She Left She Thrived She’s Worth Billions novel Chapter 479

"Yes."

Preston answered without a second of hesitation.

"Why?"

If they just wanted to invite her to an internal seminar, dragging the entire team to Aria's event felt like absolute overkill.

"I was afraid she would try to bully you."

Hearing Preston's protective reasoning, Melanie let out a wry laugh.

"Do I really look that delicate to you?"

"No..."

Preston shook his head firmly.

Melanie wasn't delicate. She never had been.

When he believed the entire world had abandoned him, Melanie was the only one who had fearlessly stepped out of the shadows to save him.

Melanie was fiercely strong.

She was unspeakably brave.

"You're just incredibly important to me. The most important person in my life."

The raw, heavy devotion in his voice made Melanie's heart skip a nervous, frantic beat.

She cleared her throat and took a silent, steadying breath.

Having a man with Preston's god-tier looks whisper such intoxicating confessions to her was a lethal combination; she had zero defense against it.

"Listen, we are currently driving to your office to do actual work. Don't try to seduce me right now!"

Melanie's flustered warning pulled another deep laugh from Preston.

Melanie had realized that ever since they got together, Preston smiled far more often.

"You really look amazing when you smile. You should do it more."

Hearing her words, Preston nodded, the faint curve of his lips lingering.

He didn't think his smile was anything special.

At least, not before he met Melanie.

Any warmth he possessed was entirely because of her.

His smiles belonged completely to Melanie.

"Oh, by the way, how exactly did you convince the R&D heavyweights at your company to admit their flawless extraction tech needed an upgrade? Don't tell me you just used your handsome face."

Melanie's question snapped Preston's drifting thoughts back to the present.

Right before they entered the conference room, Preston gently squeezed Melanie's shoulder.

Melanie offered him a confident smile.

The heavy double doors swung open, revealing at least twenty Stellaris executives, almost all of them senior R&D directors.

Their faces were stone-cold, their eyes burning with harsh scrutiny and outright contempt as Melanie strode into the room and stopped before them.

Over twenty pairs of deeply hostile eyes locked onto her like laser sights.

Under that suffocating level of pressure, anyone else would have crumbled into a panic.

Standing quietly to the side, Preston kept a careful watch on Melanie.

Melanie's smile never faltered; she radiated an unbelievable sense of calm relaxation.

Ironically, her effortless composure somehow managed to diffuse a fraction of the explosive tension choking the room.

Preston exhaled a slow, silent breath.

Clearly, he had been overthinking.

Melanie wasn't nervous at all. He was.

Just as Melanie opened her mouth to introduce herself, a middle-aged woman sitting in the second seat on the left fired off a sharp question.

"So you're the newly appointed COO of the Royce Group?"