Chapter 709
709:
Before she could give the question any more thought, the office door swung open with confident ease.
Leaning against the frame, Dustin raised an eyebrow and teased, “You just talking about me?”
Taken off guard, Dolores looked slightly embarrassed for a moment before quickly regaining her composure and motioning for Dustin to come in.
Once they were alone, Dolores crossed the room and took her seat behind the desk. “So, what brings you here?” she asked coolly.
Dustin walked in with his usual ease, shrugging as he spoke, “Honestly? I figured you might have trouble finding a decent designer. I didn’t expect you to bring in Aurora Bright. She’s been making a name for herself overseas. Quite the impressive catch.”
Dolores cast a smug glance at Dustin. “If you can pull in a top-tier designer, I’m not going to sit back and do nothing.”
Dustin narrowed his eyes slightly, then said casually, “You sound confident. Don’t tell me you brought Linsey back?”
The question caught Dolores completely off guard. Her heart skipped a beat, and her expression faltered for a split second.
Dustin seemed unfazed by her reaction. “This year’s competition is being held anonymously to keep things fair. No one in the audience will know which company hired which designer.”
He paused briefly before adding with meaning, “Aurora has never revealed her true identity—not since her very first design went public.”
Dolores steadied her breath and lowered her voice. “What exactly are you implying?”
Dustin’s tone was calm. “What I’m saying is, we’ll participate in this year’s competition—and I’m the one overseeing everything. Collin doesn’t know a thing. He used to follow all things related to fashion design. But after failing to find Linsey again and again, he stopped caring about these competitions last year. So you don’t need to worry about him stumbling across her by accident.”
Dolores didn’t expect him to figure so much out. For a moment, she was speechless. Then she countered, “Who said Aurora is Linsey? You’re really letting your imagination run wild. Even if Aurora was Linsey, we’d still enter the competition fair and square. No need to tiptoe around just because of Collin.”
Dustin smiled faintly. “Then let’s just say I’m overthinking it.”
𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖈𝖐𝖊𝖉 𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖞 𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊: 𝖌ⲁ𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀⫺𝖼𝗈𝗆
After a few seconds of silence, Dolores glanced at him, hesitated, then asked carefully, “Why do you sound like you don’t want Collin to run into Linsey again?”
Dustin shrugged with a hint of honesty. “Linsey and Gorman left together four years ago. I figure they’re probably a thing by now. Rather than letting Collin see them happy and tearing himself apart over it, it’s better they don’t meet again. As his friend, I’d rather not watch him spiral into heartbreak all over again. It’s been four years. He should let go.”
Dolores’s irritation bubbled to the surface.
To her, Dustin’s words made it sound like Linsey had left Grester because she was in love with Gorman.
But that wasn’t the truth at all. Linsey had walked away from Grester because the pain there was too much. She left while expecting, all on her own.
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