Betrayed and Dumped She Rose Stronger Than Ever novel Chapter 132

Rebecca was startled, her mind spinning. Oh, right. Dr. Palmer had said she could ask Stephen for help if she got stuck. But then she remembered last night and her whole face started to heat up. She quickly patted her cheeks, trying to cool herself down. “Let’s just get ready. I don’t want to bother him.”

After they finished getting dressed, Rebecca and Cindy headed downstairs for breakfast. The hotel’s breakfast spread was impressive, with all kinds of local dishes. Rebecca picked out a few things she’d never tried before and balanced them on her plate, scanning the room for Cindy.

When she spotted Stephen sitting right across from Cindy at a table, she stopped in her tracks. For a split second, she considered turning around, but there was no escape. She forced herself to walk over.

“Good morning, Mr. Duncan.” She managed to say hello, then immediately dropped her gaze to her plate, too flustered to meet his eyes.

Stephen was just as quiet, his gaze lowered, a calm mask on his face.

Cindy, of course, had no idea anything was weird. She was her usual bubbly self, chatting non-stop, stealing a pastry from Rebecca’s plate one minute, then asking her brother if his soup was any good the next, bouncing between them like she was running her own breakfast show.

Just as they were finishing up, Cindy suddenly remembered Rebecca’s math problem from earlier. “Hey, Stephen, when you get a chance today, can you help Rebecca with that math question?” she said, nudging Rebecca’s arm. “Really, don’t be shy. My brother’s a genius.”

Rebecca winced and tried to back out gently. “Actually, I…”

“Sure,” Stephen interrupted, not missing a beat.

Rebecca blinked. That was fast.

Stephen glanced at his phone. “I’m free after eight tonight.”

“Perfect, it’s settled then.” Cindy grinned. “You can come to our room later.”

Rebecca looked from Cindy to Stephen, feeling completely outnumbered. Did no one care what she thought?

After breakfast, she and Cindy made their way to Northbridge Partners. This time, they arrived before Bruce and Sonja.

While the tension simmered between them, Sonja was in her own world, running through her proposal notes for the hundredth time. She’d sent her requirements to Shawn the night before, and he hadn’t sent the finished version until late. There was so much technical stuff, they ended up on the phone half the night just so she could get her head around the terminology.

She’d gotten up early to memorize it all, even going over it twice more on the way to the office. She was too stressed out to pay attention to anything else, let alone Bruce’s drama.

Austin and his assistant showed up, both in good spirits. When Austin spotted the bandage on Bruce’s wrist, he let out a surprised whistle. “Mr. Lamont, that looks bad. Are you alright?”

Bruce pressed his lips together. “Yeah, it’s a bit serious,” he said, though his gaze was fixed on Rebecca the whole time.

She didn’t react at all. Not even a flicker of concern. Bruce gritted his teeth. “But it’s fine now.”

Austin just nodded, taking him at his word and not thinking any more of it.