Bait for a Gentleman novel Chapter 102

The twelve-million-dollar engagement ring was gone.

Weren't they getting married soon? Could the rumors be true? Did she really hook up with someone else?

Audrina caught the flicker of doubt on Claire's face. Holding her full mug of water, she offered a sickeningly sweet smile.

"Claire, they aren't making things up. I really am a 'kept woman'."

With that, she walked right out of the breakroom.

Claire stood frozen, entirely unsure if Audrina was being serious or just spouting nonsense.

Only after Audrina was a few steps down the hall did the smile slowly fade from her lips. She returned to her desk, kept her head down, and focused on her work.

People could say whatever they wanted; explaining herself was useless. They only believed what they wanted to see.

Besides, in her current situation, she practically was being kept by Willow Sinclair.

Willow was covering her food, housing, and transportation.

Even so, the idle gossip still left a sour taste in her mouth.

She pulled out her phone and sent Willow a text: [Darling, I'm out of pocket money.]

Willow replied instantly, transferring $5,000 right over: [Take this for now. Let me know if you need more.]

Audrina took a screenshot.

She cropped out Willow's profile picture and name, then posted it to her social feed with the caption: [Thanks, darling.]

Then, she declined the transfer.

A moment later, Willow called her. "What the hell? You rejected the money but went out of your way to post a screenshot? You're making it look like I'm your sugar daddy."

Audrina replied, "Aren't you my sugar daddy right now?"

"...Shut up," Willow groaned.

...

It was 8:30 PM local time when Sebastian Hawthorne landed in New York. He stared at that post on his timeline for a long while before finally tapping the 'like' button.

From the passenger seat, Layne sneaked a glance at the rearview mirror and saw his boss glaring at his phone screen, his brows knit tightly together.

Bracing himself, he turned around to ask, "Mr. Hawthorne, should we head to the hotel first or straight to the client?"

Sebastian didn't even bother lifting his eyes. "Hotel first."

Wasn't he usually so smooth with his words? Now that they were half a world apart, he couldn't even manage a single sentence.

Twenty minutes later, as she was finishing up her work and getting ready to leave, her phone chimed again.

A banking app notification popped up on her screen.

Amount: $1,000,000.

Note: [Get a sugar daddy who's a little more generous.]

...

Audrina stared at that long string of zeros, her brows pulling together. She didn't know whether to be angry or laugh.

A new text popped up: [Let's hear you call me darling.]

Furious, Audrina hammered her thumbs against the screen: [Does money just fall from the sky for you?]

She sat in her car for a few minutes, but the man didn't reply again.

As she drove out of the underground garage, she completely missed the camera lens hiding in the shadows, pointed straight at the McLaren.