جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 70

A single sentence from Nick had unleashed a barrage from his grandparents. Even through the phone, their urgency felt like a riptide, threatening to pull him under.He'd had enough. "Fine, I'll find a chance to bring her to meet you." He ended the call before they could reply.It had been a while since he last saw Khloe. Nick thought of that night—when Khloe had promised to come dance, but he had waited and waited, and she never appeared. Later, he called, but she didn't answer.In the whirlwind of his own obligations, the gift he'd set aside for her was forgotten, and with it, the memory of that night.He opened his phone. Their message history was a blank slate for the past two days. After a moment's hesitation, he finally tapped her name and pressed call.…At that exact moment, Khloe was striding through the Morrison Group headquarters. Five young women followed in her wake, their careers at Fox Group freshly severed. When they looked up, the polished brass letters spel

Khloe's face was flushed. The scent of alcohol clung to her. Her eyes were a little unfocused, but even drunk, Khloe carried a magnetic beauty that could make heads turn.Charlotte watched her, understanding the thoughts running through those men's heads. Khloe was formidable in business, but alone as a woman, she was still a target. Charlotte couldn't talk her out of it; all she could do was follow her back to the table.The laughter hit them from across the room, loud and crude, carrying even to the doorway."Her proposal's decent, but the project? Not so much.""I'd invest… if she's willing to give me a taste…""Khloe's face and figure—she's top tier, hahaha!"Khloe froze. Every word carried clearly to her ears. Charlotte's blood boiled. She wanted to storm forward and shut them up, but Khloe held her back.Drunk as she was, her mind was still sharp. She had drunk all that alcohol. There was no way she was letting them leave without signing that contract tonight."Recorder o

"Got it… got it! Not a word of what happened here today will be repeated or reach anyone else!"Khloe watched the three men sign the contracts, then lifted the champagne glass on the table. She toasted them with elegance to the project's success.Once it was over, the tension she had forced herself to hold vanished entirely. The moment the door swung open, Charlotte, standing outside, practically cried with relief, rushing forward and hugging half of Khloe's body tightly."Khloe, are you okay?""Take it."Khloe tossed the signed contract to Charlotte, her own strength spent to the point of collapse.But before they could even leave the hotel, a group of men in black rushed out, surrounding them. Charlotte instinctively stepped in front of Khloe."Who are you? Stay back, or I'll call the police!""What happened to her?" A low, commanding male voice cut through the chaos, unmistakably authoritative.Charlotte looked up to see a man emerging, draped in a heavy wool coat. His figu

"I'll have one of my investment subsidiaries join this project," Nick said. "Increase the funding twofold—it'll be easier to manage if there's more capital. Just say her proposal looks solid, promising, and that we're choosing to invest proactively.""Understood," Lenny replied.Nick's approach to work had always been pragmatic. Yet today, Lenny realized he'd witnessed something rare: a man acting on instinct for someone he cared about. And this was unprecedented—Nick, meticulous as he was about risk, never invested blindly without fully auditing a project."Right," Nick said after a moment, calling Lenny again. He stared at his fingers as if lost in thought before finally speaking. "Check Khloe's relationship history."He had learned that she'd only had one college romance, and at the time, he had little interest in the details."Yes," Lenny responded, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. He remembered clearly: Nick had said that for a marriage arrangement, only the most basi

Nick's question was blunt, leaving Khloe momentarily startled."It's not that I don't like it, it's just… we—""I've never once had a gift returned to me." Nick interrupted, his voice tinged with a cold authority that made the air seem heavier."Then…""If you don't like it, throw it away." His tone remained even, but the weight of someone used to command pressed down like a tangible force.Khloe hesitated, then smiled faintly. "Then I'll keep it. The ring is beautiful—brighter than anything I've seen at jewelry exhibitions. Thank you, Mr. Hunt, I really like it."But… having received something so valuable from you, I feel it's only proper to give a return gift. May I ask—what do you usually like? I want to give you something in return." She added quickly, not wanting to seem distant, "Even though it's an arranged marriage, I don't want to feel like I'm always indebted. A gift in return makes things easier between us."Nick, unusually, didn't brush it off as he often would wit