Regression - Second Chance At Life-Chapter 272: Butting Heads

Shawn and Sandra are very aware of how overbearing Loria can be, especially Sandra, as she has spent half of her life being Loria’s tail.

Whether it was school, college, or work, Sandra has been by Loria’s side, and when it comes to Loria getting her way, she always succeeds. Because she has the power and influence to do so.

Sandra might think Adam is handsome and bold, but now in her head, she believes Adam has already dug his grave, as he is going against what Loria wants.

Shawn also has some idea of Loria’s overbearingness. He has heard of the horrors that people have suffered in the office because someone decided to go against what Loria wants.

So they sit stiff in their seats, wondering what Loria’s going to do now.

As Loria and Adam lock their gazes, trying to measure each other, Loria turns to look at the waiter.

"Cancel that burger, get him your best steak, medium rare," Loria says.

This time, it’s the waiter who is feeling the pressure. He looks at Adam, hoping that Adam agrees to Loria’s request so that he doesn’t have to stand here and suffer.

’This woman doesn’t know how to back off, does she?’ Adam wonders as he is once again surprised by the sheer audacity of Loria.

Even though he had made his order, she still went out of her way to dismiss him and get her way with it. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

This just shows how much Loria has always had her way with people, no matter who they are.

Now, it’s no longer about Adam getting his hands on Loria; it’s about him showing her that she doesn’t have power over literally everyone, like she clearly feels.

Adam turns to look at the waiter. "Ya, I don’t want that. Get me my burger," Adam says with a polite smile.

His words make the atmosphere even more tense, as even Gloria, who doesn’t know anything about Loria, also starts to feel the tension that is building between Adam and Loria.

The waiter feels even more pressure. Adam could have just listened to the VIP, so why is Adam making it so hard for him?

The waiter nervously turns to look at Loria to confirm the order, but sees that Loria’s just staring at Adam, not giving him even a bit of attention.

Adam turns and meets Loria’s gaze.

"Look, I am going to eat what I want to, and if you keep insisting. I am going to just walk away. I saw a nice burger joint across the floor. I am going to have my fill there," Adam says, locking his gaze with Loria and getting a little serious.

The only way to get a victory over a woman like Loria is to completely get rid of any option they have access to.

Loria clearly brought him here to see what happens between him and Gloria, so if he removes himself from the equation, Loria will be left with nothing.

She will have to sit here and eat her food with her employee and his wife, and from what Adam has noticed, Loria really isn’t interested in what Shawn has to say.

Loria’s eyebrow twitched a little as she had never had this happen, ever before.

Adam’s the first person to ever back her off. All her life, people have done everything she has told them to do.

Her grandparents, her parents, they always did as she asked of them, and as she got older, she became more authoritative as she had her intelligence to back her words.

And her words worked wonders; every business decision she made for her parents and their company was a success, which raised her status even more. She became untouchable.

But now, a young man who neither has her power nor influence is standing up to her with confidence she has never seen before.

She opens her mouth to say something, to put Adam in his place, but stops as she stares into his eyes.

That look in his eyes is different than anything she has ever seen. The way he is looking at her as if she means nothing, that she holds no power over him, is frustrating, but for some reason, she believes it is true.

She realizes that if she continues pushing, Adam will really walk away without giving a second thought because in his eyes, she doesn’t matter, he doesn’t care about her opinion, he doesn’t care to please her or curry her favor. He really has nothing that he wants from her.

This is new because everyone wants something from her.

She looks at Adam, wondering what he wants from her, because if she knows what he wants, then she will be able to make him dance to her tune just like everyone else.

With the little bit of interaction she has had with Adam, she only knows one thing, and that is Adam is attracted to her, but it’s not a surprising thing to know because almost all men she has met have fallen for her beauty.

She needs something more.

Her eyes then shift a little towards Gloria, who is sitting next to Adam. A thought crosses her mind, and she smiles.

A devious smile. Something Adam is seeing for the first time, and he doesn’t like it.

But what’s done is done. He can’t let Loria do as she pleases with him.

"Fine then, bring him his burger," Loria says.

The waiter nods his head and immediately gets the hell out of there as he doesn’t want to get caught in the middle of another power play between Loria and Adam.

"Thank you," Adam says, smiling politely. A small victory, but he doesn’t think much of it because that smile of Loria made him feel a little wary.

He knows that this little stunt of his is definitely going to cause a backlash, and he has no idea in what form that backlash is going to come, but Adam’s not scared.

Whatever Loria has to throw at him, he is ready for it.

"You’re welcome," Loria says.

As they maintain their gaze, Sandra and Shawn seem stunned by how this event unfolded.

They can’t believe that Loria backed away from a challenge.

Adam clearly challenged her authority and won. Even though it was just over an order of a food item, it’s still a huge deal in Sandra’s and Shawn’s eyes. Especially Sandra’s. Because she knows just how much of a control freak Loria really is.

Even the littlest of things, it has to be her way or no way.

So, for Adam to actually back her off made Sandra question whether Loria sees anything special in Adam.

Suddenly, a thought crosses her mind. ’No! That can’t be! That’s fucking absurd!’ Sandra thinks.

The thought that crossed her mind is that Loria has been captivated by Adam’s handsomeness, and that’s why she is going easy on him.

It is indeed an absurd thought, and she is right. Loria is not someone who would bend her beliefs and values just because she finds someone attractive.

Does Loria think Adam’s handsome? Yes, but that doesn’t change anything. She still sees Adam as someone lesser than her, someone she can control.

But Sandra is having a completely different thought process. Even though she thinks the idea of Loria going easy on Adam because she finds him attractive is absurd, the doubt has already taken root in Sandra’s head, and that big mouths of her will let someone know about it sooner or later.

"I am hungry. I can’t wait for the food. I heard that the food here tastes great." Sandra suddenly speaks out loud to drag the conversation somewhere else, as she doesn’t want Adam and Loria to continue butting their heads because the more they do so, the tougher Sandra’s day is going to be, as Loria is definitely going to take out her frustrations on her.

"Yes, me too. I, too, have heard that the food here is great. I always wanted to bring my wife here with me, but never got the time," Shawn says, joining Sandra in her attempt to drag the conversation to something else.

As the two laugh at each other’s statements, Loria finally looks away from Adam and looks at Shawn.

"Is that so?" Loria asks.

"Yes, hahaha, nothing would make me happier than seeing a smile on her face. She always said she wanted to eat here, so thank you, Mrs. Thronewood, for inviting us to join you." Shawn says.

"Sounds like you love your wife very much," Loria says, feigning curiosity.

"Of course, she is the love of my life. Isn’t that right, darling?" Shawn says, looking at Gloria.

Loria turns to look at Gloria, expecting an answer from her. Seeing Loria staring at her, Gloria gets nervous.

But suddenly, Gloria’s eyes became wide, as if something shocked her.

Loria notices this as Gloria nods her head. "Yes," Gloria answers abruptly.

Her husband thinks Gloria’s just nervous, but Loria feels there is more to Gloria’s sudden behavior shift. She was nervous even to open her mouth, and suddenly she spoke up. That’s not how a nervous person behaves.

Something startled her.

Loria’s sharp eyes shift a little to look at Adam, who just seems to be sitting in his spot with a smile, but Loria notices his left hand leaning a little to the side, as if he is reaching out for Gloria from underneath the table.

Though she can’t see it clearly, Loria really believes something is going on under the table.

Loria’s heartbeat starts to rise a little, as she starts getting excited over the thought of seeing one man play with another man’s wife right next to him.

This is what Loria invited Adam here for.