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Chapter 7

Author: Amare Bloom
last update Petsa ng paglalathala: 2026-08-27 06:07:30

Layla

Ethan Cole.

I stared at the name beneath the access record. It made no more sense the second time I read it.

Ethan worked two rows behind me as a research associate. We weren’t friends, but we’d worked around each other long enough for me to know which accounts he was assigned to.

LS Technologies wasn’t one of them.

He had no reason to open my file. Especially at eight forty-seven on a Monday night.

I took a screenshot.

“What did you find?”

I glanced toward Maya. She had turned slightly i
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  • Engaged to One Whitmore, Fell for the Other.   Chapter 7

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  • Engaged to One Whitmore, Fell for the Other.   Chapter 6

    LaylaI read the number again.$112,000,000.Still there.I leaned closer to my screen and checked the formula for what had to be the twentieth time. Nothing changed. One hundred and twelve million dollars in projected additional revenue over five years if Lightning Solutions Technologies expanded beyond new construction and entered the commercial retrofit market.It worked. More importantly, I could defend it. Every assumption. Every cost. Every risk.A small smile pulled at my mouth.I was good at this.And after Sunday, I needed the reminder.Who’s paying for the surgery?My smile disappeared.Of all the things Harvey Whitmore had said at lunch, that question had followed me home.Taylor was helping with Mom’s medical expenses. He’d never complained about it, never made me feel as though I owed him anything. But Harvey had forced me to confront something I didn’t like.Mom couldn’t work. Her care was getting more expensive, not less, and surgery would only add to it. My father had

  • Engaged to One Whitmore, Fell for the Other.   Chapter 5

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  • Engaged to One Whitmore, Fell for the Other.   Chapter 4

    LaylaTaylor’s chair scraped sharply against the floor.“We’re leaving.”I turned to him.“Taylor—”“No.”He pushed his chair back and stood.Every trace of warmth had disappeared from his face.“Get your things.”My stomach tightened.I didn’t want to stay. God knew I didn’t.But having Taylor drag me out of his family’s home because of me somehow felt worse.“It’s fine,” I said quietly.His eyes dropped to mine.“No, Layla. It isn’t.”“Taylor,” Evelyn said. “Sit down.”He ignored her.I could feel everyone watching us again.Wonderful.Because apparently being quietly humiliated hadn’t been enough. Now I got to leave in the middle of lunch with the entire Whitmore family watching.Richard set his fork down.“That was unnecessary, Harvey.”My eyes moved toward him.Harvey hadn’t moved.He remained in his chair, expression calm, as though asking who would pay for my mother’s surgery had been no more offensive than asking about the weather.He didn’t apologize.Of course he didn’t.Tay

  • Engaged to One Whitmore, Fell for the Other.   Chapter 3

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  • Engaged to One Whitmore, Fell for the Other.   Chapter 2

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