Chapter 87
“So, when are you two finally getting married?” he teased.
Cassian’s reply was too faint for Aurelia to catch.
Tyson shot Aurelia another worried glance.
Aurelia raised an eyebrow at him. “Do I have something on my face?”
Tyson shook his head.
“Why do you keep looking at me?” Aurelia teased.
“Uh, nothing.” Tyson mumbled.
“Just eat,” Aurelia said.
Tyson quietly breathed out, relieved.
‘It looks like Aurelia has finally moved on from Cassian,‘ he thought, feeling genuinely glad for her.
Since it was just a casual dinner with no work talk, the meal ended happily.
But when Aurelia went to pay, the waiter told her the bill had already been taken care of.
She checked the receipt and saw that Gideon had covered it.
She shot Gideon a quick message, promising to treat him to dinner next time.
Gideon agreed right away, and he couldn’t hide the smile on his face.
Tessa caught his reaction and was taken aback for a second.
Her gaze automatically flicked to his phone, wondering who had just texted him.
Gideon immediately shut off the screen, so she didn’t see anything.
But somehow, she just knew it had to be Aurelia.
*****
Once Aurelia’s office was set up, she had a mountain of work to tackle.
But she still made time to visit Benjamin at the hospital.
She even picked Wednesday, the day Cassian was always swamped.,
At least being his secretary meant she knew his work habits like the back of her hand.
Abigail lit up the moment she saw Aurelia.
Even Benjamin actually looked genuinely warm for once.
“InquireMind is the project you started, right?” Benjamin asked, steering the conversation to her work.
When Aurelia confirmed, Benjamin nodded, clearly impressed.
14:17 Mon, Dec 22 OM.
Chapter 87
Vischers
“Nice pick. I got some pros in the field to check it out, and they say it’s got a bright future, he said.
His praise was a huge boost for Aurelia, making her feel even more confide about her project.
Abigail handed Aurelia a freshly peeled apple. “Can’t you two talk about something else? Even in the hospital, you’re still talking about work.”
“Cassian’s no different. He’s a total workaholic. Yesterday he dropped by, barely staying ten minutes before rushing off again. He was very busy,” she added.
‘Workaholic?‘ Aurelia thought to herself. ‘More like a total love–fool!‘
He was always busy playing Tessa’s bodyguard, acting like they were inseparable.
But he couldn’t even spare a minute to visit his own sick father.
‘Such a “model son“, she snarked to herself.
Aurelia just kept eating her apple, not saying a word.
Benjamin snorted. “Who cares if he comes to see me?”
“He talks tough, but deep down he’s a softie,” Abigail said with a knowing smile.
She let Benjamin’s words slide and, without missing a beat, picked up her phone to call Cassian.
With Aurelia already there, Abigail thought it was the perfect chance for the two to meet.
She was still hoping to play matchmaker.
But to her surprise, a woman answered the phone.
Abigail froze for a second, made sure she hadn’t dialed the wrong number, then asked in confusion, “Who is this?”
Abigail always kept her phone volume cranked up to the max.
Even without speakerphone, everyone could hear the call.
It was unmistakably Tessa, and Aurelia was not surprised.
After all, their relationship was going strong. They were inseparable, sharing everything between them.
It was totally normal for them to pick up each other’s phones.
“Hi, this is Tessa, Cassian’s girlfriend. I know you’re Abigail. Is something going on with Mr. Locke?” Tessa said.
Tessa clearly knew who Abigail was, and she was actually pretty polite about it.
It was definitely not her usual stuck–up attitude.
“Girlfriend?” Abigail glanced at Aurelia, then said coldly, “Cassian’s never said anything about a girlfriend.”
Tessa hesitated before saying, “Sorry I haven’t come to see Mr. Locke in the hospital. Cassian’s just been swamped lately, so I haven’t had the chance.”
Abigail had zero patience for chit–chat.
Since Cassian wasn’t the one answering, she just hung up right away.
Chapter 87
She didn’t even bother to say goodbye.
Benjamin’s face grew even colder. After a moment, he turned to Aurelia and asked, “Are you free this weekend**
“Yeah, I am.” Aurelia replied.
“Come by East Pastures Estate this weekend,” Benjamin said.
He’d promised before that he’d introduce her to some of his friends.
With a serious nod, Aurelia said, “Don’t worry, I’ll be there on time.”
As Aurelia was leaving the hospital, Abigail insisted on walking her all the way to the entrance.
But honestly, Abigail’s real goal wasn’t just to see her off. She was hoping to get the scoop on what was going on.
Aurelia made it clear to Abigail.
She and Cassian were done.
There was absolutely no chance they’d ever get back together.
Abigail looked pretty down. “How did it come to this?”
She just didn’t get it.
Aurelia and Tyson had a meeting scheduled for the afternoon at NaviTech to discuss a potential partnership.
To make things easier, Tyson came straight to the hospital to pick her up.
So as soon as Aurelia stepped outside, Tyson, who had been waiting, walked right over to her.
“All done?” Tyson asked, handing her a thermos. “Mila made you some brown sugar water. She told me to make sure you drink every last drop.”
After getting home last night, Aurelia’s PMS symptoms were really acting up.
Ever since her miscarriage, her period had been absolute agony every time.
She’d casually mentioned to Mila last night that she wasn’t feeling well.
But Mila remembered, and even went out of her way to make some brown sugar water for her, asking Tyson to bring it over.
It was really thoughtful of Mila.
“Make sure to thank her for me,” Aurelia said, accepting the gesture.
Tyson added, “It’s getting colder out. I brought you a scarf. Make sure you put it on later.”
“Okay,” Aurelia replied.
Abigail watched their interaction closely.
As someone with experience, Abigail could easily spot chemistry between them.
It was obvious Tyson was into Aurelia.
But as for Aurelia, Abigail couldn’t quite tell if she felt the same.
Chapter 87
She was caught off guard at first, but thinking about it, it seemed perfectly normal.
Aurelia was such an outstanding girl. Naturally, she’d have plenty of admirers.
Abigail could see things clearly, but she couldn’t shake off a sense of loss in her heart.
‘Cassian’s bound to regret it one day, letting a gem like Aurelia slip away, she thought.
Aurelia and Tyson were meeting with Breon from NaviTech.
After seeing what made InquireMind stand out at the last summit, Breon had swapped contacts with Aurelia and made it clear he was eager to work together.
He wanted to hook up their flagship office software with InquireMind’s Al model to boost productivity, supercharge data processing, and roll out custom AI assistants for users.
NaviTech’s office suite was hands–down the most popular on the market, with a whopping 700 million registered users.
It served over 25 million companies and organizations and had consistently led the field in monthly active users for years.
Collaborating with a company like this was bound to bring very promising prospects to InquireMind.
Aurelia and Tyson were both fully invested in making this collaboration happen.
Everyone hit it off, and the conversation flowed easily.
As they were leaving, Breon even walked them all the way to the elevator.
“Mr. Youngkin, let’s talk again after InquireMind’s open–source model comes out. We can go over the details then,” Aurelia said.
“Sounds good! I’ll be waiting for the good news,” Breon replied with a smile.
The elevator arrived, and Aurelia gave Breon a quick goodbye before heading out.
Just then, Breon’s secretary came over to report, “Mr. Youngkin, Ms. Rowe from Honoria Capital keeps calling. She wants to talk business. What should I tell her?”
Breon didn’t even look up. “Just keep dodging her. Tell her I’m out of town.
‘Tessa’s probably calling about AeroMind.’ Aurelia thought to himself.
She wasn’t surprised. AeroMind’s core was smart office tech, so it was only natural they’d want to work with NaviTech.
It was rush hour, so the elevator was crowded with people constantly getting on and off.
Aurelia and Tyson ended up getting pushed to the back.
Partway through, a few more people squeezed in, and Aurelia thought one of the voices sounded really familiar.
“I really think Mr. Youngkin is dodging us on purpose. Why don’t you ask your boyfriend for help? It’s better than making all these pointless trips,” the girl said.
Tessa said, “Let me handle it myself first. If I really can’t make it work, then I’ll ask Cassian for help.”
