Yvonne mmed the bottle of nail polish down in frustration. "The whole Naylor family must be out of their minds!"


    Bianca, her mood soured, didn''t linger. She cut the conversation short and headed back to her room. After a shower, she thought about messaging Seth, but noticed a message from Lillian Laurent instead.


    Lillian was asking if she''d managed to track down those two friends after returning home.


    Bianca froze. How could she have forgotten about that?


    She''d actually asked someone to look into Lillian''s two friends that very night, but only managed to find one of them.


    The next day, she arranged to meet with the person.


    He was cagey at first, dodging questions and refusing to give her a straight answer. Only after Bianca turned up the heat-making it clear she wouldn''t leave without the truth-did he finally crack.


    "Honestly, we messed up that night," he admitted.


    Bianca''s expression hardened. "What do you mean?"


    He exined, "We used that sedative, just like we nned, but before we got the woman back to the room, someone caught us. A man-he seemed to know her. He just took her right out of our hands."


    "You know who he was?" Bianca pressed immediately.


    "Didn''t at the time," he said. "But yesterday, I saw him on the news."


    He fumbled for his phone and pulled up a news article, showing her the picture. "That''s him! That''s the guy who took the woman from us!"<fnbb98> This update is avable on FιndＮovel</fnbb98>


    Bianca stared at the photo. When she realized who it was, her face drained of color.


    No wonder. Suddenly, the things that had been bothering her all clicked into ce.


    She left the café with a stormy expression and messaged Lillian: "That night, it was Healy who took Noreen away."


    That answer was hard for Lillian to swallow.


    "Why? Why did it have to be Healy?" she wrote back, her disbelief in.


    She''d spent so much effort trying to get close to Healy, only to be kept at arm''s length every time. And Noreen—she just happened to be in the right ce at the right time, and Healy came to her rescue.


    Bianca wanted to know the answer, too.


    But Lillian was fixated on something else. "Cousin, do you think Healy is the one leaking all those scandals about me?"


    Bianca had no real answer for her.


    "But why? Why does he want to ruin me?" Lillian was at a loss.


    She couldn''t think of anything she''d done to offend Healy-nothing that would make him want to destroy her.


    "Maybe it''s because of Noreen?" Bianca offered, the only reason she could imagine.


    But was Healy really that concerned about Noreen?


    After the Naylor Automotive Group''s new carunch, Noreen''s days were a whirlwind of work. Even so, she made time for one thing every day: reaching out to Vincent.


    Every route Henry could imagine, Noreen had already considered. In fact, ever since she learned Vincent had left Ascendancy Group, she''d been trying to make contact.


    She''d tried messaging him directly,


    but got no response. She''d gone through mutual acquaintances, people who might have a


    connection but it was no use Every


    possible lead was a dead end.


    Finally, only one option remained: Seth.


    That''s the way business


    goes-sooner orter, you always need a favor from someone. There are no permanent friends or


    enemies, only galliances


    based on mutual benefit. Even if you can''t stand someone, sometimes you have to swallow your pride for the sake of the bottom line.


    So Noreen unblocked Seth''s number on WhatsApp, where she''d banished him months ago, and sent a simple smiley face.


    She fully expected him to block her in return-after all, she''d iced him out for half


    a year. He''d be justified.


    But the dreaded red exmation mark never appeared. The message went through without a hitch.