?Chapter 417:


    “NO need,” n mumbled again, even pping a hand dismissively as if to shoo Toby away.


    Kristian’s eyes narrowed. His voice dropped to a tone that could chill steel. “Toby, are you still standing there because you’d like us to escort you home too?”


    “No, no, no… there’s really no need to trouble yourself,” Toby stammered, brushing off the offer as fast as one might swat away a wasp.


    Why on earth would he want to be left alone with someone as formidable as Kristian?


    Why couldn’t Kristian have just stayed tucked away in Jeucwell’s headquarters, far from Alerith? After all, Chaz was more than capable of running things here. Wasn’t that what branch managers were for?


    Hovering awkwardly, Toby found himself in a strange limbo—reluctant to leave, yetcking any ground to challenge his boss’s choice to go with Kristian.


    And really… what could possibly happen between them? Surely nothing, right?


    “Gerard, escort Toby out,” Kristian said, his voice quiet butced with the kind of authority that suggested he saw five moves ahead in a game no one else realized they were ying.


    “No need! I can find my own way,” Toby cut in hastily. Spending another second in the lion’s den was not on his agenda. “Then… I’ll leave my boss in your capable hands, Mr. Shaw.”


    Kristian’s eyes darkened ever so slightly. “Alright.”


    Toby took that as his cue to make a swift exit, casting one final nce over his shoulder like someone half-expecting to witness something unexinable.


    Once outside, he pulled out his phone, his fingers flying with urgency as he logged into a burner ount under the name Gossip Rookie. Without hesitation, he fired off a message.


    Stay updated with galnσν??????.c?m


    Toby sent off a question into the group chat: “Quick question—does anyone know Kristian Shaw’s preference? Would sending him a man work?”


    No sooner had the message been sent than the chat exploded with activity.


    “Are you out of your mind? Or do you have a death wish?”


    “Thest person who tried that vanished after his men got involved. No one’s heard from him since.”


    “Forget sending him a man—offering him a woman is already ying with fire.”


    “Actually, I remember Edwin Newman once sent him a woman. And believe it or not… it worked.”


    “Seriously?”


    “That can’t be true. Isn’t he famously indifferent to women?”


    The conversation quickly spiraled into chaos.


    Toby, now somewhat reassured that Kristian wasn’t into men, finally rxed—at least regarding his boss’s chances.


    Recalling that Kristian had once dly epted the woman sent to him, Toby wondered whether he should tell his boss about this.


    While mulling it over, he fired off another message in the group chat. “Maybe it’s just some random gossip? Kristian doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who’d pull something like that.”


    “You can’t go by looks. Who knows what he’s really like behind closed doors?”


    “Pretty sure this one’s legit. A few execs who had dinner with him saw him take a woman straight from Edwin.”


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