Betrayed and Dumped: She Rose Stronger Than Ever novel Chapter 99

”When they reached the lobby, Cindy snapped her fingers and grinned. “I’m in a great mood tonight. Dinner’s on me!”

Justin’s eyes practically sparkled. “Yes! I could eat a horse.”

They headed outside, laughter still lingering, but then all three of them paused at the door.

“Stephen? What are you doing here?” Cindy’s face lit up as she spotted him.

Not far away, Stephen stood with one hand in his pocket, dressed in that same sleek black suit. He looked like he belonged on the cover of a magazine, all sharp lines and quiet confidence.

Rebecca blinked. Hadn’t he said he couldn’t make it?

Stephen smiled, his eyes narrowing just a bit. “The bidding’s over, and you three look suspiciously happy. Makes me wonder if I missed something.”

“Wonder?” Cindy flung her arms around her brother, laughing. “No secrets here. We won, Stephen!”

Stephen looked surprised, his brows lifting. He glanced past Cindy, checking for confirmation. “Seriously?”

“Seriously, Mr. Duncan! We did it!” Justin nearly bounced with excitement.

Cindy stepped back and Justin, caught up in the moment, gave Stephen a quick hug. “Mr. Duncan, we pulled this off without your help for the first time. I can’t believe it.”

Stephen just stared for a second. Hugging Justin was definitely a first. He gave Justin’s shoulder a friendly pat. “You did well.”

Rebecca watched, then hesitated only a moment before opening her arms. It was just a professional thing, she told herself.

“Mr. Duncan, we didn’t let you down.”

Stephen stiffened, eyes wide for a heartbeat. It took him a minute to respond, but then he awkwardly returned the hug, just for a second. His voice was low and maybe a little shaky. “You’ve done reall ywell.”

No one else noticed, but his ears had turned bright red.

“Sonja, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Bruce said, rubbing his forehead. How could he be so wrapped up in thoughts of Rebecca that he forgot Sonja was sitting right next to him? Sonja was better than Rebecca in every way.

Sonja brushed it off, giving him a gentle smile. “It’s fine. I actually thought of a way to get Rebecca to come back.”

“What is it?”

“Rebecca signed a non-compete when she was with us. Now she’s at a rival company without our permission, so we could sue her for breach of contract and demand compensation.”

Sonja smiled, almost sweetly. “I checked the numbers. The penalty could be as high as three million. There’s no way she can afford that.”

Bruce’s eyes sharpened. “If we show her the agreement, she’ll have to come back to us.”

He made it sound polite, but they both knew it was a threat.

“You’re the smart one,” Bruce said, loosening his tie and finally letting out a long breath as a slow smile spread across his lips.