Mr. Warner, Your Wife is Running Away Again!-Chapter 146: They’re in Cahoots

Shane accompanied Audrey back from the restroom and sat back down, when Arthur asked her, "Do you know this artist?"

Audrey pointed behind her, "The one wearing a white suit sitting over there, he gave a lecture at our school."

Arthur nodded thoughtfully and returned his gaze to the stage, but seemed disinterested in the other auction items, still thinking about the girl in the painting.

As the auction drew to a close, people gradually headed to the restaurant on the second floor to chat and eat.

Because of Simon’s presence, Shane stayed close to Audrey the entire time.

But tonight, Simon was too busy dealing with people in the circle, so even if Shane wasn’t guarding Audrey, he likely wouldn’t have been able to break away.

"Shane."

Hearing this voice, Audrey didn’t even have to turn around to guess who it was, the intimate address made her roll her eyes inwardly.

The next second, Clarissa walked over to their table, "Porter and the others are here too, do you want to join us for a chat?"

Shane glanced down at Audrey; she was lowering her head, spooning the small pastries on her plate, appearing indifferent, not even looking at him or Clarissa, but he knew she was definitely listening to their conversation with full attention.

Shane pointed at Audrey with his chin, chuckled softly and declined, "No, I need to watch her, otherwise she’ll eat random things."

Moreover, regarding this Porter Clarissa mentioned, he barely had any impression of him.

He vaguely remembered him as Miles Sterling’s classmate.

Clarissa smiled at Audrey, "Shane, you’re too worried—Audrey’s not a child, no need to watch her all the time. Why not bring Audrey along with us?"

Shane still refused, "She’s shy."

Audrey thought to herself, her biggest role now was to act as Shane’s shield.

Before they got married, whenever Shane attended such events, he was often approached by socialites and trophy wives. After marriage, those people became more self-aware.

Of course, there were still a few, like Clarissa, who shamelessly tried to interfere with others’ marriages despite being married themselves.

But fortunately, Shane had no feelings for Clarissa. Even when Clarissa persisted using the "Mrs. Sterling" identity, he naturally used Audrey as an excuse to refuse.

After a few words, Clarissa saw that Shane was lukewarm and walked away.

Now Shane couldn’t be bothered with those social relationships anymore; he found sitting opposite Audrey, watching her eat, quite entertaining.

After the event, Arthur found the author of the painting—Wayne Archer.

When he approached, Wayne was in the crowd, accepting congratulations from everyone.

Though the money from the painting entirely belonged to charity, selling it for four million surely elevated Wayne’s status within the circle.

"Mr. Archer, can we chat for a moment?"

The people around Wayne saw that he was the bidder of the painting today, exchanged a few courteous words, and gradually moved away.

Wayne, wearing metallic-framed glasses and sporting a mullet, looked elegant yet fashionable; his gaze first assessed Arthur, then he nodded with a smile, "Third Young Master Sutton, I’ve heard much about you."

Arthur didn’t engage in much small talk, directly asking, "I came to ask you, Mr. Archer, who was the model for your painting?"

Wayne lowered his gaze and remained silent for two seconds, seemingly pondering something with some apprehension before smiling, "It’s a scene I encountered while traveling, just a source of inspiration, the character in the painting is purely imaginary."

Upon hearing Wayne’s answer, Arthur’s eyes momentarily showed disappointment, and Wayne asked, "Does the person in the painting resemble someone from Third Young Master’s past?"

Arthur didn’t elaborate, "Just curious."

Afterwards, he turned and walked away.

The hope that had been ignited dimmed once more, leaving his heart slightly chilly.

Though the girl’s appearance in his memory was blurry and ephemeral, he knew she must exist.

Because the feeling from that night was clear, and the bright red on the sheets the following morning indicated it truly happened.

It’s just, she left so hastily, he couldn’t even get a clear look at her.

And since then, she vanished like thin air; no matter how he searched, there were no leads.

He once thought this painting might be a turning point.

"Burp—" Audrey let out a full burp, satisfied and full, wiped her mouth with a napkin, then pulled out a small mirror from her bag to touch up her lip balm and lipstick.

Shane’s gaze subtly shifted towards Simon not far away, nonchalantly swirling the wine glass in his hand, his slender, boney fingers gripping the tall stem, bringing the glass to his lips, slightly tilting his head to take a sip.

Afterwards, he instinctively licked the wine on the edge of his lips.

Audrey looked at his somewhat dry lips and held up the lip balm, asking, "Want some?"

Shane glanced at her before his eyes fell elsewhere again, appearing disinclined to talk to her.

Audrey quickly said, "This is lip balm, not lipstick, it has no color."

He still didn’t respond, not even glancing at her.

Audrey huffed softly, put the lip balm away back in her bag, and took out lipstick to touch up.

While she was carefully applying it, a force suddenly bumped into her elbow, causing the lipstick to slip out of her control and draw a red line across her face, looking rather comical.

"Oh, I’m sorry!" A girl wearing a white strapless tulle dress turned back and apologized to Audrey.

Though Audrey frowned in dissatisfaction, she saw it wasn’t intentional, and the girl immediately apologized. However, before Audrey could say "It’s fine," the girl exclaimed in a slightly deliberate tone, "Oh, Audrey, what a coincidence!"

Audrey stared blankly at her, obviously unfamiliar and unable to recall any impression.

"Don’t you remember me?" the girl smiled, "I’m Diana Dalton, we went to the same high school, I was in the class next to yours, a lot of boys in my class liked you back then and urged me to pass their love letters to you."

Shane, initially indifferent, turned to look at Audrey expressionlessly upon hearing this.

When the girl mentioned this, Audrey vaguely recalled her, but didn’t have a good impression. Word was she was the kind who called other people’s boyfriends "brotherly" on the surface but schemed behind their backs.

"I heard Simon transferred to your school? I’m in the same company as him now, sort of his junior assistant."

Diana enthusiastically introduced herself, while Audrey just forced a smile and nodded.

Upon hearing she was connected to Simon, Audrey grew even more resistant.

And just then, she happened to look up and meet Simon’s gaze, who unabashedly raised his wine glass towards her.

The woman standing next to Simon was none other than Clarissa.

Audrey glanced at the girl before her, and instantly only had one thought: they’re in cahoots.