Stanley sent out the message, but got no reply.
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With nothing else he could do, Stanley kept his eyes glued to the surveince monitors, watching Sterling and Bary’s every move<b>. </b>
As a guy, Stanley could easily read between the lines and knew exactly what those two meant when they said that.
They were just using that whole meeting with Jason thing as a cover.
Most likely, they were nning to sneak in while Reba was changing.
Stanley’s guess was spot–on. They went up to Jason, imed a friend’s clothes got soaked, and asked for ess to the women’s changing room. Once Jason pointed them in the right direction, they made a beeline for it.
Reba wasn’t clueless; she could see right through their little scheme.
Reba grabbed her daytime outfit from the women’s changing area and changed out of her dress in record time, barely two minutes t.
Her phone suddenly buzzed. When she checked it, there was a text. [Those two bastards are on their way. Heads up.]
The sender was an unknown number.
But Reba knew it was from Yannie.
Reba slipped her phone back into her bag, stepped out of the changing room, and took the elevator down from the other side before those two could show up.
Stanley let out a huge sigh of relief when he saw that. But before he could chill for a second, his eyes locked onto someone sweeping in downstairs<b>, </b>escorted by a whole crowd.
It was Stephen.
Watching Stephen effortlessly greet Jason and the group downstairs, Stanley quickly pulled out his phone and dialed Jeffrey. It rang several times before Jeffrey finally picked up. “Hello?”
“Stephen’s here,” Stanley said, his brow furrowing as he kept his eyes fixed on the figure downstairs.
Jeffrey paused for a moment, his gaze automatically drifting toward Andrea.
Andrea looked puzzled. “What’s up, Jeffrey?”
Jeffrey didn’t dodge her. He went straight to the point, “Where’s Reba?”
“Reba just finished changing and went downstairs. She hasn’t bumped into Stephen yet,” Stanley muttered, his eyes glued to the scene below, muscles still tense. “But I’m pretty sure he’s here because of Reba.”
Jeffrey went quiet, the weight of the situation heavy on his mind.
If it were anyone else, Stanley alone would be enough to keep things under control.
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But Stephen was something else. The guy was ruthless, smiling on the outside, scheming underneath, willing to do anything to get what he wanted.
If Stephen showed up, it was a dead giveaway; he was after Reba, no doubt about it.
“So what exactly do you want me to do?” Stanley asked, still not sure what Jeffrey wanted.
“Head downstairs soon and keep a close eye on Stephen, but don’t get too close.
“Pay attention to who he talks to and what he says. Make a note of everything,” Jeffrey instructed, his heart sinking with every word. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Alright,” Stanley agreed.
But Stanley knew the trip from the hospital to the venue would take at least an hour. Even if Jeffrey had the driver break every speed limit, it’d still be thirty or forty minutes at best.
And on top of that, with rush hour traffic, it’d probably take even longer.
Jeffrey had thought of all that, of course, and immediately picked a route that wasn’t too jammed right now.
“Jeffrey,” Andrea called out, grabbing his arm. “Are you leaving?”
“Something’se up with Reba,” Jeffrey said, not bothering to hide it. “I need to get over there. I’lle see you tomorrow.”
Andrea’s expression darkened. “I see.”
“Okay,” Jeffrey hummed in acknowledgment.
Just as he was about <i>to </i>leave, Andrea hit him with another curveball. “You said you’d take care of me, but now that I’m in the hospital, you won’t even stay by my side for a bit.”
Andrea started, trying toy on the guilt, “You imed you’d stay out of Reba’s business, yet you’re tossing aside the person who saved your life–all for her.”
Jeffrey froze mid–step.
Andrea pressed on, “If you can’t keep your promise to take care of me, then why bother making it at all?”
“Don’t you think you’re really just rushing things?” Jeffrey gave her a look, unreadable as ever, tossed out the words, and left, not taking anything she’d said to heart, including that whole promise bit.
Jeffrey was someone who truly valued his promises.
But that didn’t mean he was a fool she could just push around.
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Andrea’s heart skipped a beat.
Before she could get another word out, Jeffrey was already gone. Anxiety twisted in her chest as she kept reying thatst thing he said, trying to figure out what he really meant.
Andrea wanted to ask, but was afraid of hearing the kind of answer she dreaded.
Jeffrey had always treated her coldly, and after what happenedst time, even the little bit of patience and indulgence he’d shown before had faded away.
Once Jeffrey got in the car, he told the driver to get to the hotel as fast as possible. At the same time, he shot Jane a quick message.
Reba had no clue about all the drama that had gone down in thest few minutes. After changing and drying her hair, she headed to the hotel lobby to meet up with Jane and the others.
“You know Ms. Barton and her crowd?” As soon as Reba sat down, Derek leaned in, curiosity written all over his face.
The others perked up, too, ears practically twitching with interest.
They weren’t about to pass up some juicy gossip.
“Yeah, I ran into them at an art exhibition once,” Reba said, her lie rolling off her tongue so smoothly it almost sounded real. “Ms. Barton took a liking to one of my pieces, so we chatted for a few minutes.”
“Oh, I see.” Derek nodded, buying the story. “Didn’t know you were so well–connected.”
Reba just nodded.
Lisa chimed in, gossiping, “Is Mr. Hansoning tonight?”
Reba paused, raising an eyebrow questioningly.
“The guy who just showed up looked like Mr. Hanson’s brother,” Lisa said, ncing toward where Stephen and Jason had just walked off.
“Is Mr. Hanson here in Jeffrey’s ce<b>, </b>or is he just checking up on thepany Jeffrey’s running nowadays?”
Reba grew more puzzled. She thought to herself, ‘Stephen is here?‘
“Reba?” a voice rang out unexpectedly.
Everyone turned to see who it was.
Jason, the former boss of Primey Technologies, warmly walked over, greeting her in a gentle tone, “Hey,
Reba had a bad feeling about this, but she couldn’t exactly say no to her boss.
“Come have dinner with us inside,” Jason said quietly, making sure only a few people could hear. “Stephen
<b>14:58 </b><b>Mon</b><b>, </b>Sep <b>22 </b>
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specifically asked me to invite you.”
“I’ll just stay out here.” Reba tried to decline.
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“Let’s go,” Jason said, his tone friendly but firm, leaving no room for argument.
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Reba took a couple of steps but then stopped,ing up with an excuse. “I’m not really good with alcohol, and I’m hopeless at socializing.
“If I end up getting on Stephen’s bad side, wouldn’t that be asking for trouble?”
“Come on, you’re all practically family; nobody’s going to hold a grudge,” Jason murmured quietly, just for Reba’s ears.
“Stephen personally told me to invite you to join us for dinner,” he added.
Reba gave up fighting it; she was trapped.
There was no escaping this now.
As Jason led Reba away, gossip started flying. ‘Is she some secret heiress or what? First, Ms. Barton called her a friend, then Mr. Smith invited her in for dinner,‘ they wondered.
“Andrea said before that Reba used to be pretty well–off, but her family went bankrupt,” Lisa whispered, her curiosity bordering on obsession.
“Don’t tell me she really is the heiress from the Jensen Group that copsed?” she added.
Reba had always denied that. But honestly, everythingtely seemed to be hinting in that direction.
“Regardless,” Derek jumped in, ncing at the group, “the way Ms. Barton and Mr. Smith treat her, she’s definitely someone important.
“From now on, if anythinges up at work, let’s just make sure things go smoothly for her.”
Hearing that, the department had some mixed reactions.
It wasn’t anything personal against Reba, but being told to just give her special treatment felt kind of weird.
“Wow<i>, </i>Derek–way to wipe out all the hard work Reba’s put in, just like that,” Jane chimed in, totally calling him out, “She doesn’t need anyone tiptoeing around her.
“We’ve worked together long enough. Don’t tell me people still haven’t noticed how capable she is?”
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