Chapter 474
[ 509 words ]
Chapter 474:
A short, disbelieving laugh escaped Caroline’s lips. “Oh, come on, Evelyn. Don’t be dramatic. He’s my mentor. We have a professional relationship.”
“Trust me on this,” Evelyn insisted, her gaze steady. “I know that look. He’s interested. And not just a little.”
The smile faded from Caroline’s face. “That’s impossible,” she said, her voice firm. “And besides, I have Jarrod.”
Evelyn sighed, a sound of fond exasperation. “I know you have Jarrod. But that doesn’t stop other people from being drawn to you. You just need to be careful. Don’t send any mixed signals.” She paused, her eyes darkening slightly. “And he’s not the only one you need to be careful of.”
Caroline frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Evelyn leaned in, her voice dropping even lower. “Ashley isn’t done. She was humiliated in front of half the camp, and women like that don’t just swallow it and move on. She’ll look for another angle.”
Caroline’s mouth tightened. “I know why she’s here, Evelyn. You already told me. She wants Jarrod, and I happen to be inconvenient.”
W𝗲 𝗎𝗽𝘥𝖺𝘁𝘦 𝗲𝘷𝗲𝗿𝗒 𝘸𝗲е𝗄 𝗼ո 𝘨𝘢𝘭𝗻o𝘷𝗲l𝘴.𝖼оm
“Good,” Evelyn said. “Then don’t treat her like background noise. Background noise is how people get blindsided.”
At noon, they walked into the mess tent together. The large, noisy space was packed. Across the room, Caroline spotted Ashley Wright holding court at a table with a few other nurses. She was laughing loudly, her head thrown back, a peacock displaying its feathers.
As Caroline entered, Ashley’s eyes locked onto her. A smirk of pure contempt twisted her lips. For one brittle second, Caroline thought Ashley would try another public little jab, some cheap line about luck or big fish. Instead, Ashley smiled wider, lifted her cup in a bright little toast, and said nothing at all.
The silence was worse.
Caroline’s expression didn’t flicker. She acted as if she hadn’t noticed a thing, her gaze sweeping past Ashley’s table without a hint of recognition. She walked straight to the serving line.
A few minutes later, Evelyn sat down across from her, leaning over the small table. “See? That’s her.”
“Yes,” Caroline said calmly, stirring her stew. “A woman who just learned public provocation doesn’t work on me.”
Evelyn’s eyes sharpened with approval. “Exactly. That’s why she’ll change tactics.”
Caroline glanced toward Ashley’s table again, not with jealousy, but with clinical attention. Ashley was no longer performing for Jarrod. She was performing for the room: laughing with the nurses, touching one woman’s sleeve, leaning in with sympathetic intimacy, building a circle. It was social positioning, not flirting.
Evelyn began her report, her voice a low, efficient murmur. “I did some asking around after yesterday. Ashley Wright’s father is a senior aide to Senator Valentine. Not powerful enough to command the base, but connected enough to make trouble if she frames herself as a victim.”
Caroline’s spoon stilled.
“She was at Walter Reed before this,” Evelyn continued. “Good résumé, average discipline, excellent instincts for attaching herself to important men. She volunteered for this deployment before the quake response was even fully staffed. That part we already knew. What’s new is that she has been asking questions.”
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