Betrayed and Dumped: She Rose Stronger Than Ever novel Chapter 32

Stephen shot Cindy a look. “Don’t start. I just admire Rebecca. She’s really good at her job. You should stick by her and learn something.”

“Are you sure it’s just admiration?” Cindy scanned her brother’s face, searching for any hint he was hiding something, but he looked completely calm.

“What else would it be?” Stephen replied, sounding a little exasperated.

Cindy mulled it over. Alright, maybe she’d been overthinking things. Still, if she could have her way, she’d love to see her brother and Rebecca become something more. Honestly, she’d be happy if her brother fell for any girl who could actually reach his heart. It would mean he was finally moving on from the past.

After finishing her Coke, Cindy grabbed her stuff to head downstairs. Stephen tapped his fingers on the desk. “Show some respect to your boss. Sunforge Tech’s future is riding on her.”

“She’s really that impressive?”

“Yeah.”

Cindy paused, then circled back and sat across from him. “Where did you even find someone like her?”

Stephen didn’t even look up. “Poached her from a competitor.”

Cindy’s eyes went wide. Poaching talent. How ruthless. This was classic Stephen.

Later, Cindy went straight to Rebecca’s office and knocked.

Rebecca looked up, a little surprised to see her. “Ms. Duncan—” She caught herself. “Cindy. Do you need something?”

“Yeah, I wanted to update you on the business trip.”

Cindy was technically a client manager, but her job was mostly about keeping old clients happy. She didn’t do new client outreach. Honestly, Sunforge Tech didn’t even have new clients. Every contract since day one had been thanks to Stephen’s personal connections. The clients were loyal, renewing each year without much fuss.

But if the company wanted to grow, it couldn’t just rely on old contacts. It needed new business. When Cindy heard talk about finding new clients, she made a face.

“Finding new clients? That sounds brutal. You have to deal with people’s attitudes and risk getting kicked out. I don’t want that job.”

Rebecca knew Cindy wasn’t just any employee. She’d been pampered since she was a kid. Sending her out to drum up new business would be tough.

Rebecca paused, speechless. This conversation had definitely gone off the rails.

Cindy noticed Rebecca’s look and took the hint, quickly coming up with an excuse to leave.

Back at her desk, Cindy sent a message to a friend. [Can you look up someone for me? I want to know about her relationship history too.]

Two hours later, her friend replied. Cindy read the message, her frown deepening with every line.

Great. Poor Rebecca had fallen for a total jerk, years of love wasted. She shook her head. Her brother’s love life was starting to look a lot like Rebecca’s.

She’d thought maybe her brother and Rebecca would be a good match, maybe even worth playing matchmaker. But now… she just sighed and let it go.

After work, Rebecca headed to the hospital to visit her mom, just like always. On her way in, she mentally made a note to ask the nurse about the discharge process.

As she stepped into the lobby of the inpatient building, she ran into two men coming straight toward her. They’d just stepped out of the elevator, and both stopped in their tracks when they saw her.