Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 9

Nora had just arrived at the Northampton airport when her phone vibrated.

"Hello, Zachary?"

Zachary York's smooth voice came through the line, carrying a hint of amused resignation. "Nora, Starlight Media just called. They gave the GM job to Caleb Miller."

Nora's steps faltered for a fraction of a second before she kept walking. "Did they?"

Zachary hadn't expected such a flat reaction. He paused before teasing, "What? You're not going to throw a fit for me? I was your recommendation, and I just got robbed. You're not even mad?"

Nora offered a faint smile. "Did you call just to pick a fight over it?"

"I'm not that bored." Zachary's tone sobered up. "I called to give you a heads-up. You need to warn Edmond—Caleb Miller is bad news."

Nora stopped walking.

"Rumor has it he assaulted a female artist at his last agency. She was a rookie with no backing. He took advantage of her, and she was too terrified to speak up. She ended up developing depression and jumping off a building..."

Zachary's voice was low, laced with disgust. "Usually, a piece of trash like Caleb wouldn't even be on my radar. I only entertained the idea of this job as a favor to you. I never expected Edmond to pull a stunt like this..."

Nora lowered her eyes. She knew about Caleb. In fact, she had told Edmond about him.

She just hadn't expected him to pick the man anyway.

She stayed silent for two seconds.

"I know, Zachary."

Catching the odd shift in her tone, Zachary asked tentatively, "What's wrong? Did you and Edmond..."

"We broke up."

The line went dead silent for a few seconds.

Then, Zachary laughed. "Good."

Nora blinked in surprise.

"Edmond isn't good enough for you."

Nora stared at the words, her thumb hovering over the screen.

[I'm sure.]

The reply was instant.

[Nora, this is Mr. Lancaster's number. Maybe you should reach out to him first... try to build a connection.]

Nora pressed her lips together, copied the number, and ran a search.

A WeChat profile popped up. The avatar was pitch black, and the screen name was a single letter: 'H'.

His background photo was entirely black as well. No status, no details.

She half-wondered if it was even an active account.

Nora clicked 'Add Friend', tossed her phone into her bag, and forgot about it.

Rumor had it Hudson Lancaster was completely unpredictable and hated socializing. Half the city's elite would kill to get in his good graces, but most couldn't even score his assistant's contact info.