Still You Still Me Still Falling novel Chapter 40

Sheila kept herself completely swamped with work for the next few days.

She went out of her way to force everything that happened at the hospital out of her mind.

She secretly kept in touch with Laura Ladd, occasionally chatting with Tilly over the phone.

Only after hearing that Tilly had been discharged did she finally let out a sigh of relief.

Late one afternoon, York Preston called her in to outline the next phase of the project.

Sheila was being sent abroad.

The project involved a collaboration with a foreign tech company, requiring on-site work to get everything off the ground.

Sheila was assigned to go alongside two other colleagues.

Simon Sinclair, tied up with his own tasks, was staying behind.

Sheila happily accepted the arrangement.

Over the past few months, way too much had happened in her life.

She never expected to cross paths with Edmond Halley again, let alone get entangled with his daughter.

Going abroad for work felt like the perfect escape route.

She had spent time there before, so she wasn't anxious about the trip.

What she didn't expect, however, was to see Marcus Wagner on the plane.

She hadn't spotted him in the terminal, but the moment she settled into her seat, he appeared right beside her.

Sheila's expression darkened. Acting as if he didn't exist, she yanked her eye mask down and leaned back.

It was normal for investors to send representatives on overseas trips, but Marcus was the CEO himself.

A wave of deep irritation washed over her.

Marcus took full note of Sheila's cold reception.

No rush, he told himself.

Once they were abroad, there wouldn't be anyone else around to get in his way.

He had purposely arranged for Simon to be swamped with other work back home.

Long-distance relationships were the easiest to break.

His excuse was bulletproof: it was the Hearthlight Festival back home, a special day for expats to celebrate together.

But Sheila completely shut him down, giving him zero room to maneuver before heading straight back to her dorm.

Marcus was temporarily out of ideas.

After thinking it over, he fired off a message into a group chat.

"Any of you guys have advice on how to court a prickly rose?"

He had wrangled an invite to this elite group chat after securing the collaboration, using his newly formed connection to Edmond's circle.

He was ecstatic about it; every guy in the chat belonged to a social tier he had previously only dreamed of touching.

Edmond Halley and Thurston Golding were both in it.

Though Edmond never once sent a message, Thurston was constantly dropping jokes and stirring the pot.

While Marcus didn't have their status, he threw his money around generously and knew how to play the game, successfully carving out a space for himself in the group.

Naturally, the moment he asked for advice, a bunch of bored trust-fund heirs immediately chimed in to watch the show.