Violet smiled at McNeil. "Let''s go. Mr. Brown felt awkward calling directly, so he reached out to the admin office instead."


    McNeil just gave a quiet "Alright," and left the office alongside Violet.


    Victoria waited in the lounge for almost half an hour before she finally saw Maynard approaching. When she noticed he was alone, she knew she wouldn''t be seeing McNeil today.


    "Ma''am, Mr. Langford has an important meeting right now. I''m afraid he won''t be avable."


    He hadn''t passed the task to McNeil''s secretary. As McNeil''s personal assistant, Maynard was always the one to handle anything involving Victoria. McNeil would never let anyone else manage their interactions.


    Maynard was the only one in the entirepany who knew the true rtionship between McNeil and Victoria. Imagine asking the admin staff to ry a message to her-how could they possibly handle it normally?


    Even if it was strictly business, Maynard still felt it was inappropriate. This conversation would have to wait until Mr. Langford was free to speak with her in person.


    Victoria gave a polite smile. "Understood."


    Next time McNeil tried to arrange a meeting with her, it wouldn''t be so easy.


    She had barely stepped out of Vertex Dynamics when her phone began to ring- McNeil''s name shing on the screen. Victoria hesitated for a moment, considering whether to answer. After a few seconds, she finally swiped to ept the call.


    "Wait for me at home tonight-"


    Victoria frowned, not quite sure what he meant. Was he expecting her to go to his ce after a contract negotiation at the office?


    "Pick up Gwyn."


    If McNeil had asked for anything else, she would have turned him down without a second thought. But when he asked her to pick up their daughter from school, Victoria had no way to refuse.


    Gwh came bouncing out of the school doors, backpack swinging behind her. She expected to see Violet or maybe McNeil''s driver, so spotting Victoria instead caught her by surprise.


    Still, she lit up and ran straight over.


    "Mommy! Why are you picking me up today? Weren''t you supposed to be on a work trip? Are you back already?"


    Gwh eyed her mother, suspicion flickering in her gaze.


    Victoria simply nodded. "Mm-hmm."


    She didn''t want to get into any exnations-especially since Gwh might run straight to McNeil or Violet and spill everything. And she definitely wasn''t going to mention her injured foot.


    "Did youe back yesterday?" Gwh pressed.


    "Why do you ask?" Victoria replied, her voice even.


    "I was at Daddy''s office yesterday, and I thought I saw you there. Violet said it was you, and she asked if I wanted to go say hi. But you told me you were away on business, so I wasn''t sure."


    Victoria remembered seeing Gwh at the office the day before,ughing and chatting with Violet. She hadn''t wanted to interrupt-she already felt guilty enough for lying to her daughter, and there was no need to make things more awkward.


    Soon, Maynard would finalize their divorce paperwork. She and Gwh would be leading separate lives.


    Knowing McNeil, he''d never let Victoria have custody. Besides, with her career taking priority right now, she didn''t want to bring her daughter along, either.


    But the truth went deeper than that. Gwh didn''t cling to her anymore. As a mother, Victoria had be irrelevant in her daughter''s world.


    So, when Gwh tried to confirm what happened yesterday, Victoria decided to stick to her story.


    "No, I didn''te back yesterday. You must have been mistaken."


    Gwh still looked skeptical, but since her mother denied it, she let the matter drop.


    She climbed into the backseat of Victoria''s car, eyes immediatelynding on arge gift box resting there. Assuming it was a present for her, Gwh wasted no time in untying the ribbon and lifting the lid. Inside was a model racecar.


    "Wow! This is so cool! Mommy, is this for me?"


    Her excitement was impossible to hide. Maybe her mom really did care about her —almost as much as Violet did these days.


    Victoria hadpletely forgotten she''d left the racecar model, a gift from Curtis, in the car. She hadn''t expected Gwh to spot it, let alone unwrap it so quickly. Flustered, she hurried over to repackage the box and turned to Gwh.