The Billionaire's Intern (Maya Thompson) novel Chapter 333

Chapter 154 Across Borders 2

Damien caught Maya’s eye and gave a small nod. “Put her on speaker.”

Clam

Maya inhaled, steadying herself. She forced her shoulders to relax, masking the worry still etched on her face. With a flick, she pressed the phone to speaker and held it on the table. The soft hum

of the device filled the dining hall.

“Hey, you!!” Harper’s voice came bright through the speaker, threaded with a faint rasp of exhaustion. “Ugh, I just got off the plane. My legs feel like jelly, but I’m alive!”

The room’s attention shifted instantly. Ashcroft froze mid-sip, his eyes narrowing slightly as the voice registered. The corner of his mouth twitched – he tried to mask it with casual interest, but his gaze lingered on the phone a beat too long.

“How’s everything?” Maya asked softly.

“Oh, I just landed,” Harper said, slightly breathless. Then her tone lightened as her eyes roamed around the screen. “Are you… at dinner? Oh no, did I interrupt? Good evening, everyone!”

Jaime perked up. “Hi, Harper!”

Harper laughed warmly, voice carrying easily over the speaker. “Heyyy, Jaime, my man! Looking good, bud!”

Charles’s booming laugh followed. “Ahh! So this is Takahashi’s daughter now, huh? Last time I saw you, you were still in diapers!”

Harper’s cheeks turned pink. “Ahh-hello, old Mr. Blackwood, old Mrs. Blackwood, Aunt Dahlia,

Uncle Charles!”

The elders nodded and smiled warmly.

Maya shook her head, lips curving faintly. “No, it’s fine. How’s everything there?”

“I don’t know yet,” Harper admitted lightly, then glanced at the phone again. “What’s going on? You

sound tense.”

Maya’s eyes flicked across the table, then back to the speaker. “It’s…. about Jaime’s surgery. It’s not

safe here, we thought about Switzerland, but we just learned that it isn’t an option either.”

Harper’s tone shifted immediately, firm and sharp. “Well, yeah! That’s Lockwood territory. The moment you step foot there, they’ll know who you are.”

The room went silent.

“Harper… how did you-” Maya began.

“Know?” Harper interrupted with a small laugh. “Let’s just say… I may or may not have been

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darker-but he hid it behind that crooked smirk, the kind that dared anyone to call him out.

Maya glanced at him briefly, her eyes softening with quiet understanding. She didn’t call him out,

didn’t tease-just saw him.

Across the table, Damien leaned back, a smirk flickering. He didn’t say a word, but the glint in his eyes said enough. He hid a grin behind his glass, the motion lazy, amused. He knew that look in Ashcroft’s eyes too well-territorial, reluctant, hopelessly human.

Harper’s voice crackled lightly through the speaker again, oblivious to the subtle tension on the other end. “So, what do you say? Can you make it here by the end of the week?”

The words hung in the air. Maya’s eyes widened, a flicker of worry tightening her chest-but beneath it, a spark of hope glimmered. Could they really make it in time? Jaime’s gaze met hers, wide and uncertain, yet tinged with quiet determination.

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