All Chapters of One Night Stand With My Ex’s Uncle : Chapter 21 - Chapter 25

Lucy's POV My heart stopped the moment Anna’s words cut through the room like a blade: “Then we terminate our partnership.” The floor tilted beneath me, panic surging like a tidal wave up my throat. No, this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Anna Shaw was meant to crack under pressure not flip the entire damn table. She’s bluffing, I told myself, clinging to the hope like a lifeline. She has to be bluffing. The Phoenix Project was a guaranteed win. No sane executive would walk away from a goldmine over some glorified escort. But the look in Anna’s eyes wasn’t the look of someone bluffing. It was cold. Unflinching. Calculated. I forced a calm expression onto my face, though my mind spiraled through the implications. Without Phoenix, I’d lose everything my position, my leverage. My title as General Manager wasn’t just a job; it was my legitimacy in the eyes of the Simpson family. Months of carefully cultivated goodwill with Mary Simpson would vanish. All that effort to position

Anna's POV After explaining for what felt like the hundredth time that I had nothing to do with Sean beyond professional admiration and that I’d let him and his team join the Phoenix Project solely because of his talent my mother and grandmother finally believed me. I told them again about Sean’s past: a top student forced by circumstance to work at the Olympus Club. This time, something shifted. Sympathy flickered in their eyes. My mother even wept. The next day, Sean called with an update. “The person who stole the data has been identified,” he said, his voice taut. “But he’s gone.” We gathered in the conference room. I sat at the head of the table, posture calm by design, though a storm brewed beneath my surface. Sean stood beside the screen, swiping through surveillance footage. “We’ve identified him as John Fisher a graduate student who worked under Mr. Torres,” Sean announced, pausing on a frame showing the young man slipping a flash drive into his pocket. “He vanished the

Anna’s POV Marcus studied me with such intensity that I had to resist the urge to look away. “That building matters to you.” It wasn’t a question, but I answered anyway. “It’s where my mother grew up.” I swallowed hard against the unexpected tightness in my throat. “If it’s going to be demolished for development, I need to try and buy it back first.” Marcus leaned casually against the wall, his arms crossed. “Given the redevelopment plans, the property's value has likely increased significantly since the auction. The new owner might not be willing to sell.” “I understand,” I said quietly. “But I have to try. My mother’s lost so much already her parents, her husband, and nearly her family’s company before I stepped in. If I can give her back even one piece of her past… her home…” I trailed off, realizing how much of my heart I was exposing. “I’ll pay whatever it takes.” He was silent for a moment, then finally said, “I’ll have Peter look into it. Expect an update within the wee