The Day I Quit Him (Autumn and Mars) novel Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Owen instinctively reached for the phone.

The cool touch of the device made him realize what he was doing, and he pursed his lips, pulling his hand back.

Just then, the door to the private room slid open. Owen glanced over and saw the other man had returned. “Your phone’s been ringing,” he said softly.

“A call?”

Owen lowered his gaze to his own long fingers, rubbing the knuckles of his index finger. “I couldn’t help but notice a message came in. From someone named Autumn Lopez.”

The man froze at the name.

“Autumn Lopez?”

Owen watched as the man, who had been nothing but composed since they’d met, completely lost his cool.

He strode back to the table in a single long step, snatched up his phone, and scanned through the messages.

Seeing the man’s strange behavior, Owen’s eyes darkened. “Is she a friend of yours?”

The man had finished reading and sat back down in his chair.

His expression was once again carefully neutral.

“You could say that.”

“You could say that?” Owen picked up his teacup and took a sip. “Is that a thing?”

The man belatedly realized that Owen’s attitude was a bit off. He looked up at him. “Why? You know her too, Mr. Bennett?”

A slight smile curved Owen’s lips. “You could say that.”

“Are you kidding me, Mr. Bennett?”

Owen shook his head, not answering.

The man mulled over Owen’s attitude, and something suddenly clicked. He tapped his fingers on the table, testing the waters. “When I was scheduling this meeting with your assistant, he mentioned you had some good news on the horizon. Could it be…”

A faint smile spread in Owen’s eyes. “Yes. I’ll make sure you get an invite to the wedding, Mr. Spencer.”

Miles Spencer raised an eyebrow and chuckled softly. “No wonder.”

Owen pretended not to catch the meaning behind his words and continued to sip his tea.

Miles picked up his phone, glanced at it again, and then began to speak. “Autumn and I were college classmates. She had

this incredible vitality, this life force that drew you in from the moment you saw her. And she was full of ideas. Not long after graduation, she wanted to start her own business. You know I’ve never been the type to just sit back and inherit the family business, so when she invited me to join, I jumped at the chance.”

At this, Miles let out a cold laugh. “But then her boyfriend at the time accused me of having ulterior motives and found a

way to push me out.”

“It was my own pride, too. I should have warned her back then.”

“I’d heard she wasn’t doing too well recently. The Lopez Group is on the verge of bankruptcy, and as the family heiress,

she must be under immense pressure.”

Miles tapped his phone. “She’s asking me to come back and help her.”

Now that Owen understood the full story, his expression relaxed, “So, are you going to go, Mr. Spencer?”

Miles carefully watched Owen’s face.

“If she’s really that short on people-

“So you’ve decided to turn down the partnership with the Bennett Group?”

Owen’s single sentence made it perfectly clear what Miles should do.

“I understand.”

Owen didn’t ask what he understood.

Dealing with smart people was always this effortless.

“I have something else to attend to. I’ll treat you to dinner another time, Mr. Spencer.”

Without waiting for a reply, Owen buttoned his suit jacket and walked straight out the door.

Miles watched Owen’s retreating back before picking up his phone to reply to Autumn.

Autumn’s eyes snapped open the second she felt her phone vibrate.

[Sorry, I’ve already taken over my family’s business. I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you.]

The light that had just sparked in Autumn’s eyes instantly dimmed.

Truthfully, she hadn’t held out much hope when she sent the message.

Miles had been a big name on campus back in the day.

His family background and looks were top–tier. It had been a pleasant surprise when he’d agreed to join Cloudbreak Corporation in the first place.

For someone like him to be pushed out by Mars Wright for such a despicable reason… even thinking about it made her

feel bad for him.

It must have been even harder on him.

II’m the one who should be sorry. It was presumptuous of me to ask.]

Miles replied quickly: [Are you planning to go back to the Lopez Group?]

Autumn didn’t try to hide it and told him about her plan to revive the company.

Miles was silent for a long time before he replied: If you’re trying to revive the Lopez Group to go up against Cloudbreak, I’d suggest you try your luck with the Bennett Group. You know as well as I do that in Grand City, they’re the only ones with the resources to help you. Only the Bennett Group can bring a company back from the brink and still have it stand a chance against Cloudbreak.]

Seeing the words “Bennett Group, Autumn flinched as if burned, her gaze darting away.

Of course, she knew only the Bennett Group could help.

But her relationship with Owen Bennett, the CEO of the Bennett Group, was incredibly awkward right now.

He had agreed to inject capital into the Lopez Group. A hundred million dollars was a lot, but it wasn’t nearly enough for the company to take on Cloudbreak.

To really compete, she had to build the Lopez Group back up.

And he was only willing to help because of the baby she was carrying. She’d already taken his money and gotten more than enough help. Was she really going to ask him to pull her family’s company back from the brink, too?

What kind of person would that make her?

The Bennetts would probably think she was some kind of manipulative gold digger, using the baby as leverage to get what she wanted.

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