Betrayed and Dumped She Rose Stronger Than Ever novel Chapter 285

The weather was getting better each day. Staff gathered in the break room, chatting excitedly about weekend plans. Rebecca thought this really was the best time of year in Coralbridge. The sunlight felt perfect, and everything seemed more relaxed.

It was time to get everyone together for some team bonding.

First, there were a bunch of new faces at the office, and nothing helped people warm up to each other faster than a fun day out. Plus, the company had just wrapped up a stellar month, so it was the perfect excuse to celebrate and give everyone a boost.

Rebecca was always quick to act. She called over her HR teammates and started hashing out a plan for the outing.

No sooner had she dropped the announcement in the company group chat—team building this week, don’t worry, it won’t eat up your weekend—than Liam walked in.

The whole office was buzzing with excitement, and Liam grinned as he stepped inside. “What’s going on? Why is everyone so happy?”

Rebecca tried to step in, but she was a second too late.

One of the new HR girls, all sweetness and eager energy, jumped right in. “Liam, we’re going out for team building this week. Do you and Mr. Duncan want to come with us?”

Rebecca could have facepalmed. Inviting Liam was fine, whatever. But inviting the big boss? Young people these days sure had guts.

Still, she figured Liam would know how to play it off and not take the invite seriously.

Instead, Liam handed Rebecca a file, turned around and headed straight upstairs to Stephen’s office.

He rapped on the door. “Mr. Duncan, Sunforge Tech’s heading out for team building this week. They’ve invited you to join. Are you interested?”

Stephen looked up from his pile of contracts. He caught the hopeful spark in Liam’s eyes.

He arched an eyebrow and said, nice and easy, “You really want to go?”

Liam scratched his head, looking a little flustered. “Not really…”

“Then sign us up.”

Both voices overlapped, and Liam just stood there, completely thrown.

Wait a minute. Didn’t Stephen just say he didn’t want to go?

After he shut the door behind him, Liam smacked his forehead.

Hang on, he’d just been played. Stephen totally wanted to go.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Duncan,” she stammered, biting her lip. She could feel tears of embarrassment stinging her eyes. “I didn’t know it was you. I just fell asleep…”

Stephen caught the whole panicked, awkward scene and decided to mess with her a little. “So if it had been someone else’s shoulder, you’d be fine with that?”

Rebecca just stared at him, lost for words.

She was still half-asleep, her brain foggy and not quite able to connect the dots between what he’d said.

She stared at him, eyes wide and dazed.

Stephen’s mood brightened. He reached out and ruffled her hair gently. “Come on, everyone’s waiting for us outside.”

As soon as they stepped off the bus, more coaches started pulling up, filled with groups from other companies, all there for their own team outings.

Rebecca was about to head toward the hotel when she spotted Bruce and Sonja getting off another bus.

Cindy linked arms with Rebecca and gaped. “Talk about the ghosts that never go away!”