Betrayed and Dumped She Rose Stronger Than Ever novel Chapter 123

“What consequences?” Rebecca lifted an eyebrow.

“Your non-compete,” Bruce replied.

Rebecca’s face went pale. She fell silent.

Bruce gave a satisfied smile. “I’ll give you a week to think it over. If you’re not back by then, we’ll settle this in arbitration.”

Out on the dance floor, Sonja wrapped her arm around Stephen’s shoulder. The subtle hint of woodsy cologne on him made her heart beat faster. The feeling caught her off guard—she’d never felt this way around Bruce. If it weren’t for that past engagement to Stephen’s cousin, she might actually…

“Careful.”

Just as they were about to bump into another couple, Stephen turned them smoothly, his hand steady on her waist. Sonja’s cheeks grew hot. “Sorry, I got distracted.”

“It’s fine.” Stephen’s smile was easy, showing not a hint of blame.

“Mr. Duncan, there’s something I’m not sure if I should tell you.” Sonja bit her lip, glancing up at him.

“If you’re not sure, maybe don’t,” Stephen said simply.

Sonja hesitated, then pressed on. “I just hate seeing you misled. And I really don’t want things to end up in court between us.”

Stephen’s brow lifted. “Court? That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”

Sonja took a breath. She was done circling around it. “Mr. Duncan, you might not know, but Rebecca signed a non-compete when she was with us. She’s not allowed to work for any of our competitors after leaving. Sunforge Tech is one of them.”

“So, by joining Sunforge Tech, she’s breaking her contract. I’ve been trying to talk her into coming back. If she says yes, great. If not…”

Stephen stopped dancing. He let go of her waist.

She was at the point where she dreaded going to the office. Every time, the head of R&D would corner her with endless questions. She had Shawn’s help, but the time difference was a pain, and if she asked too often, people would start to get suspicious. Only if Rebecca came back could Sonja relax and just enjoy being in charge without having to do all the actual work. All she wanted was to sit back and wait for NovaStack Cloud to go public and cash in.

When Rebecca reached the parking lot, she saw Stephen waiting by his car. It looked like he was there for her.

“Mr. Duncan.” She hurried over. “Were you waiting for me?”

“Yeah. Let me drive you home. I’ll have my assistant bring your car back later.”

“What…”

“I need to talk to you about something.”

Rebecca didn’t hesitate. She got in the passenger seat. From the look on his face, this wasn’t a small matter.