Just as Henry was about to make his point more obvious, Carman''s phone rang. He gave Henry an apologetic nod and stepped aside to take the call. His expression immediately turned serious. "I''ll be right back."


    Before leaving, he quickly found Padgett Novak. “Something urgent came up at work."


    Padgett was understanding. "Work is important. I''ll have Landon send a copy of the meeting minutes to Ms. Gilmore."


    Bianca was thest to arrive. The moment she entered, the chatter in the conference hall died down as people flocked to greet her. Henry considered going over, but seeing the crowd, he decided against it. He found a seat with a good view and let his gaze drift toward her. She hade alone today; Seth wasn''t with her, which made Henry feel a bit bolder in his observation.


    Sitting next to him was Healy Naylor. Healy, however, wasn''t looking at Bianca. His eyes were fixed on the entrance. He kept watching until Padgett entered the room and officially started the meeting.<fnb496> Th? link to the orig?n of this information r?sts ?n FindN0vel</fnb496>


    Healy finally frowned and turned to Yves Elwyn beside him. "Is Ms. Gilmore noting?"


    "I don''t know," Yves replied. "I was looking for her too."


    On Yves''s other side, Bianca overheard the question. Her expression hardened for a moment, then rxed into a disdainful smirk. *Noreen has her own fires to put out right now,* she thought. She had poached the ounting firms, thew firms, even the underwriters. InnoCore''s IPO was likely dead in the water. To be honest, she had been looking forward to seeing Noreen, just to watch her pretend to be calm while her world was copsing.


    When Padgett began his speech, Healy knew for sure that Noreen wasn''ting.


    A wave of disappointment washed over him. He had onlye to this conference


    for her, and once again, he had missed her. He realized it had been a long time since he''dst seen her, and he couldn''t seem to find a good reason to seek her out.


    The meetingsted nearly the entire day. Afterward, Padgett, on behalf of the city government, invited all the entrepreneurs to dinner. Normally, Bianca would have declined, but ever since she''d guessed Padgett''s true identity, she had changed her mind, canceling another engagement to attend. Henry had other ns as well, but when he saw Bianca was going, he decided to stay. Only Healy seemed uninterested, politely declining Padgett''s offer and leaving early.


    By the time the dinner ended, it was after ten o''clock. Henry was in a great mood: He had spent a long time talking with Bianca, the most animated conversation they''d Rad since he returned to the country. As they were leaving, he was about to offer her a ride home when she said, "Seth ising to pick me up soon. I had a wonderful time tonight. It''s been ages since we''ve had such a good chat. We should get together with Director Novak for dinner sometime."


    Henry''s spirits fell for a moment, but he agreed. "Of course. Get home safe."


    He waited with her, and in less than two minutes, Seth''s car pulled up. Henry stood rooted to the spot, watching Bianca get in, watching the car drive away. It was sote, and Seth hade to pick her up... they were going home together, weren''t they? They must be living together. It was perfectly normal for an engaged couple, but a sour, indescribable feeling churned in Henry''s gut.


    Bianca was in high spirits and chattered on to Seth about her sesses that day. She paused when she noticed the car was heading toward her family''s home. Just as she was about to say something, her phone buzzed. It was a WhatsApp message from Jude Wilder, reminding everyone about his birthday party the next day. The group chat quickly filled with confirmations. After a bit of banter, the car pulled up in front of the Lowell estate.


    ***