Her Revenge Was His Regret (Shirley and Gilbert) novel Chapter 292

The crown didn't always sit on the same head.

Every promising deal they'd wanted? Snatched away. And now this prime location, this upscale restaurant—how was it a Harrison property?

Gilbert instinctively glanced at Julia. Back then, Julia double-checked and said there were no missed prime opportunities; the few remaining good ones were already in the hands of big-name players.

None of them was with Lucas.

This fancy restaurant wasn't huge, but the problem was that Gilbert didn't catch a whiff of it.

Even Julia looked caught off guard. "You know how good my sources are."

Gilbert knew. He was in awe of them, honestly.

She never missed. His admiration for Julia had long eclipsed whatever he'd felt for his so-called first love.

His eyes kept drifting back to her.

Not his fault—Julia deserved it.

But the surprise only lasted a second.

Julia's eyes lit up, intrigued. This man finally had something worth her brainpower.

A man worthy of Julia had to sit at the very top. Anything less wasted her beauty and brilliance.

She needed someone with real power, someone who could match her.

Anything less was beneath her.

The challenge made her eager. The harder the chase, the sweeter the prize.

Men like Gilbert? She could snap her fingers and they'd come running—they were beneath her notice.

Gilbert had no clue what Julia was thinking. He just figured her silence meant she was calculating what went wrong and how to fix it.

Meanwhile, Sherry's group was laughing it up.

Worthless department, clearly. At least the others had the decency to look guilty and pull out their laptops.

These folks only knew how to butter up the manager. The fact that Sherry lasted this long at the company—she must have learned to kiss up from someone. Look at that grin—pure flattery, totally different from the stylish, principled Julia.

Julia never bent for money or power. She treated everyone the same and had a heart for the less fortunate.

Gilbert watched Sherry laughing with Lucas, and the tightness in his chest eased. So this was what she was upset about? Little stuff.

Typical woman. All feelings and drama. Couldn't see the big picture. They'd been married for years. This wasn't their honeymoon phase.

"Fine. I'll give her a chance."

Gilbert felt better, like he was about to grant Sherry a favor. He was the man, after all—he'd give her a way out.

Hopefully, this time, Sherry would take it and stop being ridiculous.

So when they reached the haunted house, they went in pairs, ten people total.

Gilbert straightened his suit jacket and extended his arm.

"Women like you are terrified of ghosts. Even fake ones. Pathetic. No guts. I'll be your knight, just to indulge your dramatics."

Juan shoved past him and linked arms with Sherry. "Dude. You're wearing a suit to a haunted house? You know everyone's staring at you like you're an idiot, right?"

Gilbert's face tightened, but he cared about his image too much to react. He glanced around.

Yeah. Plenty of eyes were on him, but not the bad kind of attention. This was Seaseat City. Plenty of people here knew who he was.