Two weekster, SkyMind officiallyunched across every tform.


    Noreen hadn’t paid much attention to it. It was only when she was driving past the city’s central square that she noticed SkyMind’s ads rolling across the giant digital billboard.


    That billboard was infamous for its staggering price tag.


    Thirty thousand dors a minute–five hundred a second.


    Whoever was promoting SkyMind was sparing no expense.


    This campaign had to be worth at least several million.


    No sooner had Noreen arrived at the office than Sophia showed up, carrying a steaming sk of chicken and mushroom broth.


    Sophia had been unusually diligenttely, bringing Noreen a different stomach–friendly soup every day.


    Whether it was the soup or just good luck, Noreen’s stomach had been behaving itself for once.


    As she poured the broth into a mug, Sophia couldn’t help butin, “I can’t imagine how much the Aurelion Group is burning on SkyMind’s marketing. That ad is everywhere–subway stations, TV, even the main news sites. You can’t take a step in Rivercrest without seeing SkyMind stered


    somewhere.”


    Noreen sipped the broth, warmth spreading pleasantly through her stomach.


    She couldn’t help but think she’d underestimated them. The campaign budget probably wasn’t just several million. It must’ve been close to ten million at least.


    Thanks to a bottomless marketing budget, SkyMind shot to number one on the download charts within three days.


    And that was just the beginning. Thepany had enlisted a swarm of influencers to promote it–three trending hashtags every single day.


    Bianca, too, was basking in SkyMind’s glory. She’d been invited onto several business talk shows and was suddenly the darling of the media.


    Compared to that, Noreen’s own side of things was a whirlwind of exhaustion and chaos.


    Carman had already been pulling overtime for two weeks straight.


    Every day after clocking out from Winrich, Noreen would drive over to Carman’s studio to help out–doing anything, everything, whatever needed doing.


    The more she did, the less Carman and the others had to shoulder.


    By Friday, they were all workingte into the night.


    <b>19:37 </b>


    That evening, Carman warned her they’d probably be pulling an all–nighter.


    Noreen volunteered to go out and pick up food and drinks for everyone.


    It wasn’t until she was heading back that she realized her car was out of gas.


    She’d been so busy she hadn’t even noticed the fuel gauge.


    Just as she pulled out her phone to call roadside assistance, a sleek ck Bentley pulled up


    her.


    beside


    The window rolled down, and from the back seat Dn called out, “Noreen? What are you doing out here?”


    “Mr. Wilder?” She was just as surprised to see a familiar face.


    “Car trouble?” Dn stepped out, taking in the situation.


    “I forgot to get gas. Ran out,” Noreen admitted, a little sheepish.


    Dn nced at the pile of takeout bags in her passenger seat and quickly pieced things together.


    “Tell you what,” he offered, “take my car. I’ll deal with yours. That food’s going to be cold if you wait around.”


    He was right.


    “Deal!” she agreed immediately.


    “I’ll swing by your office tomorrow and we can swap cars then.”


    Noreen had no objections. She was in a rush, so after a hurried goodbye, she left Dn to handle her car and sped off in his.


    The next day, Noreen had an important meeting and couldn’t stay all night at the studio.


    By the time she finally drove home, it was well past one in the morning.


    She’d barely finished showering when someone knocked at her door.


    Who could it possibly be at this hour?


    Noreen peered through the peephole, frowning.


    Seth. Again.


    She’d written him off so thoroughly, she might as well have imagined his grave overgrown with weeds by now–so why did he keeping back from the dead?


    Noreen had zero intention of opening the door.


    But Seth must have guessed. He started pounding on the door, each knock harder than thest.


    She could hear her neighbors stirring–someone was definitely awake now.


    To avoid gettingints, Noreen reluctantly unlocked the door.


    Seth stood outside, looking darker and more menacing than she’d ever seen him.


    <b>213 </b>


    <b>19:37 </b>


    He barely waited for the door to open before snapping, “What took you so long? Hiding someone in there?”


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!