She wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him down slightly.
Their gazes met, one sly, and the other dominant.
In that instant, they were evenly matched in presence.
Then she leaned forward slightly, her rosy lips centimeters away from his.
She said, her warm breath brushed against his jaw, “Mr. Ortega, you’ve been friends with Florentino for years. Yet here you are, offering to help me get back at him. What are you really up to?”
He stared at her lips and suddenly licked his own imperceptibly.
“I’ll always have friends, but a true beauty is perhaps once in a lifetime. Right?”
She paused. In fact, it’d be a lie to claim she was unaware of her first–class appearance and figure. On the contrary, she knew all too well how often Florentino’s friends mentioned her.
But Fulbert was different.
Was he … one of them after all?
She studied his face, trying to detect some hidden truth behind those unreadable eyes.
But he had already pulled away.
He adjusted his cufflinks elegantly and said with composure, “I’ll be waiting for your call.”
With that, he turned to leave without hesitation, as if the earlier intimate moment had never existed.
Staring at his back, she was speechless for a moment, but she didn’t dwell on it.
She took out the card, glanced at it, and was about to toss it away. But after pondering for a few seconds, she put it back into her pocket.
Back at the apartment, she took a shower first. With her soft hair cascading over her shoulders, she sat at the vanity, propping her chin on her hands while staring blankly at the 800–thousand–dollar check from Judith.
She already quit. After getting her patent back and severing ties with Travis and Lola, she’d wrap up all her loose ends in Eaveton.
What Ashlan had said to her echoed in her ears.
“You’ll have all the best things once you’re part of us again.”
But she wasn’t going to count on it.
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Chapter 14
1288 Vouchers
Compared to the Schroeder family in Glottenham, the Burnham family was small fry, but their internal power strug- gles were horrifying enough.
Even the Burnham family despised her background, let alone the richest family in Glottenham.
As her brother, Ashlan was nice enough to look out for her.
That was exactly what she feared–their hard–won familial bond getting tainted by money. The last thing she wanted was to quarrel with him, or worse, see him a laughingstock because of her.
She made a call.
It was answered after a few seconds, and the crisp voice ringing out exuded a trace of laziness.
“Sandy, hey. Wanna grab some food or drink?”
It was Lynette Hinton, her best friend. Lynette was an heiress who had rebelliously refused to rejoin her family.
Back in their college days, they had collaborated on freelance online orders. After graduation, Lynette had proposed to start a studio together, where Sandria could contribute her technical expertise with her funding.
But back then, Sandria had already given her patent to Florentino, and her entire focus was on building his career. Nothing else held her attention.
Lynette could only give up on the idea.
Sandria said straightforwardly, “Lyn, remember when you said you wanna start a studio?
“Are you still up for it?”
Lynette fell silent for an entire minute.
Then she suddenly screamed, “Sandy, please tell me you’re not joking!”
Hearing her tone, Sandria knew she had made the right move.
“Let’s meet and talk,” she said.
“See you at Firefly Cafe,” Lynette said quickly.
After that, she hung up quickly, as if worried Sandria might have a change of mind.
Then she texted Sandria the cafe’s address.
Sandria pinched the bridge of her nose when she saw the cafe’s staggering 300–dollar per person average.
She still had a hard time getting used to these trust fund kids‘ extravagance.
