Bones Learn To Listen When Silence Speaks by Ryn Miles 120

Chapter 120 

Karlie had meant to take a shot at Aurelia to blow off some steam, but Aurelia ended up flipping the script on 

her. 

To make things worse, the Commerce Minister sitting in the front row next to Tessa turned around and asked, “What settlement payment?” 

Tessa’s face darkened, but she managed a strained smile and explained to the Commerce Minister, “It’s an old business dispute. The money’s already set aside, waiting for the scheduled transfer. I didn’t expect her to bring it up here. Sorry, you had to hear about it in this setting.” 

The Commerce Minister chuckled. “It’s just a professional reflex. I get a bit anxious whenever I hear about outstanding payments. No offense meant.” 

Tessa gave Karlie a warning glance, telling her to drop it and quit messing with Aurelia. 

Even Jasper couldn’t get the better of Aurelia. Karlie was no match for her. 

Somehow, Wade got wind that Aurelia was at the bidding conference and came over to find her. 

Seeing her stuck at the edge with nowhere to sit, he quickly arranged for Aurelia to take a seat in the second 

row. 

What a coincidence. She ended up right behind Tessa and the Commerce Minister. 

She was so close to them that she could hear every word they said. 

The Commerce Minister looked pretty impressed with Tessa, and kept asking about her academic background. 

“I heard you graduated from Whitvale School of Management and even earned a PhD in finance. That’s really something. It is one of the top business schools abroad,” the minister said. 

Tessa’s lips curled into a confident smile, clearly feeling a sense of superiority. 

“You’re too kind, Minister,” Tessa replied with practiced modesty. “My degree is just one part of my journey. There’s still a lot I need to learn and experience.” 

“You’re way too humble. Honestly, most people wouldn’t expect someone so young to have such credentials,” the minister said. 

“I fast–tracked my master’s and PhD, so I graduated two years earlier than most,” Tessa replied. 

“That’s even more impressive! So, which school did you graduate from?” the minister asked. 

“Ashmont High, graduated in 2018,” Tessa answered. 

“Ah, that explains it! Ashmont High’s one of the best schools around!” the minister exclaimed. 

Chapter 120 

While they kept chatting, Aurelia, sitting right behind them, started spacing out. 

‘Wait, I was also in the Class of 2018 at Ashmont High, but I seriously don’t remember anyone like Tessa. Was she that invisible, or did I just miss something?‘ Aurelia wondered. 

Of course, there could be other explanations. 

Maybe Tessa only transferred in during senior year. 

Back then, Aurelia was always taking time off to look after her sick mother, Ella. 

She rarely went to school, handling most of her coursework online. 

After that, Aurelia stopped paying attention to whatever Tessa and the minister were chatting about, zeroing in on the details of the bidding conference instead. 

When the bidding conference wrapped up, Wade came over again and asked if Aurelia had time to get dinner. 

But Aurelia was swamped. She had to get back and sort through all the info from the conference, so she politely turned him down. 

“Alright, next time then. Here, take this,” Wade said, handing her a sleek, compact black umbrella. 

Seeing Aurelia glance at him, Wade explained, “It’s rainy season lately, so make sure you always have an umbrella with you.” 

It was the kind of umbrella for a woman to use. 

It looked brand new, probably something Wade had bought especially for her. 

If she turned it down, it’d be weird for Wade to use it himself. 

So Aurelia accepted it. “This is new, right? How much was it? I’ll send you the money.” 

Wade wanted to say no, but knowing how Aurelia was about these things, he just named the price. 

After Aurelia transferred the money, Wade took it, no questions asked. 

After they said goodbye, Aurelia took off in a hurry. 

That evening, after she’d gotten her thoughts in order, Aurelia gave Tyson a call and laid out her ideas and plans. 

“This is awesome! I think we can pull it off!” Tyson was fired up. “If we push for a smart upgrade at the port, bring in AI, make everything run smoother and faster, ramp up safety and reliability, and overhaul the whole logistics chain, smart scheduling, and data crunching, we could take things to a whole new level.” 

Just as Aurelia was about to say something, her phone, lying on the table, suddenly lit up with a transfer notification. 

13:00 Tue, Dec 23 M 

Chapter 120 

She tapped it open and took a look. 

It was a deposit alert for the company account. 

The amount: 200 million dollars. 

Sender: Cassian Locke. 

Having worked as Cassian’s secretary, Aurelia recognized that account number in a heartbeat. It was his personal account. 

So, the money Tessa paid to Regal Investment and InquireMind had actually come straight out of Cassian’s private account. 

10 

Aurelia had only called Tessa out on it earlier that day, and by evening, the money was already sitting in the company account. 

‘Talk about fast, this is true love, no doubt about it, Aurelia thought. 

“Aurelia?” Tyson called out, sounding a bit anxious not hearing anything for a while, he wondered if the 

call had dropped. 

Aurelia snapped out of it, thumped her phone back onto the table, and buried herself in her work again. “I’m here. Let’s keep talking.” 

***** 

Hardly anyone knew Aurelia was planning to bid on the project. After all, who would expect a small company like Regal Investment to go after a government contract? 

Meanwhile, Tessa was making a lot of noise about it, totally confident, and had spread the word early. 

With Honoria Capital backing her, she had every reason to be so sure of herself. 

Mia, on the other hand, was fuming. She kept ranting on the phone, “Seriously, how is she so lucky? No matter what she does, Cassian’s always got her back, even handing her a huge project like this. How did I never realize before that Cassian was such a lovesick fool?” 

Aurelia chuckled. “Why are you more upset than I am? I don’t even care anymore.” 

“Babe, I just feel like you deserve better,” Mia said. 

Even through the screen, Mia couldn’t hide the pain in her eyes for Aurelia. 

She knew how much Aurelia had suffered in that relationship, and how deeply she’d been hurt. 

“Cassian only gets away with this because you never fight back! Honoria Capital wouldn’t be half as big without you. At least a fifth of the credit is yours! And now he’s blowing your hard–earned cash to keep his new flame happy? That’s so damn messed up!” Mia ranted. 

“I hope they have bad luck!” Mia cursed. 

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Chapter 120 

“Where’s that classy vibe, Lady Mia?” Aurelia teased. 

Mia kept cursing, “Class? It’s gone!” 

Back in the day, Aurelia would’ve really taken this to heart. 

But now? None of it bothered her anymore. 

Letting go of Cassian was like breaking free. Aurelia finally felt truly liberated. 

“Oh, by the way, the finance team will be sending your quarterly dividends to your account soon. Make sure you check it,” Aurelia said. 

Aurelia didn’t want to waste her time on those two drama magnets. 

“Wait, I get dividends, too?” Mia blurted out, surprised. 

“Of course! The money you lent me? I turned it into shares for you,” Aurelia replied. 

Mia gasped. “Whoa, does this mean I can finally just kick back and chill?” 

“If you want, you could just kick back and chill now,” Aurelia teased. 

“So, how much did I get?” Mia asked, practically buzzing with excitement. 

“See for yourself,” Aurelia replied. 

Right then, Mia got the transfer notification. Her eyes went wide as she started counting all the zeros. 

She couldn’t hold back and shrieked, “Aaaaah! Why are there so many zeros? Did you guys send me the wrong amount or something?!” 

Luckily, Aurelia had seen it coming and held her phone at arm’s length before Mia could let out her ear- splitting scream. 

But even with the phone far away, Mia’s screech still managed to pierce through. Aurelia said, “That’s your cut of the first quarter’s dividends. 11 million dollars, all yours.” 

“I’m never letting go of your coattails! I’m sticking to you for life!” Mia blurted out, swearing her loyalty. Then she couldn’t help but gush, “Cassian might not have left you a single cent, but you inherited his investment genius. You’re destined to be loaded! One day, you’ll leave Honoria Capital in the dust!” 

“But he’s still kicking,” Aurelia joked. 

“Doesn’t matter. He’s a hopeless case, totally lovesick, beyond help,” Mia snorted. 

After finishing her call with Mia, Aurelia swung by Gold Gauntlet to fill Gideon in on the latest. 

They ended up grabbing dinner together while they were at it, 

Since Aurelia’s car was getting serviced, Gideon gave her a lift and dropped her off downstairs at her place. 

13:00 Tue, Dec 23 M… 

Chapter 120 

After they said their goodbyes, Aurelia turned to head back inside, but suddenly heard footsteps behind her. 

Since she hadn’t seen anyone else around, she figured it must be Gideon. 

She turned around and called out, “Hey, Gideon, did you forget something?” 

“Hate to break it to you, but I’m not Gideon here to play nice,” the man said, his tone laced with sarcasm. 

The orange streetlight threw heavy shadows across his face, his eyes brooding and stormy. 

His voice was cold, as if it had just come out of a deep freeze, bone–chilling and merciless.