Betrayed and Dumped She Rose Stronger Than Ever novel Chapter 222

A flash of guilt flickered in his eyes. “Thank you, Sonja. Once the launch is over, I’ll give you some time off. Take a real break for yourself.”

Sonja lowered her gaze, a hint of mockery curling at her lips.

Time off? That was such a cheap offer. She wasn’t interested.

But when she looked up again, her smile was back, perfectly sweet. She stepped a little closer, slipping her arm through Bruce’s. “Don’t leave yet. I want to show you something.”

“What is it?” Bruce frowned, confused.

Sonja took out her phone and pulled up a video Lottie had sent her.

Bruce’s face changed the second he saw it.

“Is this… Sunforge Tech’s launch event?”

“Yep,” Sonja replied, a sly smile tugging at her mouth. “Lottie says the turnout is pretty sad. Besides their own staff, only a couple of clients bothered to show up. What do you think? Should we send them a flower basket? Ms. Harper used to work for you, after all. Sending flowers would be the polite thing to do.”

Bruce just frowned harder. “Why is Lottie even at Sunforge Tech?”

Sonja hesitated for a moment. She’d meant for Bruce to laugh with her, but clearly he was stuck on something else.

Her eyes darted. “No idea. Maybe she wanted to check on Ms. Harper. You know how close they are.”

Bruce looked straight at her. “Didn’t you say they stopped being friends?”

Sonja’s fingers nervously tucked some hair behind her ear. “Did I say that? I don’t remember… I’ll call Lottie right now and tell her to come back.”

…

Next door, at the hotel, Sunforge Tech’s product launch was underway.

A client arrived with his assistant. Rebecca and Jon walked up to greet them. “Mr. Wilson, thank you for coming all this way.”

Rebecca reached out, ready to show him to his seat, but Mr. Wilson set down his gift and shook his head, embarrassed. “Sorry, Ms. Harper, Mr. Garfield. We can’t stay, something urgent came up. Please accept this small gift.”

Rebecca and Jon’s smiles froze.

Rebecca took a steady breath, forcing herself to sound strong. “It’s fine. We’ve still got the livestream.”

Justin glanced at the empty seats, worry all over his face. “But there’s barely anyone here. Won’t it look terrible on camera?”

Rebecca forced a laugh. “We’ll keep the camera focused on the stage. Maybe put some mannequins in the first row. Who’s going to know how many people are really here?”

Justin could only stare. He had to admit, Ms. Harper’s ability to joke at a time like this was something else.

While they were talking, Rebecca caught sight of someone lurking at the entrance, phone in hand, peeking inside. It was Lottie.

Rebecca walked over, her voice cold. “Lottie, what are you doing here?”

Today was NovaStack Cloud’s launch. Lottie should have been over there, not here.

Then Rebecca noticed the photos on Lottie’s phone and her eyes went cold.

“Why are you taking pictures of our event? What exactly are you planning to do with them?”