She Left She Thrived She’s Worth Billions novel Chapter 485

"Once I have the full picture, I'll tell you," Preston said smoothly.

"What exactly is going on? Do you need me to look into anything?" Gabriel tilted his head, his eager expression making it clear he desperately wanted a piece of the action.

The office suddenly fell into a dead, suffocating silence.

The windows were sealed tight, the door was shut, yet a distinct, icy chill seemed to sweep through the room.

Gabriel shivered instinctively, suddenly regretting ever pushing the topic.

Preston remained quiet for a long, agonizing moment.

Though his handsome face remained as stoic and hardly sculpted as ever, the depths of his dark eyes swirled with a chaotic storm of conflict.

A heavy, suffocating anxiety.

A terrifying complexity.

It took so long for Preston to speak that Gabriel was just about to desperately change the subject to break the torturous tension.

"What if I told you..."

As Preston's deep, measured voice filled the room, Gabriel watched his brother slowly raise his gaze to meet his.

"That the death of Melanie's biological mother... might be connected to Stellaris?"

In a fraction of a second, the color drained from Gabriel's face, his widened eyes screaming pure, unadulterated shock.

Meanwhile, Melanie was doing a routine inspection at the manufacturing plant when she unexpectedly ran into the same group of elite socialites who had mocked her at Aria Royce's studio ribbon-cutting ceremony.

"Ms. Royce really is something else. If she's not riding on her father's coattails, she's using her boyfriend. Either way, she never has to rely on herself."

One of the women immediately launched into her snide commentary.

Normally, Melanie couldn't be bothered wasting her breath on petty gossipers. But today, her schedule was relatively open, and the development of her specialized cold medicine was back on track thanks to Stellaris's optimized formula.

So, she decided she had just enough free time to entertain them.

Stopping in her tracks, Melanie pivoted and walked directly up to the woman who had spoken.

Watching the woman throw a tantrum, Melanie shrugged carelessly. "Whoever's desperate enough to claim the title, I suppose!"

"You—"

Seeing the situation escalating, Aria quickly grabbed her friend's arm.

Now was not the time to provoke a war with Melanie.

"Melanie clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. Let's just go. We'll head back to my studio for a bit, and then I'll treat you all to the new club downtown."

While soothing her friends, Aria turned to leave.

As they brushed past, Melanie's peripheral vision caught sight of the sleek box clutched in Aria's hands.

It was a specialized storage box belonging to Royce Group Plant No. 1.

"Stop right there!" Melanie commanded sharply.