Bones Learn To Listen When Silence Speaks by Ryn Miles 106

Chapter 106 

વાત 

But Alina still reminded Tessa, “You need to strike while the iron’s hot and make things official between you two before you end up overthinking it and missing your chance.” 

“That won’t happen. Cassian’s feelings for me are real,” Tessa replied. 

“But feelings can flip in an instant. Can you guarantee he’ll always be this into you? Trust me, I know guys way better than you do. You need to make sure he’s yours. Don’t let another seven years go to waste like you did with Gideon,” Alina said. 

Tessa’s expression turned serious. “I see.” 

“Put some real thought into this. If you need to take action, just do it. Acting coy doesn’t always get you anywhere. Learn from me.” Alina lowered her voice, making sure no one else could hear. 

Tessa bit her lip, staying silent. 

As Tessa’s mother, Alina could read her expression in an instant. Frowning, she asked, “So, you two still haven’t taken things to the next level?” 

“Cassian respects me,” Tessa said, a hint of helplessness in her voice. 

Alina’s face fell. “Respect? Who cares about that between a man and a woman? I went to such lengths to push you two together, and you still haven’t made any real progress?” 

By “lengths,” Alina meant she literally burned down their house just to give Tessa an excuse to move in with Cassian. 

But since today was Tessa’s big day, Alina didn’t want to nag her anymore. 

“Stop dragging your feet. Don’t put it off any longer,” Alina urged. 

“Got it,” Tessa replied. 

Once Tessa’s parents arrived, the celebration officially kicked off. 

The host took the stage to get things started, and Jasper was honestly blown away by how Cassian pulled out all the stops. 

They even brought in the city’s star anchor to host the event. 

Liam’s seat was right next to Jasper’s, but the event was already underway, and Liam still hadn’t shown up. 

Jasper quickly pulled out his phone and called Liam. 

But Liam didn’t just ignore the call. He straight–up hung up on him. 

‘Seriously, what the hell is Liam doing?‘ Jasper couldn’t help but think, annoyed. 

Jasper wasn’t about to give up, so he dialed again, but only for Liam to cut him off even faster this time. 

While the host was explaining the event’s purpose and schedule, Tessa came over to Jasper to ask what was going on. 

“Why isn’t Gideon here yet?” she asked. 

“Yeah, where the heck is he?” Jasper was getting even more worked up than she was. 

“Let me give him a call and hurry him up,” Jasper said. 

Jasper dialed Gideon’s number. 

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Chapter 106 

But just like before, Gideon hung up on him, too. 

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65 vouchers 

Jasper blinked, totally lost. “What the heck? Why is everyone just straight–up rejecting my calls today?” he muttered, feeling more and more confused. 

Tessa looked at the two empty seats at the main table, her face flickering with a subtle, unreadable emotion. 

Right when she needed it most, Cassian gave her a quick pat on the shoulder. “Get ready. It’s your turn to go up.” 

Just hearing Cassian’s voice calmed Tessa’s nerves, settling the unease in her heart. 

Tessa reassured herself. ‘Gideon not being here isn’t a big deal. 

‘And Liam bailing at the last minute? That’s fine, too. 

“Can you swing by Gold Gauntlet?” he asked. 

‘And honestly, having Cassian by my side is more than enough. 

Just as the host brought the energy in the room to its peak, Tessa stepped up to the stage to give her speech. 

The flashbulbs went off like crazy, lighting up the whole place. 

Taking in the electric atmosphere, Tessa felt every last bit of doubt and worry melting away. 

All that remained was a deep, satisfying sense of accomplishment. 

‘Scenes like this? Aurelia could only dream of ever seeing something this grand in her lifetime,’ Tessa thought, pride swelling in her chest. 

Tessa took the microphone with poise, standing tall as a true winner. She thanked all her friends, family, and the media for coming to celebrate AeroMind’s success. 

At celebrations like that, it was basically tradition to share some touching stories and pull at everyone’s heartstrings. 

Tessa began by talking about how tough it had been to get this project off the ground, and how proud she was of what she’d accomplished today. 

It almost looked like she was the one who made it all happen. 

But honestly, she was just the investor behind the whole project. 

As the event moved on to the project showcase, the host suddenly chimed in, “Ms. Rowe, your friend Jasper Quinn has popped the champagne to celebrate. Why don’t we all raise a glass and go over the project’s achievements together?” 

It was a great idea, and everyone was on board. Tessa had no objections either. 

Tessa personally popped the champagne, and as the crowd cheered, she poured it into the champagne tower, filling it to the 

brim. 

The glass at the very top was hers. 

The rest of the champagne was handed out by the event staff. 

Once everyone had a glass in hand, Tessa raised hers high. 

She thanked everyone for showing up and kicked off the reveal of AeroMind’s newest data. 

As that moment finally arrived, Tessa was brimming with confidence, a triumphant smile lighting up her face. 

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Chapter 106 

This part of the event was all Tessa’s idea. 

She was about to reveal AeroMind’s latest download numbers live, in front of the whole crowd. 

Thanks to the massive pre–launch buzz, Tessa was feeling confident. 

She couldn’t wait to hear the crowd go wild with the biggest applause of the night. 

But the moment she revealed the download numbers, the crowd went dead silent. 

It was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. 

Tessa blinked, a little confused. 

Wait, are they all stunned by AeroMind’s download numbers?‘ she wondered. 

‘Hey, maybe that’s it!‘ Tessa reassured herself, trying to stay positive. 

AeroMind hit number one on the download charts three days after launch. 

She kept a close eye on the stats every day. No wonder she was so confident. 

“Let’s raise our glasses, everyone!” Tessa urged, trying to rally the crowd to join her. 

But the audience just sat there, staring, their faces showing everything from confusion to disbelief. Not a single person moved to raise their glass. 

Tessa finally sensed something was wrong. She quickly turned to check the screen behind her. 

When she saw the name at the very top of the chart, her expression changed dramatically, shock written all over her face. 

‘Why the hell is InquireMind number one?‘ Tessa thought, stunned. 

Her hands trembled with anger, and the champagne splashed out of her glass. ‘I can’t believe this!‘ she fumed. 

Cassian reacted instantly, signaling the staff to cut the screen. 

With everyone staring and the press right there, Tessa had to play cool. 

She forced herself to sound unfazed, quickly switching up her speech. “AeroMind has been live for ten days now, and it’s held the top spot for seven days straight. The stats are still super impressive…” 

But before she could even finish her sentence, a reporter snatched up his camera and made a beeline for the exit. 

“Move it! If we don’t hurry, there won’t be any seats left!” he shouted over his shoulder. 

“Wait, what’s happening?” someone asked, looking puzzled. 

“Apparently, a bunch of VIPs just showed up at the InquireMind launch next door! We’d better head over before it’s too late!” another reporter called out. 

“Who showed up, exactly?” someone blurted out, eyes wide. 

“Benjamin Locke, the president of the Ashmont Chamber of Commerce. Actually, pretty much all the big shots from the association are here. And Russell Garfield, the vice president of the A.I. Society, brought his whole crew, too,” another reporter replied. 

“I heard even folks from the government are here,” someone else chimed in. 

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Chapter 106 

“Hurry up! If we miss out on a story this big, we’ll regret it for the rest of our lives!” another reporter shouted, practically sprinting toward the exit. 

The whole press corps bolted out of the room in a stampede. 

Everyone was scrambling to get there first, afraid they’d miss the scoop. 

Meanwhile, the guests were whispering among themselves. 

“Wait, is InquireMind launching the one that showed up as number one on the download chart?” someone asked, eyes wide. 

“Yeah! I just checked. InquireMind shot to number one in just three hours! AeroMind needed three whole days to get there! And get this, InquireMind barely did any promo at all. It’s all grassroots hype from the Al crowd, and those numbers are the real deal!” someone exclaimed. 

“I always figured AeroMind’s stats were padded. Probably just bought all those downloads with cash…” another person grumbled. 

“Shh, keep it down…” someone else hissed. 

“Isn’t this popping the champagne at halftime? Such a shame about the champagne,” someone said with a sigh. 

Daniel and his wife were seated among the guests. 

They heard every bit of the chatter around them, loud and clear. 

Alina’s face darkened. 

After all, she’d made sure word got out early in her circle of influential wives about her daughter’s big achievement. 

Everyone envied her for having such an exceptional daughter. 

Alina was so proud and excited that she even set up a small family party to celebrate Tessa. 

She’d already sent out all the invites, just waiting for this one to finish so she could be in the spotlight at her own gathering.