“Well, yes,” Shane replied as he massaged his own forehead.
Natalie then looked toward Lina. “Then Lina ought to get a share too.”
Even though she was not under the employ of Thompson Group, there would be no playing favorites between everyone who was on their side right now.
“Yeah, sure.” Shane nodded.
“Wow. Me too?” Lina’s eyes lit up.
“That’s right. Mr. Shane’s so generous,” said Sally in a toothy grin.
Lina could not stop giggling as well.
Natalie cleared her throat. “Why are all of you only praising Mr. Shane? What about me? Wasn’t I the one who fought for your welfare?”
“Yes, yes, yes. Mrs. Thompson’s also very generous. The most generous of them all.” Lina and Sally’s responsive fawning immediately left Natalie nonplussed.
“Oh yeah, Nat. Hurry up and tell Mr. Shane what happened,” Lina said with a straight face after the time for playfulness had passed. “What’s she talking about?” Shane regarded Natalie with a frown.
Amidst the close attention paid to her, Natalie related what she heard from Tina.
Sally gasped. “So, Nat. Do you figure that Jacqueline and her people will be looking to sabotage you in the finals?”
“Yes. Apart from her, I can think of no one else.” Natalie nodded.
Lina looked at her, then toward Sally. “Who’s this Jacqueline?”
“She’s their sworn enemy. A very, very nasty woman,” Sally spat in disgust.
“I see,” Lina acknowledged, though unsure what to make of it.
“What do you think, Shane?” Natalie asked while she regarded him.
“I’ll bring this to the organizers’ attention and have them stay vigilant. Having said that, it would be challenging to stay guarded against the designers themselves. As apart from that Jayson, we still don’t know who else could be in on it. As much caution we might exercise, we may not be able to avoid everything they can throw at us.”
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