Betrayed and Dumped She Rose Stronger Than Ever novel Chapter 492

However, those same old clichés just seemed laughable when faced with Joan’s resolve. Brett closed his eyes for a moment. “Okay.” If Joan ever changed her mind, he’d always be right there, behind her. All she had to do was look back.

Saturday. The Duncan family estate.

The butler had everyone up early, bustling around the manor to cleJoand prepare breakfast. By ten-thirty, Brett was the first to arrive. The butler met him at the door. “Good morning.”

Brett slipped off his shoes and looked around. No sign of his grandfather. He turned to the butler. “Where’s Grandpa?”

The butler dipped his head. “He’s in the prayer room.”

Brett’s hand stilled on his jacket buttons. Something flickered in his eyes.

Not long after, Stephen, Cindy and Chelsey showed up together.

Cindy muttered under her breath, “Grandpa’s being so secretive. Why did he call us all here? I asked the butler, but he wouldn’t say a word. Something’s definitely up.”

Chelsey looked confused too. She glanced at her son, but Stephen just looked relaxed, like none of this was a big deal.

“Do you know what this is about?” Chelsey asked.

Stephen just smiled. “No idea.”

The three of them headed inside. At the entryway, a staff handed them slippers. Stephen automatically passed a pair to his sister. “Here, Cindy, you go first.”

Cindy barely spared him a glance, turning her head away. “Save your fake kindness.”

Stephen could only stare at her, speechless.

Cindy watched them, unimpressed, and pursed her lips.

Such fakes.

She didn’t have the patience for any of it, so she got up and wandered off toward the back garden. Flowers were much better company that people.

Chelsey couldn’t relax either. She couldn’t figure out her own son, and she was still annoyed with her nephew. With George gone, she didn’t bother pretending to be the warm, loving aunt. She just followed her daughter outside.

Stephen only raised an eyebrow as his mom and sister left, but acted like he couldn’t care less.

“Hey, if you don’t want to hang around, you don’t have to,” Brett said quietly. Being alone with his cousin always made him uneasy.

Stephen smiled. “I’m not forcing myself. By the way, I heard you were against investing in AI research at first. What made you change your mind?”