The Best Revenge It Wasn't Even Your Child novel Chapter 167

Lance checked the time. Eight-thirty.

They still hadn’t had dinner, but she stayed quiet, totally absorbed in her work. Every now and then, she rubbed her sore shoulders and neck, but she never once mentioned going home.

Catherine looked different when she slept. Gone was that stubborn set to her jaw. In the soft office light, her skin looked delicate and peaceful. Her long lashes cast little shadows with each breath, fluttering against her cheeks, moving gently with her breathing.

He’d started the evening watching her with that usual, distant look, but now his expression had softened. When he noticed a loose strand of hair tickling her nose, making her scrunch it and rub at it with her hand, he couldn’t help himself. He reached out and brushed the hair away, tucking it behind her ear.

That tiny moment—his fingertips grazing her skin—sent a rush through him, his chest tightening in response.

Catherine made a soft sound in her sleep. Startled, Lance jerked his hand back, eyes turning cool again.

“Let’s call it a night.”

He stood up, grabbed his jacket, and walked out. The sound of the door closing pulled Catherine slowly out of her sleep. When she realized his chair was empty, she sat up straight, startled.

Let’s call it a night.

His voice echoed in her ears. For a second, she wondered if she’d just dreamed it.

Shaking off her sleepiness, Catherine quickly gathered her files and left. On the seventeenth floor, she stopped by her own office to finish up some paperwork for the government project. By the time she finally headed home, it was almost eleven.

Halfway there, her phone buzzed. Lorinda was calling.

“What’s Lance up to?” Lorinda sounded worried. She knew Catherine was juggling two jobs and working late every night.

“You can’t keep pushing yourself, especially now that you’re pregnant!”

Catherine hadn’t expected things to get so crazy after taking on the new project.

“It’ll calm down once the project’s on track. Another month, tops.” She figured that by then, the team would be used to each other and the main proposal would be settled.

It was after midnight when she finally stepped inside. Her phone chimed with a message from Lewis.

[Catherine, are you free tomorrow? I’d like to take you out to eat.]

She replied, [Sorry, work’s been crazy lately. How’s Pansy doing?]

Lewis wrote back, [Not great. She needs medication long-term. If you hadn’t found that doctor for her, she might not have made it this far.]

Catherine had only met Pansy a couple of times and barely knew Lewis, but she couldn’t stand seeing families torn apart, especially by illness. She’d helped because she could, never expecting anything in return.

[No need to thank me. Just take good care of Pansy.]

She set her phone down and went to shower. When she came back, she saw that Lewis had texted again ten minutes earlier.