"You''ve lost weight," he said, his tone t, betraying little concern. It sounded like a polite, obligatoryment.


    Noreen didn''t bother to answer his strange question. She stepped into the elevator just before the doors closed, and Seth followed.


    The elevator descended in silence. Seth''s phone buzzed several times, and he took it out, his attentionpletely absorbed by the screen. Noreen, feeling an uncharacteristic impatience, nced up at the floor numbers. The polished steel walls reflected their images with perfect rity-including the screen of Seth''s phone.


    Even in a fleeting, peripheral nce, she recognized the profile picture.


    It was Bianca.


    When the elevator reached the ground floor, Noreen walked out without a backward nce. They left the hotel one after the other.


    Just as they did, Henry Brooke''s car pulled up. He was there to see Ron Archer, but his eyes caught the strange sight of Noreen and Seth leaving the hotel separately. He paused, his brow furrowing in suspicion. A hotel was a delicate ce; it was hard not to draw certain conclusions.


    After a moment''s hesitation, Henry dialed Bianca''s number.


    "Hey, where are you?" he asked when she answered.


    "I''m at home," she replied.


    Henry paused, ultimately deciding to keep his suspicions to himself. "I''m in Rivercrest City," he said instead. "I was hoping we could grab dinner sometime."


    "Tomorrow should work. I''ll text you?"


    "Sounds good."


    Henry had other business to attend to, so he kept the call brief. After hanging up, he looked in the direction Noreen had gone, a cold, mocking glint in his eyes. All the previous "coincidences" could have been misunderstandings misjudgments. But this? He had seen it with his own eyes. Noreen was actively pursuing another woman''s fiancé. To put it nicely, she was coveting him. To put it bluntly, she was trying to seduce him.


    The next morning, Noreen had barely settled in at her desk when Vincent called, telling her to check thetest financial news. As she booted up herputer, a pop-up appeared on the screen:


    【ASCENDANCY GROUP TO JOIN FORCES WITH THE GODFATHER OF


    SILICON VALLEY?]


    Noreen''s brow tightened. She


    clicked the link, which took her to a major financial news site. Beneath the bold headline was a high-resolution photo of Bianca and Ron Archer ying golf. Sethstood nearby, his gaze fixed admiringly on Bianca as she swung her club. They all looked happy and rxed, a picture of perfect harmony. The article was pure spection, spun around the photo, suggesting that a major partnership between Ascendancy Group and Ron Archer was imminent.


    "Did Mr. Archer really decide to partner with Ascendancy?" Vincent''s voice was


    filled with worry. "If they team up, how can we possiblypete?"


    Noreen knew what he was afraid of.


    Ascendancy Group already dominated the domestic chip market. Although the fireworks.


    incident had damaged their reputation and stock price, a partnership with a legend ke Rom Archer would be more than enough to reverse their fortunes.


    "Nothing is set in stone yet," Noreen said calmly, trying to reassure him. "Don''t let


    a spective article distract you. This could just be a smoke screen put out by a


    "Okay," Vincent said, his anxiety easing slightly at her words.<fn6d06> Get full chapters from f?ndnovel</fn6d06>


    Next, Noreen called Dr. Wilder to ask when he nned on visiting Ron for his follow-up. She wanted to go with him. Ron hadn''t given her a clear answer about her proposal, only that he would consider it. She needed to press her advantage.


    But before she could make her move, her phone rang. It was Ron Archer.