The Man Who Waited vs. The Man Who Wasted novel Chapter 274

Claire's eyes immediately lit up at the suggestion.

"Great! Then go to the Vance family and propose an arrangement for me."

Adrian's face turned a furious shade of green.

"Claire Lowell, you better wake up from that delusion right now!"

"Even putting aside the fact that he isn't worthy of the Lowell family—even if he was, I would never, ever allow you to be with him!"

Claire was so frustrated that tears sprang to her eyes.

"Why?! Just because he's your business rival?"

"Exactly because of that! You know perfectly well how many of our core engineers he's poached. Lately, he's been pulling all sorts of underhanded tricks, specifically targeting Momentum AI. He is deliberately trying to make an enemy out of us."

"Corporate competition is totally normal! If he poached your engineers, it's because your management is terrible. They left because you couldn't keep them happy. That has nothing to do with him!"

Claire was so entirely wrapped up in her own defense of Julian that she completely missed how terrifyingly dark Adrian's expression had become.

Audrey was sitting next to her, frantically tugging at Claire's sleeve to warn her, but Claire ignored her entirely.

"You just feel inferior to him. You're jealous! That's why you won't let me be with him. You're terrified that if I marry him, you'll always look pathetic standing next to him."

Slap!

A vicious, echoing slap landed squarely on Claire's cheek.

Audrey gasped in horror, slapping her hands over her mouth.

This was Adrian's favorite sister. How could he...

Claire was stunned silent. She clutched her burning cheek, staring at him in sheer disbelief.

But there was no regret in Adrian's eyes, and certainly no pity. His face was like stone as he issued his warning.

"Listen to me very carefully, Claire. There are plenty of men in this city who would kill to be my brother-in-law. You can have your pick of any man you want. But Vance? Don't even dream about it. Unless you're prepared to stop calling me your brother, don't ever expect me to agree to this."

For the first time, genuine tears streamed down Claire's face.

"Fine! Then I'm not your sister anymore!"

With that, she turned and ran out of the room, sobbing.

Audrey stared at Adrian, completely paralyzed. She was almost too afraid to speak.

The Adrian sitting next to her today felt completely different from the man she thought she knew.

There was a ruthless edge to him now, a dark, heavy hostility.

Audrey carefully broke the silence.

Liam opened his mouth to say something, but ultimately swallowed his words.

Forget it.

Who remembered and who forgot... what did it matter to him anyway?

Not wanting the atmosphere to turn awkward, Liam quickly changed the subject.

"Even as mad as Claire was back there, she still refused to drop Julian's name. It looks like..."

"She just didn't want to cause more friction between Adrian and Julian," Jocelyn finished.

Because she liked him.

"That's not just a crush," Liam noted. "She's probably in love with him. Otherwise, with her temper, there's no way she could have kept her mouth shut."

It was a shame she was far too narcissistic and overconfident.

In that regard, the brother and sister were cut from the exact same cloth.

"Now that all this drama is handled," Liam asked, "what's your next move?"

Jocelyn offered a faint smile.

"Move into my new place. Then, put my head down and focus entirely on prepping for the competition."