacement immediately. Please, just give me a little time."

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Schwartz... Miss Payne," the waitress whimpered, tilting her face up. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she trembled like a fragile leaf in the wind. It was a picture-perfect display of vulnerability.

Shanley gave her a flat, apathetic look, his eyes resting on her for exactly two seconds before he expressionlessly turned to the girl beside him. "I'll buy you a new one tomorrow. Let's just have something else tonight, okay?"

It was rush hour. Getting a replacement cake delivered would take at least three hours, and by then, the quality would be ruined anyway.

"Fine," Juniper nodded carelessly, using the opportunity to negotiate. "But tomorrow, you owe me two slices."

She had a terrible sweet tooth, and for the sake of her health, Shanley had strictly limited her to three desserts a week.

"Deal." Knowing he had failed to protect her dessert, Shanley rubbed the top of her head affectionately and agreed without hesitation.

"You can get up now," Juniper said, looking back at the waitress. Her voice was entirely devoid of emotion. "Manager, switch us to a different room."

"Right away, Miss Payne," the manager scrambled up, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. His legs were still shaking as he escorted the VIPs out.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" As soon as the door closed, the manager tore into the waitress. "If you're so good at tripping, why didn't you aim for Mr. Schwartz's lap?!"

The girl picked herself up, keeping her head bowed and her hands clasped nervously in front of her. She had aimed for his lap. She just miscalculated the distance.

"You could have dropped anything, but you had to ruin Miss Payne's cake!" The manager raised a hand fully intending to slap her, but held back only because she was young and had been referred by higher management. "Do you have any idea who she is? She is the center of Mr. Schwartz's universe! I don't know which blind idiot assigned you to serve her, but you're lucky you aren't in a hospital right now."

The girl kept her head down, replaying the scene between the two of them in her mind. Just as her wealthy sponsor had warned her, Shanley was completely obsessed with Juniper.

But... Shanley had looked at her for a

few seconds. Even if she didn't fall exactly where she planned, it had clearly made an impression. Next time they crossed paths, he would definitely remember her.

Thinking of this, the corners of the girl's mouth twitched upward into a faint, calculating smile.

Later, after dinner.

The group gathered at the entrance of the club to say their goodbyes.

"I heard Harold went back to finalize his divorce?" Juniper asked Melvin, leaning against Shanley.

"Mhm," Melvin hummed, standing with his hands shoved casually in his pockets. "But from what I hear, he couldn't actually go through with it."

"Why not?" Juniper was genuinely curious. She had accidentally answered a call from her mysterious sister-in-law once, and the woman had sounded incredibly gentle and sweet. Meanwhile, Harold spent his entire life locked in a laboratory and didn't have a single romantic bone in his body.