Bones Learn To Listen When Silence Speaks by Ryn Miles 220

Chapter 220 

Chapter 220 

“You’ve lost weight. Haven’t been eating properly?” Cassian asked. 

His tone was flat, with little concern in his voice. 

It sounded like a polite, offhand question. 

So Aurelia didn’t bother answering his random question. She didn’t care enough to respond. 

She walked straight into the elevator before the doors closed. 

Cassian followed right after her. 

The elevator descended in silence, neither of them saying a word. 

Cassian’s phone buzzed a few times. Someone was probably texting him. 

He lowered his head, eyes glued to the screen, totally absorbed. 

For the first time, Aurelia couldn’t help but feel impatient with how slow the elevator was. She glanced up at the floor numbers. 

The elevator’s mirror–like walls cast their reflections, sharp and clear. 

Cassian’s phone screen was also visible in the reflection. 

Even with just a quick glance, she recognized that familiar avatar. 

‘Who else could it be but Tessa?‘ she thought to herself. 

When the elevator hit the ground floor, Aurelia strode out, not bothering to look back. 

The two of them walked out of the hotel, almost on each other’s heels. 

Kyler’s car also arrived at the hotel. 

He was specifically here for Ryan. 

But as soon as he stepped out, he spotted Aurelia and Cassian leaving the hotel, one right after the och 

The strange scene made Kyler pause, his brows instantly furrowing. 

Hotels are always a bit sketchy for this kind of thing. His mind started racing with all sorts of possibilities. 

After hesitating for a few seconds, Kyler called Tessa.. 

When she picked up, he asked, “Hey, where are you right now?” 

Tessa said she was at home. 

Kyler paused for a moment, but decided not to mention what he’d just seen. Instead, he asked when she’d be free. He was in Ashmont and thought maybe they could grab a bite together. 

“Tomorrow works for me. How about then?” Tessa replied. 

“Alright,” Kyler said. 

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Chapter 220 

He still had business to handle, so he didn’t stick around to chat. 

After ending the call, he shot a look toward where Aurelia had disappeared, his eyes cold, a trace of sarcasm flickering across 

his face. 

All those coincidences before could’ve just been misunderstandings, or maybe he’d bee 

‘But this time? Aurelia was straight–up making a move on someone else’s fiancé. And he saw it uppen right in front of him!” Kyler thought. 

To sugarcoat it, she was just crushing on him. 

But honestly, it was shamelessly hitting on him. 

The next day, as soon as Aurelia got to the office, Murel called her and told her to check out the latest financial news. 

She’d barely turned on her computer when a pop–up appeared in the bottom right corner. 

[Ascend Group Team Up with the Godfather of Chips?] 

Aurelia frowned and quickly clicked on the pop–up, heading straight to the finance news homepage. 

Below the bold, oversized headline was a high–definition photo. 

In the photo, Tessa was playing golf with Ryan. 

Cassian stood off to the side, watching Tessa take her shot with total focus. 

Everyone was smiling, looking genuinely happy, and the whole scene looked perfectly harmonious. 

The article was basically just reading the picture, all about how Ascend Group was about to team up with Ryan, the godfather of chips. 

On the other end of the line, Murel sounded worried. “Is Ryan really about to partner up with Ascend Group?” 

“If that deal actually happens, how are we supposed to compete with Ascend Group after this?” 

Aurelia knew exactly what Murel was stressing about. 

Ascend Group had always held a huge chunk of the domestic chip market. Even after that whole reputation and stock price, they were still on top. 

But if the news was legit and they really did partner up with Ryan, it could fix their reputation ove night. 

ss tanked their 

After a quick pause, Aurelia reassured Murel, “Don’t let some rumor mill mess with your head before the dust even settles. This could just be a distraction from the competition. Just focus on your own stuff for now.” 

“Alright,” Murel replied. 

Her words actually calmed Murel down a little. 

Then Aurelia called Hector to ask what time he was going over for Ryan’s follow–up appointment today. 

She planned to go with him to see Ryan. 

After pitching the partnership to Ryan yesterday, he hadn’t given her a clear answer and just said he’d consider her proposal. 

So she figured she’d have to make another attempt and see if she could convince Ryan this time. 

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Chapter 220 

But before Aurelia could even take action, her phone lit up with a call from Ryan. 

Aurelia answered immediately. 

*** 

Tessa was riding high today. 

As soon as that article dropped, the whole situation turned on its head. 

Ascend Group’s stock, which had been tanking for days, suddenly skyrocketed overnight. 

And it looked like it was only going to keep climbing. 

Those shareholders who’d always given her grief before? Now they weren’t making a peep. 

Even Louis, who’d stood her up yesterday, called and asked to meet up. 

He was all polite, saying he’d just gotten back from a business trip and heard she’d stopped by the office yesterday, so he reached out to her as soon as he could. 

He kept apologizing nonstop. 

Tessa knew exactly what was up, but she didn’t make a big deal out of it. Instead, she casually invited him out for dinner. 

Louis agreed right away. 

While she was at it, Tessa shot Kyler a dinner invite too. She’d promised him yesterday, after all. 

‘Wasn’t Mr. Hoover always looking down on me before?‘ Tessa thought to herself. 

‘Time to show him I’ve got plenty of connections and resources at my disposal,‘ she mused. 

Even Alina started getting invites from the same ladies who’d stood her up just yesterday. 

Of course, Mandy wasn’t one of them. 

But Alina couldn’t care less. She happily got dressed up, all smiles as she got ready to head out for 

-togethers. 

Daniel showed up just as Alina was about to leave. 

“Thought you weren’t coming back till tomorrow?” Alina said, a little surprised. 

“Finished work early, so I came home,” Daniel replied, with a couple of finance magazines tucked under his arm. He looked her over and asked, “Meeting friends?” 

“Yeah, meeting Mrs. Gold and the other ladies for coffee,” Alina said, fixing her hair. 

“Alright, have fun,” Daniel said as he changed his shoes and went straight upstairs. 

“I’ll have Lena make you dinner later,” he added. 

“Got it,” Alina replied. 

Daniel walked into his study and set the two magazines he’d brought back on his desk. 

The cover featured Aurelia. 

He flipped through them. 

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Chapter 220 

He only read the parts about Aurelia. 

After that, he closed the magazines, straightened them, then got up, shifted some books on a shelf and slid the new magazines to the very back. 

There were a few more magazines tucked away back there. 

All of them had Aurelia’s face front and center on the cover. 

098 

He slid the heavy books back onto the shelf, making sure the magazines were buried out of sight. Only then did he feel safe enough to leave the study. 

Tessa’s lunch was set for 2 PM at East Pastures Estate. She spared no expense. 

Kyler was already there, waiting for her. 

It had been a while since he’d seen Tessa, and he felt both excited and heavy–hearted. 

After all, she was already engaged to Cassian. 

Even though he’d already accepted that he’d have to watch from the sidelines for the rest of his life, it still left him feeling hollow inside. 

But the moment he saw Tessa, he buried all that disappointment deep down. He stood up, walked over, pulled out her chair, and invited her to sit. 

“Sorry I’m late,” Tessa said, sounding apologetic. 

“No worries, I just got here,” Kyler replied. 

Once she was seated, Kyler handed her a gift he’d prepared ahead of time. “Here, I got you something for your engagement.” 

“Thanks,” Tessa said, taking the gift. Out of politeness, she didn’t open it right away. 

She didn’t even have to peek inside. She could bet it cost a pretty penny. 

“I also invited Mr. Hoover from Fidelis. Hope you don’t mind?” Tessa asked. 

“Not at all,” Kyler replied. 

Tessa checked the time on her watch. “He should be here any minute.” 

She’d called Louis before she arrived, and he’d told her he was already out front. 

But after they’d finished two cups of coffee and more than ten minutes had gone by, Louis still hadn’t shown up. 

Tessa tried calling him again. 

But nobody answered. 

“That’s odd. Did something happen?‘ Tessa thought, puzzled. 

Just then, her phone lit up with a call from Alina. 

As soon as Tessa answered, Alina’s voice came through, practically buzzing with excitement. “Did you see the press conference?” 

Tessa frowned, confusion flickering across her face. “What press conference?” she asked, not having a clue what Alina was talking about. 

10:32 Tue, Dec 30