เข้าสู่ระบบTHALIAThe surprised look on Brandon's face lingered for a second too long.I shifted my weight awkwardly and looked away first, pretending to be interested in one of the displays near the fitting area.Mia, unfortunately, noticed everything.The woman looked between us, then smiled in a way that immediately made me suspicious."You know," she said casually, "you two make a very lovely couple."I nearly rolled my eyes.Brandon didn't say anything, but I caught the corner of his mouth twitching.Mia's smile widened."Actually, would you mind if I took a picture? We sometimes feature clients on our private gallery wall, and honestly, the two of you look incredible together."Before I could open my mouth, Brandon answered."Yes""No."The word left my mouth so fast it practically cut him off.The smile on Mia's face faltered.I didn't wait for anyone to say anything else.Turning around, I headed straight back into the fitting room and shut the door behind me.The silence that followed l
THALIA"Fine. Fifty percent."The smile that had been threatening to appear finally won."Good," I said as I pushed the door open and stepped one foot out of the SUV. "Then I should have your money before the end of next month, and we'll finally be done with all of this."Brandon let out a long sigh from behind the wheel and rubbed a hand across his face."You argue too much, Thalia.""If that's all, I'd like to take my leave." I said and got out of the car.I had barely taken two steps when I heard the driver's door slam shut behind me.Before I could even turn around, Brandon walked past me, opened the passenger door, and gestured toward the seat."Get in."I stared at him."Excuse me?""Get in.""Have you completely lost your mind?"He didn't answer.Instead, he reached over me, grabbed the door frame, and waited.I folded my arms.The look on his face told me this wasn't an argument he planned on losing.With an irritated groan, I climbed back into the seat.The second I sat down,
THALIAHe was just standing beside his black SUV with his hands in his pockets, staring directly at us as though he had been waiting for hours.Adrian followed my gaze and immediately frowned. His expression darkened the longer he looked at Brandon."Now what is he doing here?" he asked, slowing his pace beside me. I let out a sigh and adjusted the strap of my bag on my shoulder. At this point, I was just as tired of Brandon's surprises as everyone else."Only God knows," I muttered. "I've stopped trying to understand why he does half the things he does."By the time we got close enough, the relaxed look Adrian had worn all afternoon was gone."I believe we don't have any meetings scheduled today, Mr. Langford," Adrian said calmly. "If this is business-related, my assistant can arrange something during office hours."Brandon gave a short laugh and shook his head. He didn't even glance at Adrian properly."I have no business with you, Vale. Trust me, if I wanted a meeting, I would've
THALIA The next morning, I barely made it to my workstation before somebody grabbed my arm. I looked up and found Olivia standing there with a coffee in one hand and an expression that immediately told me I was in trouble. “Wow,” I said, stopping short. “Good morning to you too.” “Don’t even start.” She grabbed my wrist again and started pulling me toward her office. “Olivia—” “No. Move.” I laughed despite myself. “What is wrong with you?” “What is wrong with me?” she repeated. “What is wrong with YOU?” Several people looked up as she dragged me past them. “Yesterday,” she said dramatically, “while I was home dying from the worst hangover of my life, you were meeting the Ravens Elite.” I groaned immediately. "Oh yes, you are not sitting down until you tell me everything." The second we stepped inside properly, she shut the door behind us and turned to face me. "I heard Caleb Woods was there yesterday." I stared at her for a second before dropping into the chair across
BRANDON I was losing my mind. The entire morning had been one call after another, and every single conversation somehow managed to be worse than the last. One company wanted to "review the terms of their partnership." Another said they needed time to reassess future collaborations. A third didn't even bother pretending. They all wanted out! I dropped my phone onto the desk and leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling for a second before another call started vibrating across the table. The second I saw the company's name, I already knew what the conversation was going to be about. The Ravens Elite. Or more specifically, the fact that The Ravens Elite was no longer working with Langford Biotech. That news alone had done enough damage, but the situation became worse every time someone discovered that Thalia was no longer working here either. People talked. Executives talked even more. By now, half the business world seemed convinced that if Thalia Wentworth had walked
THALIA The brief introduction ended almost as quickly as it had started. One moment Caleb Wood had walked through the boardroom doors and drawn everyone's attention without even trying, and the next everyone was settling back into their seats and returning to business as though nothing had happened. At least that was the intention. Caleb took the empty seat beside mine, dropping a folder onto the table before glancing my way. "So you're Thalia Wentworth. I looked up from the notebook in front of me. "Last time I checked." The corner of his mouth lifted. "Good. I was starting to think the executives had spent the last two weeks talking about an imaginary person." A few people around the table laughed. One of the executives pointed a pen at him. "We have not." "You absolutely have," Caleb replied without missing a beat. "Every meeting I've attended lately has included at least one sentence about this brilliant lady." "That's because they're the reason this partnership exis







