Victoria made her way toward the conference hall, only to be stopped halfway by someone approaching from behind.
A black suit jacket was draped over her shoulders, enveloping her completely in its warmth and shielding her from prying eyes.
She looked up and found Curtis standing before her.
“Why are you dressed like that?” he asked, frowning.
Just moments ago, chaos had erupted—Violet had suddenly fainted onstage, prompting McNeil to whisk her away from the crowd. Curtis had followed, but by the time he reached the hallway, the two had already vanished.
Scanning the crowd, he immediately spotted Victoria, but was taken aback by how revealing her outfit was. Acting on pure instinct—and a possessiveness he couldn’t quite hide—he slipped off his own jacket and wrapped it around her, unwilling to let anyone else see her like that.
Victoria didn’t bother to explain that it was Violet who’d insisted she wear the dress. There was no need.
She accepted Curtis’s jacket with a grateful smile.
“The next part is just the contract signing—boring stuff,” Curtis said. “Why don’t you head to the back and get some rest?”
He had no intention of letting Victoria parade around the venue dressed like that. As luck would have it, Ailie had just come out as well.
She’d witnessed McNeil carrying Violet out of the hall and had hurried out herself—mostly to spare Victoria the sight, worried it might upset her.
“Ailie, would you stay with Ms. Turner?” Curtis asked, needing to return to his place and finish up the press conference.
Ailie was more than happy to oblige; drumming up support for Violet had been the most distasteful thing she’d ever done—she’d have preferred eating dirt.
“Of course,” she said quickly.
Ailie followed Victoria to the suite the hotel had set up for them. As soon as the door closed behind them, Ailie let loose, venting her frustration at machine-gun speed.
Victoria listened, the corners of her lips curling upward despite herself as Ailie ranted about how McNeil had invested over half a billion dollars into this new game. Over the years, McNeil had certainly grown sharper in business.
With the F1 Grand Prix just around the corner, the timing of the game’s launch was perfect—no better way to ride the wave of excitement.
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