The past couple of days at work, she just couldn’t focus. Now, seeing Bianca basking in the limelight, it was impossible not to feel a little envious.
“Bianca, Dennis and I are done for good. I’m officially single again. Why don’t you set me up with
someone?<b>” </b>
Bianca instantly saw through Lillian’s intentions.
“Who’s caught your eye? I’ll see what I can do.”
A rosy blush crept across Lillian’s cheeks. “That Mr. Healy from Naylor Automotive Group.”
“You’ve got good taste,” Bianca teased. “I’ll put something together soon and give you a chance to meet him.”
At least she wasn’t interested in Jude, that spoiled rich kid.
“Thank you, Bianca! Wishing you and your husband the very best!”
Bianca admired her own carefully finished look in the mirror, brimming with confidence. “We will be.”
When Sophia saw Noreen, she did a double take. “Noreen, are you really wearing that?”
“What’s wrong with it?” Noreen nced down at her outfit. It looked perfectly fine to her–just her usual style.
“Well, today’s the InnoCoreunch event. I thought you’d be dressed to the nines.”
“The spotlight should be on Mr. Holt and his team–they’re the brains behind InnoCore’s technology. I’m just an investor. No reason to steal their thunder.”
That actually made a lot of sense.
Sophia suddenly felt her perspective broaden. No wonder she liked sticking close to Noreen–there was always something to learn.
Theunch was set for nine in the morning, but Noreen arrived at the hotel by seven thirty. Years of working under Seth, a notorious perfectionist, had ingrained the habit in her. She had to check every detail, confirm every step, and make sure everything was under control.
Even if something went wrong, she’d already have a backup n in ce.
Once everything was checked, Noreen talked things over with Carman one more time.
Everything at the venue was ready.
Except… there was no one there.
Not a single reporter had shown up.
Carman was visibly anxious, dabbing sweat from his brow every few seconds.
Sophia was anxious too. She’d run outside several times, scanning the entrance over and over.
19:07
There were plenty of peopleing and going–but they were all headed to the SkyMind celebration across the hall.
Not a single soul hade to InnoCore’sunch.
At InnoCore’s doors: tumbleweeds.
Over at SkyMind: a full house, packed to the rafters.
The contrast couldn’t have been starker.
The mood in the room was heavy. Everyone just kept busy in silence.
Noreen was the only one who stayed calm, calmly helping to run through the tech onest time. With the final task done, she looked around and, seeing everyone’s spirits sinking, did her best to
encourage the team to keep their heads up.
Sophia was in awe. How could Noreen stay so collected?
She leaned in and asked Noreen for advice, desperate to know her secret.
Noreen thought for a second. “I learned it from Seth.”
Seth might have been a mess when it came to rtionships, but as a businessman, he was nothing short of brilliant–a natural, really.
Noreen had worked with him for years and picked up so much along the way.
Back when their chip technology got hit by international sanctions, Seth poured everything–time, money, energy–into developing a new generation of high–performance processors.
Everyone thought he was crazy.
Everyone expected him to fail.
He shuttled between offices at home and abroad, recruiting talent, building teams, hunting for investments, negotiating deals…
Not a single step went smoothly.
At the worst point, foreign investors cklisted him, and people at homeughed at his ambition.
Noreen, back then, was just as anxious and stressed as Sophia was now.
But Seth never wavered.
He told Noreen, “Never give up until the veryst moment. The race isn’t over–you and I might just be the dark horses.”
And he was right. In the end, Seth proved to be exactly that–a true dark horse.
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