?Chapter 200:


    The Smith family only looked out for their own.


    There was no more dodging it. Marc finally agreed to get engaged. After finishing a long meeting, he returned to his office only to see his phone lighting up.


    He rubbed his temples, already knowing who it was—Haley.


    “Didn’t you pick up sooner?” she snapped the moment he answered. “Don’t tell me you’re off meeting some woman behind my back! If you’re cheating on me, I swear I’m done helping you!”


    Haley’s temper had grown worse by the day. Lately, even the slightest dy in answering her calls was enough to trigger a scolding.


    Marc, already nursing a headache, pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered with forced patience, “I was just in a meeting. Can’t you see my location? I’ve been at the office this whole time, Princess.”


    To keep her calm, he had no choice but to install a real-time tracking app on his phone, letting Haley monitor his whereabouts nearly around the clock.


    Haley, seemingly appeased by the exnation, didn’t let up entirely. Her tone was still full of arrogance as she snapped, “Hmph, whatever. I want you by my side in thirty minutes. I’m going to try on wedding dresses.”


    Marc’s first instinct was to push back. “I can’t go. I’ve got a meeting with a client soon.”


    Haley’s face immediately darkened as she replied, “What client? No one in Choria is willing to work with you now. Every deal you’vended is because of my family. You’d be nowhere without us.” Her scorn made Marc’s jaw tighten.


    The contempt in her voice was unmistakable—a cutting reminder that, ever since he agreed to their engagement, she’d stopped bothering to hide how little she thought of him.


    She acted as if, because she’d opened a few doors for him, he was expected to be grateful and obedient for life.


    His patience frayed. He’d only nned to use her connections as a temporary stepping stone, but Haley couldn’t wait to lord it over him. There was no way he’d marry a woman who treated him like an essory.


    “Haley, can we be reasonable for once? I really do have to see this client. I’lle by after, alright? That’s final—I’m hanging up.”


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    Before she could spit out another word, he ended the call.


    Haley stared at her phone in disbelief, then, consumed by fury, hurled it hard across the room.


    The maid fumbled with the zipper, and in Haley’s agitated state, a lock of her hair got yanked into the teeth.


    Haley shrieked, spun around, and pped the startled maid hard across the cheek. “Are youpletely useless? That hurt! Get out—now!”


    Once the maid had fled, Haley red at her own reflection, rage smoldering in her eyes. The sight only fueled her temper.


    Everything Marc owned, he owed to her generosity—yet he’d had the nerve to hang up on her?


    The thought made her blood boil.


    Meanwhile, over at the research institute, Ste’s afternoon experiment unfolded without a hitch. The steady progress finallypensated for the setbacks of the morning.


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