After they sat down in a corner, Francesca quickly whispered, "Lauren, that sneaky Bernard is clearly trying to drive a wedge between Mr. Thatcher and your family."

Lauren shrugged. "Let him try. He's a nobody. If not for Mr. Thatcher, I would've slapped him for talking about Andrew like that."

Francesca turned to Andrew with disgust. "This is all because of you! Thanks to you, Mr. Thatcher probably doesn't think highly of Lauren anymore!"

"Is Mr. Thatcher's approval really that important?" Andrew frowned.

Francesca sneered. "Are you actually this clueless, or are you just pretending? He's the mayor of Jayrodale! Haven't you noticed all those people waiting with expensive gifts just to curry his favors? One word from him can make or break someone's fortune in this town."

Lauren intervened, "Fran, stop it. The Rhodes family isn't going to lose a connection over someone like Bernard."

"If maintaining good relations with Mr. Thatcher is so important, I might have an idea,