Chapter 236
Chapter 236
The meal was quiet and pleasant.
Cassian never made an appearance.
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Aurelia was in a good mood and helped herself to another bowl of rice.
When she got home and saw Mia still wasn’t back, Aurelia gave her a call.
Mia was still out, and there was a lot of noise in the background when she picked up.
“Babe, the dinner’s still going on. I might be home late, so don’t wait up for me. Just go to bed early,” Mia said, covering the phone and huddling in a corner to talk to Aurelia.
Aurelia asked, “You haven’t been drinking, have you?”
“Nope, there are some elders here. Don’t worry,” Mia replied.
Aurelia felt relieved, but just as she was about to hang up, Mia suddenly blurted out, “Holy shit!”
“What’s wrong?” Aurelia frowned.
“I just spotted Tessa,” Mia said.
Aurelia was speechless.
‘I should’ve just hung up,’ she thought.
“Getting it on in broad daylight, seriously? No shame at all,” Mia snarked.
Aurelia shot back, “Impressive vocabulary, Mia.”
“No, for real. I saw Tessa coming back from the garden, fixing her clothes as she walked, lipstick all smeared. Talk about being desperate,” Mia said.
Aurelia sighed, “Did you go there for dinner or for the live entertainment?”
“Had dinner and caught a live show at the same time. Too bad it wasn’t the R–rated kind,” Mia joked.
She actually sounded disappointed.
“Go ahead and enjoy the show. I’m going to take a shower,” Aurelia said.
She couldn’t care less about those people.
She hung up and headed straight for a shower. When she came out, she saw Mia had blown up her WhatsApp with a bunch of new messages.
She said: [Damn! Tessa just slipped inside, and now Cassian is strolling back from the garden. Are they really that hot and bothered? Seriously, are they treating the whole world like their bedroom?]
Aurelia said: [Just eat your dinner.]
This time, Mia didn’t answer. She was probably actually eating for once.
Aurelia
put
her phone down and dealt with some emails.
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At ten o’clock that night, Zofia called to ask when the signing ceremony for the strategic partnership between MegaTech, Ryan, and Murel was scheduled.
MegaTech was just entering the approval and handover phase, and with all the integration work, it would take at least a month, even if everything went smoothly.
Zofia’s voice grew more serious. “Is there any way to speed it up?”
Aurelia’s heart sank.
Zofia said, “I’m afraid I won’t be around to see it.”
***
Tessa came home late again.
But this time, Alina didn’t scold her when she walked in. Instead, Alina greeted her with a smile, “You’re back?”
“Yeah,” Tessa mumbled, sounding totally relaxed. She was so tipsy she practically floated through the door.
Alina had the maid pour her a glass of honey water.
“I heard about the high–temperature superconductivity project. Cassian doesn’t hold back with you at all,” Alina said.
After Tessa kept running into trouble, Alina was so worried she couldn’t sleep at night. Now, she could finally relax.
Tessa sprawled out on the couch, looking lazy. “I’ve been telling you, Cassian really cares about me, but you never believe me.”
“Hey, I’m just looking out for you,” Alina replied.
After a moment, Alina asked, “Why are you home again? Didn’t you talk to Cassian about moving in together?”
Tessa lounged back, totally relaxed. “I was just about to tell you. Cassian’s having his place torn down and rebuilt, so he’s staying at the office for now. Not exactly convenient.”
“He’s tearing down his house?” Alina looked genuinely confused.
“Yeah. Since Aurelia was the one who decorated it, Cassian thought I might feel awkward living there, so he decided to tear it down and rebuild from scratch. He promised this time it’ll be designed completely to my taste,” Tessa explained.
Alina finally eased up. “It’s obvious Cassian really puts a lot of thought into things for you. I guess I was just worrying too much.”
Tessa could relate. She’d been guilty of overthinking things herself before.
When Aurelia went to Ascend Group for a work meeting and Cassian wouldn’t stop hyping her up, that was the first time Tessa ever felt a real sense of crisis.
Before, Tessa always looked down on Aurelia, thinking she was barely educated and came from nothing.
But after losing to Aurelia again and again in their little power plays, Tessa couldn’t help but feel discouraged.
And when she found out Aurelia had actually gotten an offer from Whitvale School of Management, Tessa’s heart skipped a beat in panic.
Especially after hearing Aurelia was getting InquireMind ready to go public, Tessa finally realized Aurelia hadn’t just lucked out. She actually had what it takes.
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‘Damn, she’s seriously got it, Tessa thought.
That’s when Tessa started to panic, worried Cassian might fall for Aurelia all over again.
He’d already given Aurelia those admiring looks right in front of her, more than once.
But to her surprise, that very afternoon, Cassian brought her along to a networking dinner.
He introduced her to top players in business and finance, and even lined up a new project for her, bigger, better, and with even brighter prospects.
That was when Tessa finally realized Cassian’s feelings for her ran way deeper and stronger than she’d ever thought possible.
Jasper said Cassian had been into her for seven years.
She never really bought it.
Back then, Cassian was never all that warm toward her.
Whenever he looked at her, his gaze was always distant.
It wasn’t until a little over a year ago that he finally started making a move.
But when she thought about it, that was exactly when news of her breakup with Gideon started to spread.
So the reason Cassian had been so cold to her before was simply because she was with Gideon.
And the instant everyone heard she and Gideon were done, Cassian was there for her right away.
He really had been waiting for her for six years, just like they said.
ནཱ། ྃ་ཧ ི། :
So in Cassian’s heart, she was the most special person of all.
‘As for Cassian and Aurelia, it’s probably just plain old admiration, Tessa thought,
‘He just admires her, that’s all. Nothing else is going on,‘ she told herself.
‘If Cassian really had feelings for Aurelia, he had seven years to make a move. No way he’d wait until now, Tessa reasoned.
Alina had also caught wind of the news about InquireMind going public from the wives‘ circle.
She still had a chip on her shoulder about it, so she warned Tessa, “Cassian’s handed you a golden opportunity this time. Don’t screw it up again, or that Aurelia girl will leave you in the dust.”
Tessa just smirked. “Relax. She’s not getting another shot. Let her have her final moment in the spotlight.”
After that, they dropped the topic of Aurelia and switched gears to talk about the house renovation.
It was as if Aurelia’s business didn’t matter to them at all anymore, She wasn’t even on their radar.
The next morning, Aurelia woke up and realized Mia hadn’t come home all night. ‘Seriously? She didn’t come back at all?‘ Aurelia thought, a little surprised.
She tried calling, but Mia didn’t answer. ‘What on earth is she doing?‘ Aurelia wondered, feeling a bit uneasy.
At noon, Aurelia had to swing by the government office to touch base with Wade about the MegaTech acquisition.
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Chapter 236
When she got there, she found out Wade was in a meeting.
According to his assistant, Charlie Grant, it was a meeting about the high–temperature superconductivity project.
Since it was a high–tech project, the government was throwing its full support behind it.
The news had only started spreading yesterday, and already there was a meeting at the government office today.
‘Cassian really came prepared, Aurelia thought.
Since Wade was busy, Aurelia decided to come back in the afternoon.
Just as Aurelia was about to head out, a whole entourage swept in from outside.
Wade led the pack, with Cassian and Tessa flanking him.
Another seven or eight people surrounded them, looking like a VIP procession as they all made their way inside.
When Cassian saw Aurelia, his eyes flickered for a moment before he shifted his gaze away with indifference.
Tessa, holding onto his arm, gave Aurelia a cool, disdainful look.
Only Wade stopped in his tracks.
