?Chapter 535:


    Doreen thought her usual tricks would work, but Marc shoved her away without a second thought. “Who the hell told you it was okay to talk to Stel like that today?” he snapped.


    Doreen froze,pletely thrown. “I—I didn’t say anything wrong!” she stammered. “I just mentioned that I’m pregnant. She already knew!”


    She blinked quickly, trying to summon tears, and reached for his hand. “I’m sorry… Please don’t be mad, okay?”


    But Marc yanked his arm away, ring. “Don’t cling to me. Know your ce. And let me warn you, Doreen—if I catch you ying games again, you’ll get nothing. And don’t even think about keeping the baby.” With that, he turned and stormed off.


    Doreen stood there, fists clenched at her sides, her chest rising and falling with rage.


    She stared at Marc’s retreating back, teeth grinding furiously. How dare he! She sprinted after him, heels clicking like gunshots. “Marc, wait!”


    He stopped, barely turning. Just as he was about to tell her to scram, Doreen folded her arms and spoke up, voice sharp and cold. “You really think I actually like you?” Marc froze. “It’s just that you’re stingy as hell,” she continued. “You barely give me anything each month. If you were even a little more generous, I wouldn’t…”


    “I wouldn’t have to bother chasing Ste around!” Marc stared at her, stunned. “What did you just say?”


    Doreen gave him a sarcastic smile. “You heard me. All I’ve ever wanted was money. Even carrying your baby? That’s all it is. I told you before—if you just paid up, I’d leave you and Ste alone. You’re the one who didn’t take me seriously.”


    Marc stood there in silence for a moment, and, oddly enough, he felt relieved. If she was only in this for the money, then fine. That was way easier to deal with than emotional drama. Throwing money at the problem was manageable.


    He took a deep breath, pulled out a ck card, and handed it to her. “There’s no limit on this card. Spend however much you want. Just don’t pull that kind of stunt again.”


    Doreen snatched the card like she’d won the lottery, a smug little grin tugging at her lips. “Of course. If you’re this generous every time, I won’t bother you again. Even after the baby’s born, I’ll raise him myself. He won’t be your problem.” Waving the card in front of him like a trophy, Doreen spun on her heel and strutted off. Marc wasn’t willing to marry her. He wasn’t even willing to give her public recognition. So how far would that one little card go?


    She wanted more—much more. She wasn’t stupid. A credit card was nice, but it wasn’t security. And she needed long-term guarantees.


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    But for now? She’d pretend to be satisfied. She still needed time to figure out her next move.


    And when her mind shed back to that humiliating encounter with Ste earlier, her rage boiled up all over again.


    It was Ste’s fault. All of it.


    If Ste would just disappear from Marc’s life, then maybe, just maybe, Marc woulde around.


    That was her new goal—get Ste out of the way. No matter what it took.


    Ste had been pullingte nights at the research institute for an entire week, working side by side with Sandra, Elbert, and Jamir on the new project. At first, everything was smooth sailing. But once they entered the second phase, they hit a major roadblock.


    “Sylvia, we don’t have this equipment at our institute,” Sandra said, clearly stressed. “Without it, we can’t move forward with the next step.”


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