After finishing her conversation with Scott, Noreen asked Sophia to pull together a summary of Aetheria''s press conference-she wanted to take a look herself.


    Sophia hesitated, stammering, "Maybe you shouldn''t bother. There''s really nothing worth seeing."


    Noreen raised an eyebrow. "What''s going on?"


    Sophia pouted, her voice thick with annoyance. "It was supposed to be a gameunch, but halfway through, it turned into some kind of romance announcement." Unfazed, Noreen insisted that Sophia send her the recording anyway.


    The first part of the conference actually focused on Aetheria. But once a reporter steered the questions off course, the whole event devolved into a public spectacle about someone''s love life.


    Apparently, Sophia was so irritated that she just cut thetter half of the video before sending it over.


    Worried she''d missed something, Noreen decided to check Aetheria''s official ount herself.


    The most-liked video at the top had nothing to do with the game at all.


    She was just about to scroll past it and look for actual game content when the screen suddenly cut to Seth.


    Noreen''s hand froze.


    A momentter, Seth''s voice filled the room-a heartfelt confession she''d never heard from him before.


    "She''s brilliant. How could I bear to tie her down with marriage? Even if we get married, she''ll still be free, able to soar wherever she chooses."


    Noreen lowered her gaze and let out a quiet, mockingugh. How poetic. So this is what Seth looked like when he truly loved someone.


    How ironic, after more than seven years together, this was the first time she''d ever seen this side of him.


    But it didn''t matter anymore.


    She swiped away the video and skimmed through other clips andments about Aetheria.


    From the initial teasers to the beta, right up to theunch, most of what was presented was actually Scott''s work back when he was still at TechVenture.


    But there had been some tweaks to the character designs.


    For example... the female characters'' outfits had gotten noticeably more revealing.


    Just as she closed the app, her phone rang-ire was calling.


    Noreen barely had time to say hello before ireunched into a furious tirade.


    "That Bianca is Seth''s new mistress, right? She looks so innocent, but what a piece of work!"


    "How much did she pay to promote that video? It''s everywhere! She must be dying for the whole world to see Seth confessing his love for her!"


    "I used a burner ount to call her out for being a homewrecker, but myment


    got deleted instantly, and they blocked me! Guilty conscience much?"


    "There are all kinds of people in this world-the really rotten ones, the slightlydess rotten ones. Some of them have mothers who should have raised them better, and some-well, maybe they just didn''t.”


    Noreen knew ire''s temper. If she didn''t let her vent, ire would probably burst from frustration.


    So she put the call on speaker and let ire rant, focusing on her own work as her friend got it all out.


    Once ire finally ran out of steam, she asked, "Wasn''t this Bianca the one who lost to you on two different projects before? And now she already starting another one? She really doesn''t know when to quit!"


    Noreen chuckled. "That''s only because she''s got someone to catch her every time she falls. Seth gives her top-tier connections and endless resources. She could fair a thousand times, and he''d still help her back up.


    "You can stillugh about this?" ire sounded ready to explode.


    She could never stay calm about any of this.<fn07c4> Chapters first released on </fn07c4>


    Every time she saw those two parading their rtionship all over social media,


    she felt nothing but anger on Noreen''s behalf.


    Noreen had been with Seth for seven years, and not once had he ever


    acknowledged her publicly, let alone introduced her as his partner.


    Back then, Noreen had been so humble-she''d even proposed to him herself,


    and was willing to settle for a secret marriage.


    Even then, Seth had never really cared for her.


    Now he was unting his new love without a second thought, as if Noreen never existed.


    How could she not be furious?


    She wanted nothing more than to give those two a piece of her mind— permanently.


    Noreen gently tried to calm her. "Let me tell you some good news, just to cheer you up."