Zach was caught off guard. "A hundred thousand dors?"


    He had only nned to set aside ten thousand a month for Wendy''s lessons. Where was he supposed to find the extra money? He slowly turned his gaze toward Wendy.


    Wendy felt a pang of diffident. But with Serena present, she couldn''t afford to embarrass herself. She had no choice but to step forward.


    "Zach, I-I just got carried away because I wanted to improve faster. And besides, I''m always with you, yet I''m still a nobody. Doesn''t that embarrass you? I just wanted to make you proud!"


    Tears welled up in Wendy''s eyes as she pleaded.


    Zach''s expression softened slightly. But his face darkened again when his gaze swept over Kade, who was shrinking back at the side.


    "That''s enough lessons. This ends here."


    Establishing himself in Javerton City had already made business negotiations difficult. If Wendy''s tutoring was going to cost a hundred thousand dors every month, it simply wasn''t worth it.


    "But..."


    Kade was shocked. Without this job, what was she supposed to do?


    Zach shot her a cold look. Serena''s piercing gaze was fixed on her too. She couldn''t afford to offend either of them.


    Kade yanked her hand away from Wendy''s grasp and left without another word.


    Wendy took the opportunity to fall against Zach''s arm. He caught her steadily, his face still grim.


    "Stop letting people sweet-talk you so easily. Do you really think a hundred thousand dors and ten thousand dors are the same thing?"


    "Alright, Zach." She nestled into his embrace, feigning shyness.


    Serena had seen enough. Without a word, she turned and walked straight into the elevator.


    Unexpectedly, Zach followed her and said, "I heard from Mr. Jansen that you were in a car ident a few days ago. Is that true?"


    Howard knew she had been in an ident, but he didn''t care enough to ask about her or even find out who was responsible. But he sure knew how to use the incident to make Zach pity her.


    Serena lifted her eyes coldly.


    "Spare me your fake concern. If you really cared, you''d havee sooner. What were you waiting for? My funeral?"


    The elevator doors shut.


    Zach was left speechless. He swiped his card first.


    Wary of being followed, Serena deliberately held back and didn''t swipe her card. Zach waited but didn''t see her swipe.


    After making some meaningless small talk, he suddenly said, "Larson Group recentlyunched a nationwide investment project. They''re looking to support promising startups andpanies with good resources but struggling to break through. Serena, have you heard about it?"


    The Larson family?


    So, he was trying to use her connection to Hugh to dig for information.


    Bute to think of it, Serena herself had never heard of this.


    "It has nothing to do with me. If you''re hoping I can help, you''re asking the wrong person. This is my first time hearing about it too."


    Zach narrowed his eyes. It was impossible.


    When they were together, Serena knew everything about his business. Now that she was willing to be Hugh''s lover, how could she know nothing about his business?


    She must be still holding a grudge.


    He had no choice but to coax her.


    "Serena, don''t be angry. I just meant that our Zarena Group fits their criteria perfectly. Maybe we could..."


    "I''m not mad."


    Serena met his gaze and said tly, "I already told you that I don''t know anything about it. And even if I did, I wouldn''t help. Zarena Group has nothing to do with me anymore."