<b>Chapter </b><b>460 </b>


    59%


    +23


    I turned to look at him. There was no anger in his eyes anymore, and even the hurt seemed to have faded a little.


    “Really?” If he was willing to talk things through, maybe we could actually end things peacefully, both of us moving on.


    Nathan nodded. “Yeah. Just say whatever’s on your mind. I’m here.”


    I stared at him, momentarily stunned. There was a strange, almost crazy calmness about him right now.


    “What I’m saying is, you should put your energy into building yourpany. <i>Once your </i>business really takes off, maybe you’ll meet someone truly special.” I sat back down, sipping my water as I spoke.


    “You really think I’ll meet someone else?” Nathan asked, taking a sip of his wine, his eyes <i>locked </i><i>on </i>me.


    I nodded. “Of course. Love flows, like water. It never stays the same. Right now, I’m the one you care about, but your life is long. Who knows who you’ll meet down the road? Maybe one day you’ll find someone even more interesting, someone whose soul really matches yours.”


    “Yeah, maybe.” Nathan didn’t seem to be taking my words to heart. He just quietly finished his wine and poured himself another half ss.


    I’d tried everything to get him to look forward, to be excited about what the future might bring, but why did he look so uninterested?


    Maybe everything I said was just pointless.


    “Nathan, we’ll still be friends–and business partners. I really hope you can take yourpany even further. And honestly, I’ve got my own selfish reasons–I want to invest, so I’ll be a shareholder. If you make money, I get a cut too.” I smiled.


    “Alright, I’ll make sure you don’t lose money.” Nathan nodded. “You’lle to the shareholder meetings, right?”


    I nodded. “Of course. I’ll be keeping a close watch on everything going on at yourpany.”


    Nathan chuckled. “Maybe you should invest a bit more–then you’ll be even more interested in what I’m up to.”


    “Where would I get that kind of money?” I let out a bitterugh.


    Nathan looked at me steadily. “I’ll give you five percent of my shares.”


    “What?” I stared at him in disbelief. “I don’t need that.”


    “It’s my decision.” Nathan looked down at his wine ss. “Without you, I wouldn’t be where I am now. You’re the reason I made it this far. Honestly, giving you this much doesn’t even feel like enough.”


    “Nathan, I never asked for anything in return. I was just being a friend…”


    “Even brothers keep things clear when ites to money. Friends should be the same.” Nathan let out a soft chuckle. “This is my call, Victoria. Honestly, I always knew we weren’t built tost, but I never thought it’d end so soon. A lot of this


    is on me.”


    10:30 Sat, 30 Aug


    “No, it’s me. I couldn’t stay true to us,” I said quietly.


    59%


    <b>23 </b>


    Nathan looked at me and gently shook his head. “Back then, I owed the Chancellor family a huge favor. It was like a fire burning inside me, always making me anxious. Now that debt’s shifted to you, and somehow, I feel a lot calmer.”


    I couldn’t hide my surprise as I looked at him.


    Nathan spoke in a low voice, “Is Ryan treating you well?”


    I nodded. “Yeah, he is.”


    “Mr. Hob talked to me about the Jennings family. Victoria, I just think their world is really out of reach–it’s not easy to get in. Even Mr. Hob doesn’t really think you and Ryan will work out.” Nathan worrying about me and Ryan totally caught me off guard; it was a little awkward.


    But what made it even weirder was the fact that he was discussing me and Ryan with Jared in the first ce. Seriously,


    don’t they have anything better to do?


    “When did you and Jared even start talking about this?” I asked, fixing my eyes on him.