Bones Learn To Listen When Silence Speaks by Ryn Miles 118

Chapter 118 

On Thursday, Aurelia was invited by Wade to discuss the government hotline platform. 

Wade was a man of action. In just a few days, he had prepared all the details and general requirements for the hotline platform. 

All Aurelia needed to do was hand over this material to InquireMind for integration, and they could move straight into the training phase. 

With InquireMind’s current algorithms and training speed, they’d have results in less than two weeks. 

“Looking forward to hearing good news from you, Ms. Corin,” Wade said as he stood up and shook her hand. “If you need anything else, just reach out. I’ll make sure to fully support you.” 

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Aurelia replied. 

Wade glanced at his watch and asked, “It’s almost lunchtime. Would you like to grab a bite with me, Ms. Corin? Do you have time?” 

Wade was a solid business partner and a true gentleman. Aurelia couldn’t think of a reason to say no. 

Wade picked the restaurant. It was a nice spot, just a stone’s throw from his office, super convenient. 

Aurelia could tell that most of the people coming and going were from his unit. 

The waiter recognized Wade and greeted him with a smile. “Mr. Lautner, having lunch with your girlfriend?” 

Wade must be pretty easygoing, since the waiter felt comfortable joking with him like that. 

“She’s our business partner, not my girlfriend,” Wade explained seriously. 

The waiter apologized. “Sorry. I just thought you two looked so good together, so I figured you were a couple.” 

Aurelia naturally didn’t care about these details. 

Once the waiter realized they were just business partners, he relaxed and started gossiping with Wade. “By the way, Mr. Lautner, your ex–girlfriend is here, too.” 

“She’s not my ex,” Wade corrected him again. “We just met on a blind date, had lunch together. It never turned into anything official.” 

“Oh, well, she was asking about you,” the waiter said. 

As soon as the waiter finished, someone walked over to Wade. 

With her back turned, Aurelia couldn’t tell who it was. 

That was, until a familiar voice spoke up right behind her. 

“Wade, long time no see.” 

The moment Aurelia recognized that voice, she couldn’t help but frown. 

Aurelia thought, ‘Is Ashmont really that small, or what? 

“Thirty million people in this city, and I still end up running into the same folks?‘ 

Chapter 118 

Wade stood up with his usual grace. “Ms. Rowe.” 

Tessa smiled. “I’m here to meet with the Minister of Commerce about the port renovation project. I was just talking about you, and here you are. Care to join us?” 

“Not really convenient,” Wade replied. 

Tessa finally looked over at the person sitting across from Wade. 

When she saw it was Aurelia, her smile vanished. “Alright. We’ll talk some other time.” 

With that, she turned and walked away. 

Wade sat back down, brushing off the little interruption like it was nothing. 

Aurelia couldn’t care less about Tessa. 

But the port renovation project? Now that was something Aurelia was actually interested in. 

Just like she’d predicted, Cassian had backed Tessa. 

And he didn’t just do it. He went all out, handing Tessa the port renovation project on a silver platter. 

That was supposed to be Scott’s project. 

Scott had poured over a year of hard work into that project, and now Cassian just handed it over to Tessa. 

‘Wonder how Scott’s taking it right now, Aurelia thought. 

Of course, Aurelia couldn’t care less about Scott’s feelings. At the moment, there was only one thing on her mind. 

She wanted to snatch that project for herself. 

But with the kind of money and clout Regal Investment had right now, there was no way they could hold a candle to Honoria Capital. 

If they actually went up for the bid, they’d probably get eliminated right off the bat. 

“Ms. Corin, not enjoying the food?” Wade asked, a hint of concern in his voice. 

Aurelia was too wrapped up thinking about the project to pay attention to her meal. 

“No, it’s not that,” Aurelia hurried to explain. “When are you guys opening bids for the port renovation project?” 

Wade smiled. “You’re interested?” 

Aurelia was straightforward. “If it’s a project that makes money, I’m interested.” 

Wade’s eyes lit up with obvious appreciation as he looked at her. 

He took a sip of his Lemonade, set the glass down, and said seriously, “Hope you don’t mind me asking, Ms. Corin. Are you seeing anyone?” 

The sudden change in topic almost made Aurelia choke on her drink. “No, I’m single.” 

“So, what’s your type? Think I might fit the bill?” Wade asked. 

Come to think of it, this was only their second meeting. 

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Aurelia figured he was probably just dealing with his family nagging him to get married. That was probably why he brought 

it up. 

So she replied politely. “I’m not looking to date right now. At the moment, I’m all about the hustle.” 

Wade didn’t miss a beat when she turned him down. “Women these days are all about independence, equality, and chasing their own dreams. I respect that. 

“But if it’s possible, can I get a ticket and wait my turn?” Wade said with a playful smile. 

“You’re pretty witty, Mr. Lautner,” Aurelia couldn’t help but laugh at that. 

Mr. Lautner said, dead serious, “I’m not joking.” 

As they walked out of the restaurant after lunch, they found it was raining. 

It had been raining nonstop lately, and the weather was just miserable. 

Aurelia had left her umbrella in the car. 

Wade hadn’t brought one either. When he saw the rain, he gave Aurelia a quick nod and headed back inside to ask the staff for an umbrella. 

Right at that moment, Tessa and Karlie stepped out after finishing their lunch. 

Judging by Tessa’s grin, their conversation must’ve gone pretty well. 

But the second Tessa caught sight of Aurelia, her smile faded away. 

Karlie spotted Aurelia, too, and her expression soured in a heartbeat. “What’s she doing here?” she muttered. 

Karlie was already biased against Aurelia because of the whole Liam situation. 

And since Aurelia had been giving Tessa a hard time lately, Karlie’s grudge against her was stronger than ever. 

Karlie was about to rush over and argue with Aurelia, but Tessa grabbed her arm. 

“Just ignore her,” Tessa said. 

“But…” Karlie objected, obviously not willing to let it go. 

Tessa, meanwhile, stayed perfectly calm. 

After the AeroMind incident, Cassian never blamed her for a second. 

He backed her up without hesitation, cared about her more than she ever expected, and that gave her real peace of mind. 

So, when Tessa saw Aurelia again, she didn’t feel nearly as rattled as before. 

Now, she could even talk Karlie down. 

“Let’s go. Cassian’s car just pulled up,” Tessa urged Karlie. 

Karlie pouted, but had no choice but to swallow her words. 

But as they walked past Aurelia, Karlie couldn’t help but raise her voice, practically bursting with smugness. 

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Chapter 118 

“Tessa, your man really dotes on you! Not only did he put you in charge of Ascend Group, but he even handed you the port renovation project. That thing’s worth nearly 30 billion dollars. Most people couldn’t dream of reaching that level in their whole lives!” 

Tessa’s phone rang, and her face softened. “It’s Cassian. He must be here. Let’s head out.” 

“Looks like Cassian’s your private driver these days,” Karlie snickered. 

“Oh, he’s just worried about me. He thinks it’s not safe to drive in the rain,” Tessa said, sounding all sweet and coy. 

Aurelia tilted her head back and looked up at the rain. 

‘Still too light. Not even enough to drown out all that yapping, she thought. 

Cassian’s car pulled up fast, and he stepped out holding an umbrella. 

But as soon as he saw Aurelia waiting by the door, he made a quick decision. He was heading straight over and offering her the umbrella.