Michelle frowned. "What the hell are you talking about? I already told my assistant to handle it."


    "Then why was my mom kicked out of her hospital room in the middle of the night?" Stefan shot back.


    Michelle''s voice grew cold. "Forget about that. I should be asking you. Besides taking a few staged photos with Vrie, have you made any real progress?"


    "What more do you want?" Stefan asked.


    She smirked. "I want something that willpletely ruin her. You know what to do."


    "Send me 250,000 dors for medical expenses first, or I''m done doing your dirty work," Stefan demanded.


    Michelle let out a mockingugh. "Stefan, you know I can have your mother thrown out of the hospital for good with a single word, right?"


    He had no right to threaten her.


    Stefan retorted, "Oh, I believe you. But if you do that, I''ll make sure the whole world knows everything you made me do. When that happens, Brandon will never want anything to do with you again."


    "You!" Michelle clenched her jaw, her face contorting with anger.


    After a long pause, she spoke coldly. "Fine. I''ll call my assistant right now. You''ll have the money in your ount soon."


    Without waiting for a response, she hung up and immediately dialed her assistant.


    "How the hell are you handling things? I told you to pay for Lily Foley''s medical expenses. Why the hell did Stefan say it wasn''t paid?!" she demanded.


    "I''m so sorry, Ms. Snowden! I got caught up with other work andpletely forgot... I''ll take care of it right away!" her assistant apologized.


    Michelle huffed. "Forget it. Just transfer the money to Stefan directly."


    "Understood. I''ll do it now," the assistant replied.


    Stefan soon received a bank notification confirming the deposit of 250,000 dors.


    He nced at the screen before texting Vrie, inviting her to dinner. He nned to give her the money then.


    Vrie had been swamped with work all morning, only noticing the message around


    noon.


    After a moment''s thought, she replied.


    Vrie: [Sorry, I already have ns tonight. Let''s reschedule.]


    A momentter, Stefan responded with an [Okay].


    ...


    Brandon was waiting outside the Weir Group building around 5:00 p.m. when he got a call from Nn.


    "Brandon, do you have time tonight? Let''s grab dinner with Yale and Jayden," Nn suggested.


    Leaning one armzily on the steering wheel, Brandon replied, "No need. You guys go ahead. I have ns."


    "Brandon, both you and Jayden


    overreactedst night. Are you going to throw away years of friendship over something trivial? Nn pressed.


    really


    Brandon chuckled. "You should be talking to Jayden, not me. Tell him to stop interfering in my bus and pushing me to see Michelle."


    "I''ll talk to him, but are you sure you won''t join us?" Nn probed.


    "I already told you that I have ns tonight Talkter." With that,. Brandon ended the call and pushed open the car door just as Vrie walked out of the building


    "Vrie," he called out.


    She approached him and asked, "Have you been waiting long?"


    "No, I just got here," Brandon replied.


    The two of them got into the car, and he drove them toward her favorite sushi restaurant.


    When they arrived, Vrie got out first while Brandon went to park the car. As she waited, her phone rang. It was N.


    "Hey, Vrie! We''re about to board our flight. Do you want me to bring you anything from abroad?" N asked.


    Vrie grinned. "How about a 6''3" handsome guy?"


    N burst outughing. "That might be a little tricky. Anything else?"


    "I was just kidding! I''m happy with whatever you bring me," Vrie answered.