The True Heiress Reborn And Slays (Alicia Delaney) novel Chapter 221

Chapter 221 An Unlikely Offer

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So he chose an entirely different road one that had almost nothing to do with that corporate world he Universal Corp that massive media empire, from the ground up, entirely on his own perma

For most of his life, he’d tried to stay clear of all that But now, because of what seemed like a guaranteed win progen slipped right back into the old game.

And the one who’d snapped him out of it was the woman sitting across from him-the same woman he’d ongray planned intimidate and pay off just to get her to back down.

Brandon leaned back into his chair and studied Riley, who looked completely at ease. A thousand thoughts rated through mind

For the first time, it hit him-he couldn’t read her at all.

The conversation had started with him in the driver’s seat, then turned into a back-and-forth, and now… somehow, he felt like he was losing his footing.

Before he realized it, they’d been talking for over half an hour.

All that hung in the air was a faint, cool trace of her perfume and the unspoken tension flowing between them.

It was the first time in his life Brandon truly understood what it meant to meet a woman who was his equal.

And Riley never dropped that calm, easygoing manner.

t was as if those sharp, calculated remarks-the kind that could shake a billion-dollar project-had never even left her lips.

She knew her warning had landed. Someone like Brandon would definitely get what was at stake.

As for what he’d do next-back off and drop the idea of going head-to-head, or move forward and use the locals as pawns to stir up

rouble in Cedar Creek-

She was ready either way.

f there was a problem, she’d handle it.

Three years of grinding through hell had taught her to see every obstacle as just another step up to something higher

“I’m curious,” Brandon said slowly, the usual business edge gone from his voice. “Lucas… what’s so special about him that you’d go

this far?

“You know how messy things can get in Cedar Creek. Even if Aiden showed up here himself, he’d have his hands full with all the tangled ties. You’re a woman, out here on your own, dealing with me and the whole town. What’s in it for you?”

In his eyes, Riley had more than enough talent and vision to make it big anywhere.

Going to these lengths for a man who’d already betrayed her it just didn’t add up, not from where he stood.

Hearing the question, Riley felt nothing inside.

She was aware Brandon had connections all over Havenbrook. He’d definitely dug into her past and knew all about her very public

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Chapter 221 An Unlikely Offer

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marriage to Lucas

But his information only went so far.

He knew Torres Group was investing, but he didn’t know her marriage to Lucas was already over in name

And he definitely didn’t know she was engaged to Sebastian now.

That gap in what he knew was her best cover at the moment.

With that, a faint, unreadable smile touched Riley’s lips.

“What’s in it for me?” She let out a soft laugh. “Mr. Edwards, I guess you’ll just have to keep watching. Then you’ll see… just how much I really love him.”

Brandon went still again.

t took him a moment to catch what she really meant.

Their face-off seemed to end in a way neither of them expected.

Brandon, playing the gentleman, offered to take Riley to dinner as an apology for coming on so strong earlier.

But Riley just smiled and declined.

‘No, Mr. Edwards.” She stood and smoothed her blazer. “I’ve already been out with you this long. Any longer and people might start talking. We’re on opposite sides of this right now, so it’s better if we keep our distance.”

Brandon didn’t push it. He drove her back to the project site himself.

He pulled over at an intersection a short walk from the site.

Just as Riley thanked him and reached to open the door, Brandon spoke up again from the driver’s seat.

‘Riley.” He used her first name, not “Ms. Harper”.

‘If things don’t work out with Lucas someday…

“Can I take you out?”

Riley’s eyelid twitched slightly. For a second, she couldn’t keep up with the sudden shift in Brandon’s thinking.

One moment they were opponents going back and forth across the negotiating table.

The next, he was asking if he could take her out.

What was this?

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