After All the Hurt, She Chose Herself novel Chapter 291

"Anyway, Aria, you've finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel!"

"What are we all chatting so happily about?" Dr. Alden Reaves pushed the door open and walked in, with Samuel Kersey right behind him.

"Today's victory wouldn't have happened without Samuel's help," Dr. Reaves said. "Since this is a celebratory dinner, I thought I'd bring him along."

Samuel handed a carefully wrapped gift to Aria. "Happy divorce, Aria."

Mira Dawson blinked, glancing from Aria to Samuel, then over to Raphael Evernight, before flashing Aria a knowing smile.

Aria quickly stepped in to make the introductions. "This is Samuel Kersey, and this is Mira Dawson. We're all colleagues on the GJ101 project."

Mira immediately stood up to shake his hand. "Nice to meet you! Just call me Mira."

"Nice to meet you too," Samuel replied, shaking her hand.

Once everyone was seated, the server began bringing out the appetizers. Aria had only ordered a few basic dishes, so she passed the menu over to Dr. Reaves. "Dr. Reaves, why don't you see if there's anything else you'd like to add?"

Dr. Reaves took the menu without hesitation. After ordering a few of his favorites, he handed it to Samuel. "Don't be shy, Samuel. This girl just got divorced and is loaded with cash now."

Samuel nodded with a grin. "Then I won't hold back!"

It was just a dinner; it wasn't going to break the bank anyway.

"Aria, can we open the gift?" Mira asked, unable to contain her curiosity. "I've never seen a divorce present before!"

"Well..." Aria glanced hesitantly at Samuel.

Samuel smiled easily. "It's just a little something I picked up. I hope you like it."

Gideon Evernight had originally planned to head back to the Evernight estate, but an urgent call from Henry diverted him. Something had come up at the office that required his immediate attention. With a sharp turn of the steering wheel, Gideon headed straight for the corporate headquarters.

"Mr. Evernight, this contract was previously handled by Aria," Henry explained, handing over a file. "She never did a proper handover, so the project timeline got completely derailed."

Gideon took the contract and frowned as he scanned the pages. It was the exact same problematic contract Aria had signed with Graham Adler right before she resigned. He remembered it clearly. Back then, Aria had been wronged, but she hadn't come crying to him. Instead, she had handled it herself. And she had ended up hospitalized because of it.

At the time, he had assumed she was faking it for attention. He hadn't offered a single word of comfort; instead, he had berated the nurses for treating her like she was as important as Lilith. What had Aria been thinking, lying in that hospital bed all alone, with no one to care for her?

"You didn't know about this contract?" Gideon's voice was laced with frost. "Didn't you steal this account from her? How could you possibly not know the details?"

Even after Aria resigned, half of the commission from this deal had gone straight into Henry's pocket. Now, he was trying to pin the blame on her, assuming Gideon would just let Aria take the fall.

Thinking back to everything he had put Aria through, Gideon's breathing grew heavy. His predatory gaze snapped toward Henry, his expression turning downright somber.