Chapter 53 Real Talk With Halle
“Huh?”
Ayla froze for a few seconds. “1.5 billion?”
Halle nodded, looking even more shocked than her. “Yeah. You didn’t know?”
Ayla remembered-Halle did send her a big package. She kept it in the closet and never opened it. When she got divorced, she didn’t even think about taking it. So it was still sitting in the closet of Troy’s villa!
Halle was speechless. She sighed and said, “When you love someone, you really can’t see anyone or anything else. Our friendship lasted this long probably because I’ve been totally loyal-never leaving.”
Halle’s family was a mess, so she didn’t have any fantasies about love.
She didn’t really get Ayla’s feelings for Troy, but it didn’t matter-she didn’t need romance. She only loved money and Ayla, her friend.
As for being loyal to Ayla, well, Ayla was just that compelling. She was happy to do it.
Ayla said, “I’ll go back in a few days to get it.”
Halle said, “You’d better do that! That’s a lot of money!”
Ayla looked at her seriously. “Thanks for sticking with me. I wouldn’t have moved on so fast without you.”
After this experience, Ayla was completely done with romantic fantasies.
Halle froze for a while.
The sudden honesty almost made Halle tear up. She was tough and hated being sentimental, so she blinked it away. “Ayla, after all these years, I’ve learned a lot from watching you. Nobody’s perfect. And when someone’s set on a path, no one can stop them. You got out of it not because of me-you figured it out yourself.”
Ayla quietly listened to Halle talk.
When people drink, they tend to talk more.
In the past, Halle had told her not to throw herself completely into her marriage. She’d scolded her and kept saying women need careers, not just endless giving. Ayla didn’t listen back then.
1/3
Now, she understood.
Completely.
In the private room next door.
Troy heard from Norris that Skyla made a huge contribution to the project team. His eyes were full of admiration. His voice was low and gentle. “Congrats.”
Rolf didn’t get what he wanted, but he admired Skyla’s skills.
Ever since he took over the tech company, he learned how hard R&D was-endless problems every day, and pressure.
Women as young, highly educated, experienced, and capable as Skyla were rare.
He poured a glass of wine, and congratulated her. “When you came out of ZeitTech earlier, you looked upset. I thought something went wrong.”
Troy didn’t know about this. He frowned, his eyes darkening a bit. “Looked upset?”
Rolf nodded. “Yeah.”
Troy asked, his voice low. “What happened?”
Skyla said, “It was nothing. After I finished discussing the collaboration with ZeitTech’s CEO, I brought up LugiX for Mr. Rolf. Ms. Kinsman just said some nasty things. Maybe she’s just too young.”
Troy repeated, “Some nasty things?”
Rolf frowned.
Skyla continued, “I don’t know. I’m not sure what I did to annoy her. She said I was just an errand girl and had no right to ask about LugiX.”
Troy thought for a few seconds. “I’m going out to make a call.”
Rolf was annoyed. “Is Ms. Kinsman really that rude?”
Skyla nodded. “That’s exactly what she said.”
Rolf’s face turned even colder. “Troy’s going to handle this for you, so I won’t get involved. But thank you. I’m the one who asked for your help, and you ended up getting insulted for nothing. With ZeitTech’s snobbish attitude, I’ll never work with them again.”
2/3
Skyla said, “I’ll try to recommend some developers to you.”
You’ve already introduced some to me. I appreciate it. No need to trouble yourself anymore.”
Though he said that, he was still disappointed. His company had studied LugiX. For a large language model Al released three years ago to still be competitive, the developer behind it had to be a genius.
But disappointment aside, seeing a top talent like Skyla wasn’t treated with respect made Rolf resent ZeitTech.
Outside the private room.
Ayla walked out of the restroom and unexpectedly ran into Troy making a phone call.
She paused and listened to what he was saying.
Troy was telling Jed to teach ZeitTech a lesson.
Ayla had guessed this would happen, but hearing it herself felt different.
It was like running into someone you can’t stand You feel fine when they’re out of sight, but seeing them-even for a second-hits you with disgust.
That was why running into Troy always hurt Ayla.
But this time, Ayla paid attention to how she felt and realized it didn’t hurt anymore.
373

Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Divorce me I'm done serving you (Ayla)
Why is half of each of these chapters missing? The story sort of trails off in the middle of the chapter. That’s unfortunate....