Betrayed and Dumped: She Rose Stronger Than Ever novel Chapter 246

Another weekend rolled around. Rebecca stopped by the hospital to see her mom, then hurried off to the research center. Lately, between her mom’s illness and the whirlwind of the product launch, she’d been working with Caleb mostly online.

When she walked in, Caleb came right over, his concern obvious. “How’s your mom doing?”

“She’s alright. Nothing too serious, thank goodness.”

Caleb noticed the tired look in her eyes and didn’t push for details. Instead, he switched gears. “How’s the patent coming along? Any idea when you’ll be able to file?”

Rebecca flipped open her laptop and pulled up the data. “If I can get this last set verified, I’m good to go.”

He leaned in, scanning the numbers on her screen. “You’re almost there. Send me what you have later, I’ll help double check some of it.”

She knew he was just trying to help her out, but she shook her head with a little grin. “Look at you. Your dark circles are worse than mine. You’re running between your research and your dissertation. Your time’s way more precious than mine.”

“Is it that bad?” Caleb rubbed the back of his head, then glanced around and borrowed a mirror from someone nearby. “Whoa. That’s not a good look,” he said with a sheepish laugh. Standing here, messy and exhausted in front of Rebecca, he couldn’t help feeling a bit embarrassed.

A few desks away, Martha kept her head down, pretending to focus on her work, but she was hanging on to every word. Hearing them laugh and joke together made her jaw clench. When Rebecca wasn’t around, Caleb barely spoke to anyone. He was always serious, always focused. Martha had tried talking to him before, but he never gave her more than a couple of words. But with Rebecca, it was like he turned into a completely different person—smiling, talking, relaxed.

What a bitch, she thought bitterly.

She remembered seeing Rebecca with Mr. Duncan, one of the investors, and the weird, flirty tension that seemed to hang between them. Now Rebecca was all buddy-buddy with Caleb too. If that wasn’t classic whore behavior, what was? And there was that patent Rebecca kept going on about. She’s always busy, always saying she was about to file—who knew if it was even real.

Thinking back to Sonja’s instructions, Martha slipped away to a quiet meeting room and made a call. She spilled everything she’d overheard.

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