"I''ve got something to take care of. Excuse me for a moment."


    With that, Nathaniel hurried after someone and disappeared from the room.


    Giselle looked after him, puzzled. She followed Nathaniel''s departure with her eyes but saw nothing unusual, so she didn''t dwell on it. Instead, her attention drifted to Leonard, who had stuck by her side all evening. Worry crept onto her face.


    "That deal with the Forest Team fell through before we even had a chance to discuss it. I thought maybe Lysander and Mr. Whitmore had some kind of misunderstanding. I was hoping to help smooth things over at tonight''s party, but I didn''t expect Mr. Whitmore to be so... difficult."


    Her voice was tinged with concern.


    "Falcon Technologies and The FM Group are in the same industry. The twopanies are bound to cross paths again and again, so if there''s any bad blood, it''s best to clear the air sooner rather thanter."


    She nced sideways at Leonard, still silent as ever, and gently probed, "You''ve been with Lysander for years. You must know what happened between them, right...?"


    She didn''t get to finish before Leonard cut in coldly, "You''ll have to ask Mr. Montgomery, Ms. Harvey."


    He shut her down with a single sentence.


    Lysander never spoke about what happened seven years ago, and asking him always put him in a foul mood. Giselle had no choice but to investigate on her


    own.


    She''d figured Leonard, loyal to Lysander since high school, would know something. She''d made several attempts to sound him out during hospital visits, but he was a vault-impossible to pry open.


    She''d have to think of another way.


    As she was lost in thought, a crowd gathered around her. Some were trying to cozy up, others were fishing for details about her rtionship with Chairman Montgomery, and a few were bluntly asking why he hadn''t shown up tonight.


    Lysander''s hospitalization had been kept tightly under wraps, so no one was aware. With his recent absence from public events and Leonard-famously tight- lipped-handling all business matters, everyone now turned to Giselle, Lysander''s girlfriend, for answers.


    With Lysander''s personal assistant at her side and her shareholding in thepany, no one doubted their rtionship.


    Some people were even more direct:


    "Ms. Harvey, when are you and Chairman Montgomery tying the knot? Be sure to invite us to the wedding!"


    Giselle''s eyes sparkled as she smiled, responding to each person with grace. The earlier unease had long since vanished in the glow of attention.


    She nced around the room, but M was nowhere to be seen. Without the Forest Team backing her, no one paid her any mind-clearly, she''d made a quick exit. At least she knew when to cut her losses.


    The restroom was elegantly minimalist.


    Forrest stood at the sink, dispensing soap and carefully scrubbing his long, pale fingers under the running water. His hands looked almost artistic in the gentle stream.


    Suddenly, a teasing voice called from the doorway, "So this is where you''ve been hiding! No wonder I couldn''t find you in the crowd. What''s the matter, your neat- freak tendencies acting up again?"


    Forrest ignored the man.


    He finished washing, rinsed away the suds, and pulled a paper towel to dry his hands. Only then did he nce up.


    Leaning casually against the doorframe was a man in a violet suit-Rnd Lockwood.


    "What are you doing here?"


    With everything that had happened with The Lockwood Grouptely and Rnd being knee-deep in cleaning up the mess, Forrest was surprised he had time to show up at the party at all.


    Rnd offered a rxed smile.


    "My idiot brother insisted oning. He''s been through a rough patchtely, so I figured I''d let him tag along, let him unwind a bit."


    "But enough about me,"


    Rnd''s tone shifted suddenly. "So? I heard from Miranda Wayne that your sweetheart''s moved in with you. How''s that going?"