She Left She Thrived She’s Worth Billions novel Chapter 375

She had tipped Aria off about the test ahead of time and drilled the AI's answers into her head, guaranteeing Aria would dazzle the crowd and command the room's absolute respect.

The execution had been flawless. Aria had performed beautifully.

Starting as the COO of the Royce Group was just step one. Next, she would secure the success of the new cold medication project, and piece by piece, they would maneuver the entire Royce empire into their own hands.

Sabrina was lost in her glorious vision of the future when she turned her head—only to see Melanie sitting there, casually snacking on seeds with a look of pure, unadulterated amusement on her face.

"You find something funny?"

Seeing Sabrina sashaying over with a venomous glare, Melanie maintained her total composure, simply tilting her chin up.

"Your daughter put on a hilarious performance. Why wouldn't I laugh?"

"What did you just say?!"

Sabrina's face twisted in fury before she rapidly smoothed her features back into a perfect, plastic smile.

"Oh, Melanie, sweetie. I only say this because I care," Sabrina crooned mockingly. "Aria has just been made COO. But look at you. The older sister, without a real job to your name, dragging your husband through a messy divorce. Honestly... how is your father supposed to show his face in public?"

"Mom, stop it!"

Aria rushed over, putting on a sickeningly sweet display of sisterly concern.

"Melanie didn't have a choice in the divorce! I mean, Dominic had a child with someone else. If she had stayed with the Hales, she would have ended up discarded anyway."

Turning to Melanie, Aria placed a hand over her heart in a gesture of pure sincerity.

"But don't worry, sis. I look out for my family. Once I officially take over as COO, I'll make sure you get a spot at the Royce Group. You can be my personal assistant. How does that sound?"

Her generous offer immediately sparked another wave of cruel whispers among the gossiping elite.

"The younger sister is the Chief Operating Officer, and the older sister is her coffee fetcher? My god, that's humiliating."

"She's lucky to get even that. Do you know how hard the job market is right now?"

"The terrifying part is that she probably can't even handle being an assistant. She'd just be dead weight."

As the crowd openly pointed and sneered, Melanie calmly stood up.

With unbothered grace, she extended a hand, pointing directly past Aria to the tray of honeysuckle on the table.

She was the future COO of the Royce empire.

And what did Melanie have?

Nothing but a pretty shell.

Under the weight of countless judgmental stares, Melanie simply offered a careless shrug and smiled.

That confident little smile made Preston's eyes soften with a trace of deep amusement as he watched her.

While the rest of the room was fixated on Melanie, Gabriel was fixated on Preston.

This was the very first time he had ever seen his brother look at someone with such complete and utter fascination.

*Oh, he's hooked.*

*He is so hopelessly hooked!*

Just as Gabriel was mentally marveling at the destructive power of true love, Melanie's calm, unwavering voice sliced through the tension, instantly plunging the entire room back into a pin-drop silence.