Chapter 1189
He had only flown back to the country to attend the memorial for her grandmother. Now that the memorial was over, he needed to head abroad immediately to handle urgent business.
But because of Madeline’s sudden ‘eye issues,’ he pushed his flight back by two days.
With his schedule suddenly cleared, he now had the time to attend the Pinnacle Tech Summit being held right there in Northcrest.
When Secretary Lynwood arrived at the hospital to brief Felix, Madeline made sure she was within earshot.
After exchanging a subtle, knowing glance with Madeline, the secretary spoke up, looking apologetic. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Quigley. Since you previously told me you wouldn’t be attending the summit, I didn’t block out my schedule for it. I’m afraid I won’t be able to accompany you.”
Felix waved it off. He didn’t care.
The secretary quickly slid in her suggestion. “Why don’t you bring Miss Lynwood with you?”
“Her eyes are bothering her. She needs to rest.”
Madeline immediately chimed in. “But the doctor just said I was perfectly fine! I want to go.”
She looked up at Felix with those large, innocent eyes.
She knew Felix could never say no to that look.
“Besides, I’ve been cooped up in the house for weeks. I’m going crazy. Please?”
Felix relented. “Fine. I’ll take you.”
“Thank you, Felix!”
Noreen had also flown to Northcrest specifically for the Tech Summit.
Sophia Cole had handled her gown and jewelry. When Claire saw the outfit, she openly judged it. “Why is it so conservative? With a figure like yours, covering it all up is a tragic waste.”
Sophia: “…”
She didn’t dare confess the truth. Every single dress and piece of jewelry had been meticulously pre-approved by Seth Harcourt.
Noreen, who never really paid attention to fashion politics, hadn’t even noticed that her recent wardrobe skewed heavily toward the conservative side. She just assumed modest cuts were back in style.
“But damn, this jewelry is insane!” Claire’s eyes practically bulged out of her head when she saw the velvet boxes.
“Oh my god, is this the legendary Aeterna Amoris? The one worth hundreds of millions of dollars?!”
“Wait! The Mariner’s Love? You have the complete set?!”
“Holy crap! The Pink Star is here too?!”
Claire’s shrieks of disbelief echoed through the hotel room. She grabbed Noreen’s arm, shaking her excitedly. “Did Seth buy all of this for you?”
She had even dropped the ‘jerk’ moniker. Claire had deep, profound respect for a man who spent like a billionaire.
Noreen rubbed her arm, wincing. “Probably.”
He had been showering her with extravagant gifts lately. But he never made a show of it; he just quietly left them in her apartment waiting for her to notice them And if she didn’t notice them, or didn’t wear them, he didn’t care at all.
Claire stared at her friend in sheer horror. How could they treat billions of dollars in jewels like cheap trinkets from a dollar store? It was a crime against luxury!
Claire clutched her chest in physical pain. Why did she suddenly feel the urge to eat the rich?
Knowing Claire would be bored to death sitting alone in the hotel, Noreen dragged her along to the summit.
Claire, who had zero interest in
corporate networking, immediately tried to bail. “What am I supposed to do there? I don’t know a single soul besides you. If some old guy tries to talk tech stocks with me what am!. supposed to say?”
“You won’t be entirely alone. Wilbur is going to be there too.”
…
Back in Rivercrest City, Jude Wilder deeply regretted not asking for his vacation when Seth was actually in a good mood.
He hadn’t anticipated Seth’s mood crashing so spectacularly.
One minute, the man was floating on a cloud of post-coital bliss. The very next
morning, a dark, suffocating thunderstorm had settled over his desk.
After awkwardly dancing around the
subject for hours, Jude finally
realized the source of the boss’s misery. Noreen had left him behind
to go on a business trip to
Northcrest.
Jude silently cursed. These damn lovebirds couldn’t stand being apart for a single
day!
Because of Seth’s foul mood, Jude didn’t dare bring up his vacation request.