Chapter 860

Vesta recovered quickly, forcing out a casual, “Yeah.”

Still buzzing with the excitement of being home, Jacques completely missed the strained dynamic at the table. “Alright then.”

After dinner, Vesta stuck around to chat with Jacques for a bit before retreating upstairs.

Once she was alone in her room, she pulled out her phone. She stared at Thorne’s contact name for a long time before finally pressing call.

It rang, but went straight to voicemail.

After the call automatically disconnected, she redialed.

Still no answer.

After a few more attempts, she gave up, letting the phone slowly slip from her hand.

Late that night, after Jacques had finally gone to sleep, Vesta headed back downstairs. Henley and the rest of the family immediately looked up at her, waiting. Vesta slowly shook her head.

They understood instantly. Thorne was still unreachable.

Henley’s brow furrowed deeply. He couldn’t wrap his head around what Thorne was playing at.

Neither could Maureen.

She understood that Thorne couldn’t publicly support them right now, but it had been so long. He wasn’t giving them any answers, yet he hadn’t officially broken things off with Vesta either…

They had wanted to give him space, but with Hawkins Technology and Neural Nexus Tech crumbling around them, time was a luxury they no longer had.

Vesta knew this perfectly well.

Even though she could tell Thorne still had no romantic feelings for Charlene, his absolute silence—the unanswered calls, the ignored texts—was driving her insane. How could she possibly feel secure?

She stood up. “I’ll try him again tomorrow.”

Leah Spencer immediately chimed in, “And what if he still ignores your calls?”

Vesta’s jaw tightened. “We’ll see.”

She turned and headed back upstairs.

The next morning, Vesta checked her phone the second she woke up. As expected,

there was absolutely no reply from Thorne.

She held the phone for a moment before dialing his number again.

No answer.

The group chat remained as dead and quiet as before.

Vesta set the phone down.

After forcing down some breakfast,

she headed to Neural Nexus to

handle a few matters. Glancing at the clock, she decided to try a

different approach and called Moran Albright.

Moran picked up almost immediately. “Well, it’s been a minute. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

His tone was as casual and familiar as ever. Hearing it, Vesta’s white-knuckled grip on her phone loosened slightly.

A faint smile touched her lips. “What are you up to?”

“Nothing much. Just sitting around bored.” Moran sounded perfectly normal, but given everything going on with Vesta’s family, he actually felt incredibly awkward talking to her He was carefully keeping his distance.

“I’ve been trying to get ahold of Thorne,” Vesta said smoothly. “His phone was off this morning. I thought I’d ask you.”

“Is it an emergency?” Moran asked. “Want me to try calling him for you?”

“No need. I just want to drop by and see him. Do you happen to know where he is?”

She didn’t want Moran to play middleman; she wanted Thorne’s exact location from him.

Not overthinking it, Moran replied,

“No

past

bet

haven’t really talked the

of days. Do you

you

me to ask Granger? He might know.”

Vesta hesitated. “Don’t go to the trouble. It’s nothing major. I’ll just try his line again later.”

“Sure thing.”

Vesta didn’t drag the conversation out. She quickly said her goodbyes and hung up.