Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 602

Even for a popular artist like Leo Hamilton, his actual vocal talent was nothing to scoff at. Otherwise, no amount of corporate backing could have kept him relevant.

A sharp knock on the door broke the silence.

"Come in."

Seeing that it was Lucas Barlow, the general manager, Chloe pretended to inspect a file on the desk. "Director Reed, if that's all, I'll head back to my desk."

Nora smiled and played along. "Alright."

"Director Reed, I hope I'm not interrupting?" Lucas's smile was polite, his posture notably more deferential than usual.

After all, everyone at Star Entertainment knew that the woman sitting before him wasn't just their music director—she was Hudson Lancaster's beloved wife, the true lady of the company!

"Not at all." Nora stood up. "Mr. Barlow, please have a seat."

Lucas stepped aside, patting the shoulder of the young man standing behind him. "Director Reed, this is our newest signed artist, River Sterling. He also goes by River."

Nora's gaze shifted to the young man.

He was wearing a light gray sweater over a crisp white collar. Tall and lean, he offered a faint smile. He looked clean-cut and gentle, matching the photo perfectly.

"Hello, Director Reed." River's voice was clear, with only the faintest trace of an accent. "I'm River. You can call me River..."

"Nice to meet you."

Just then, Lucas's phone started vibrating. He glanced at the caller ID, then looked at Nora apologetically. "Um, Director Reed, I need to take this."

"Go ahead, Mr. Barlow."

Lucas stepped out of the office, phone to his ear, leaving Nora and River alone in the room.

"Actually, given our connections, I should be calling you 'Auntie Nora'..."

Hearing River stumble over the title, Nora blinked, thinking she had misheard him.

"...What did you just call me?"

"My mentor is Zachary York." River smiled. "He talks about you all the time..."

Nora didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Zachary had indeed mentioned having a student studying music abroad, but she never imagined it would be River.

Just then, River's phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, then lowered his voice as he spoke to Nora. "It's my mentor..."

He answered the call. "Hey, Zachary... Yeah, don't worry, Auntie Nora is taking great care of me... She's right right here..."

Nora was about to politely decline, but before she could speak, he cut her off. "Come on, Nora. It was understandable when you lived in Northampton, but now you're back in San Francisco. You don't have an excuse anymore."

He neatly blocked every possible escape route.

"Alright, text me the time and place..."

Zachary laughed. "That's more like it. We all run in the same circles. You never know when we might be able to help each other out."

"...I know." Nora smiled helplessly.

"I'll let you get back to work. I'll send you the details later."

"Alright, bye Zachary."

Nora handed the phone back to River just as Lucas returned from his call. After briefly discussing a few work-related matters, Lucas led River out.

As the office door closed behind them, River paused and cast a glance back through the glass panel.

Nora was looking down at a file, the bright sunlight catching her profile, making her luminous skin seem to glow...

River withdrew his gaze, a meaningful smirk playing on his lips.