Ms. Escape Marrying to Run Fighting to Rise novel Chapter 195

Ms. Escape: Marrying to Run, Fighting to Rise

Chapter 195 The Man Behind Ainsworth

+5 Pearls

“Hmph. He’s lived in the Lincoln Estate all these years, enjoyed all the privilege that comes with it, and now he can’t even make room for one younger brother?” Harold snapped, clearly irritated.

Deep down, he didn’t really believe Curtis would cut ties with him completely over this. He couldn’t imagine things ever going so far that they’d become enemies for life.

Besides, now that Michael and Denton were back, Harold’s heart had already started to shift. Whether Curtis came home or not, he didn’t care as much anymore.

Ernest let out a quiet sigh but didn’t say anything else.

At the hotel, when Curtis returned, Adriana was sprawled across the bed, focused on her design sketches.

She’d been picking up freelance work lately, helping others with concept art and draft designs, and the income wasn’t bad.

It wasn’t that she needed the money. She just wanted to start building a name for herself. Right now, she was a complete nobody, without even a proper portfolio. If she wanted to join the Lincoln Group’s design department one day, she needed to have something to prove her worth, and this was the time to lay the groundwork.

“So focused?” Curtis had walked all the way to the bed, and she hadn’t even noticed.

When Adriana saw him, her eyes lit up. She sat up quickly and threw her arms around him. “You’re back! All done for the day?”

Curtis smiled gently, doting as always. “Yeah.”

His gaze shifted to the lines on her screen. “Working on something?”

“Mm–hmm. Ainsworth Group in Haldoria is doing this City of the Future project, and they’re accepting open submissions. I thought I’d give it a shot.” Adriana nodded, excited. Her eyes sparkled. “Even just making it past the first round pays thirty grand!”

Curtis’s lips curved upward. She was full of energy and ambition, and he liked that about her. “So, what’s the prize if your design gets chosen in the end?”

“This much,” Adriana said mysteriously, holding up four fingers.

Curtis raised an eyebrow. “Four million?”

Adriana gasped. “Are you kidding me? I’m not some famous designer. Even 400,000 is a big deal.”

The submission she was working on was just for a small feature within the larger City of the Future project -a design for the “Sky Mirror” installation. But even for a minor component, offering 400,000 for the final design was already extremely generous.

Babe, you do know I’m the client for the City of the Future project, right?” Curtis said with a smirk he couldn’t hide.

His wife was about to submit a design for his company’s project. Was he supposed to let that slide or sneak

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Mon, Jan 12

Chapter 195 The Man Behind Ainsworth

her through the back door?

+5 Pearls

Adriana’s eyes went wide as she quickly opened the project documents on her laptop. “But… it’s under Ainsworth Group! I mean, sure, Ainsworth and Lincoln Group work closely together, but they’re not under the same umbrella.”

<< < <=

Ainsworth Group was one of the rising stars in recent years, practically an overnight sensation. The moment they appeared, they landed the most coveted development deal in all of Haldoria. Everyone had been speculating that some powerful figure had to be backing them, and the biggest mystery in the industry was–who was really behind Ainsworth Group?

Adriana stared at Curtis in total shock.

He trusted her enough to just drop this kind of bombshell? “You’re … the man behind Ainsworth Group?”

Ainsworth Group. That Ainsworth Group. Right now, in Haldoria, the two hottest local giants were Langford Group and Ainsworth Group, and in the past few years, Ainsworth had completely outpaced Langford.

Back when Adriana was working with Matthew, she’d constantly hear him on the phone in a low, tense voice, ordering people to dig into whoever was running Ainsworth behind the scenes–but they never found a single clue.

Every competing firm in the city had tried to uncover Ainsworth’s true backer. Knowing your rival was essential to staying competitive. But since Matthew couldn’t dig up anything useful, he had no choice but to hold back and play it safe. That hesitation had bought Ainsworth Group the breathing room it needed to

rise.

There was no denying it, Curtis really was a business genius. He had used the Lincoln Group as a stepping stone, quietly building his own empire, rising higher with every move.

No wonder he was always traveling, always flying back and forth to Haldoria, constantly tied up in something. He was so busy, he barely even had time to be with her.

Curtis smiled and sank into the sofa, reaching out a hand toward Adriana.

She rushed over and plopped down on his lap, her voice trembling slightly. “Curtis … so you already planned your escape route, didn’t you?”

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