What She Overheard in Her Own Marriage novel Chapter 313

Noelle's expression froze. It felt like another slap across the face. Kaia truly was a master at making things difficult.

"Alright. We'll provide full cooperation," Noelle replied, pasting on another smile. But it was entirely superficial, failing to reach her eyes.

"You can leave now. We need quiet." Kaia's dismissal was the ultimate humiliation.

Was this where Kaia drew her confidence? Did she think she could order the company's director around like a subordinate?

Clinging to her last shred of dignity, Noelle offered a tight smile, turned on her heel, and walked out.

The moment she stepped into the hallway, a suffocating tightness gripped her chest. She pressed a hand over her heart, leaning heavily against the wall.

She took a deep breath. Bringing Kaia here had been a massive mistake—nothing but a public humiliation.

She wouldn't put herself in this position again.

On the other side of the wall, Kaia and her team dove into solving the crisis.

By eight o'clock that evening, Kaia was knee-deep in work in the Aethelstan lab.

Finnian personally arranged a lavish dinner for the Veridian Future team. Dexter and the Aethelstan administrative staff lugged in several massive bags of food.

An admin coordinator peeked into the lab. "Dr. Chavez? Mr. Sanders brought dinner for everyone. Why don't you all take a break and eat?"

Kaia looked up and saw Finnian standing quietly in the doorway, watching her.

She told the team to go ahead, set down her pen, and walked back to the conference room.

Finnian's gaze followed her, lingering on the fatigue in her eyes.

The team was practically drooling over the spread, but none of them dared to pick up a fork until Kaia gave the word.

"Don't just sit there," Kaia said, looking at them. "Eat. You need energy to work."

The team immediately dug in, thrilled to be treated to such a feast by the CEO himself.

Finnian placed a container of Kaia's favorites right in front of her. "I got this specifically for you. Eat."

She frowned slightly but muttered a quiet, "Thank you."

Finnian pulled up a chair beside her and simply watched her eat.

Kaia hated being stared at. "Where is Brynlee?" she asked.

"My mom took her back to the estate. Don't worry, I'll head over and keep her company later," he replied.

"Go now," she urged.

"Right? Morale at Aethelstan is in the gutter right now. Nobody even wants to work."

Finnian's brow furrowed. He stepped out of the restroom and headed straight for Noelle's office.

The lights were still on. He knocked, heard her voice, and pushed the door open.

Noelle was standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, a slim cigarette pinched between her fingers. Startled by his sudden appearance, she dropped it, narrowly missing her arm.

Finnian's expression darkened. He hadn't expected to walk in on this. "How many times have I told you to stop smoking? Why don't you listen?"

Noelle scrambled to pick up the cigarette, crushing it into the trash can. She kept her head down like a child caught misbehaving. "I'm sorry, Finnian. I won't do it again. I was just so stressed... I needed the nicotine for my headache."

Seeing how haggard and fragile she looked, Finnian swallowed the rest of his reprimand. He walked over and sat on the sofa.

Noelle let out a quiet breath of relief and slowly looked up at him. Her eyes quickly brimmed with red.

"You look exhausted. Do you want to go home and rest?" he asked gently.

She shook her head, walking over to sit on the adjacent sofa, looking utterly defeated.

"Still stressing over the project? Don't worry, Kaia is handling it," he said, hating to see her so disheartened. This wasn't the resilient Noelle he knew, and it tugged at his heart.

"Kaia is amazing. She spotted the issue immediately," Noelle said, staring at her hands with a self-deprecating laugh. "I'm not upset about the project itself. I'm upset that... we wasted two whole months."