Chapter 264
Audrey turned back to check her laptop but tripped over the mop and toppled sideways onto the bed
By the time the dizziness faded and she looked again, she saw Yann casually pulling tissues from the box, looking completely satisfied.
Audrey’s face instantly flushed bright red, and in a flurry, she scrambled to end the video call.
On the other end, just after cleaning up, Yann pot a call from Keith. “So? Did Audrey agree?”
“No,” Yann replied.
Keith gasped, “What? Come on, Audrey’s little web series is just a side project. Pantheon Films only backs major productions, and she’s turning that down?”
Hall of the top ten box office hits from recent holiday seasons had been backed by Pantheon Films. Every big investor had their eye on that cash cow, but without serious connections, even a fat wallet wouldn’t buy anyone a seat at the table.
Keith was willing to hand over the production rights to one of those films. To Audrey, whose experience was mostly with small time web series, it was like being handed a winning lottery ticket.
Even so, Audrey turned it down, and he couldn’t help but feel she didn’t know how to appreciate a good opportunity.
Even though he felt that way, he still continued to negotiate. “Then what project does she want? I’ll let her take her pick.”
Yann tossed the trash and poured himself a glass of water. Only after Keith finished did he respond calmly, “I actually haven’t talked to her about it yet.”
wine
Keith raised an eyebrow, wondering, ‘Then what the hell were you doing just now?” He sighed, “Yann, you can’t ditch your friends for a girl. I’m asking for a favor here. Take it seriously.”
“Pretty sure you’re the one ditching your friend for a girl.” Yarn bit down on a cigarette, tit, and took a long drag. “You knew damn well Tank set up my wife, and you still played mediator. That’s how you treat your so–called friend?”
Keith had no comeback. He irritably ran a hand through his hair and said, “Her mom is best friends with my mom, alright? She came to my place today to
talk about an engagement.
“My mom has been on my case for years, desperate to lock us in a room and make it official
“Come on, you can’t just let your friend’s whole life go up in smoke. Please, I’m begging you. If Audrey doesn’t press charges, I’ll do whatever she wants Anything”
Yann opened the window to air out the room, the smoke curling into the dark night. His eyes narrowed as he stared out into the blackness. “Have you ever thought about what happen to Audrey il Tank gets away with this?”
Stride Commerce was Audrey’s launchpad. Her skincare line was still in its early days, and the smart tech project with FlexTech Group was her breakout moment, it succeeded, she would make a name for herself if it failed, she might not recover
With a frown, Yann pondered, “Talia never gave hepa way out. So, what right does she have to ask Audrey to go easy on her?
“Keith knows all this. He’s not dumb. But his ties to the Price family run deep, and their businesses are intertwined. He can’t afford to sit this out, even if it means screwing over a friend.”
Yann continued, “Talia used to cling to me, and now she wants to marry you. Allah’s trying to do is dodge a lawsuit.
“What happens between you and her is your business. But I’m not going to plead with my wife on her behalf, if Audrey asks for my help, I’ll give her everything I’ve got.”
Chapter 264
Keith knew there was no point arguing. He tossed out a few more hall hearted remarks and then hung up. He stumped sideways onto the cou sprawled out without care. The table in front of him was littered with empty beer bottles.
Quentin was an odd one himself, reading medical reports in a karaoke lounge. After finishing the last page, he grabbed a beer can off the tabla, when he found his hand empty, he frowned at Keith, annoyed that he had drunk the last
“I told you not to say anything.” Quentin said flatly.
Keith muttered, “But my mom is forcing me to marry her
ucked the report into a brown folder and sealed it carefully.
“thought that was exactly what you wanted,” Quentin said as he tucked
“You think I’m into Tank?” Keith kicked at him, frowning. Quentin had just gotten up, so the kick missed, and Keith nearly toppled off the couch.
Quentin glanced back at him, his expression suddenly turning complicated. After a moment, he finally said, “There are some things you shouldn’t throw around so lightly.”
Keith’s face shifted as he remembered Quentin’s past. When he saw that Quentin was about to leave, he called out for him to bring back a few more
bottles.
After Quentin left, he went straight to the hospital. The bone marrow transplant had been performed that morning and the operation went off without a hitch. As long as the recipient’s body didn’t reject it, there shouldn’t be any issues
Still, he couldn’t stop thinking about what Audrey had said regarding genetic allergies.
Pre–op evaluations were standard, of course, Clayton didn’t have any known drug or food allergies, but Luna did.
She had been rushed to the hospital multiple times after eating desserts with pecans in it. Valerie had even used those incidents to claim compensation
from the bakeries.
Quentin didn’t think Audrey would bring that up for no reason. He was still lost in thought when he nearly walked straight into a little boy standing in the hallway.
Just as he passed by, the boy broke into a strange grin and darted past him.
The collision made Quentin stumble. He looked up just in time to catch the kid’s back–white sneakers, overalls, and a blue shirt underneath. His hair was neatly cut like a bowl and looked surprisingly so.
“Hey, no running in the hallway,” Quentin called out.
The boy turned back, stretched the corners of his eyes with his fingers, stuck out his tongue, and then took off again.
Quentin shook his head with a sigh, thinking, ‘Kids these days are on a whole other level, if he were mine, I would make damn sure he had proper
Just then, Clayton’s lead surgeon spotted him and handed over his file. “Oh, hey, Dr. Hale. Here you go.”
Quentin took it and glanced at the contents before passing it back.
Clayton’s condition had been fragile ever since the bone marrow donation, With the recent flu outbreak, the hospital had arranged for him to stay in
sterile room.
The doctor frowned, “Dr. Hale? Why is your hand bleeding?”
Only then did Quentin notice the thin, shallow cut on the back of his hand. He quickly stepped out of the room,
Meanwhile, the little boy’s demeanor completely shifted the moment he entered the secure stairwell. He pulled out a transparent container from his
08:58 Sat, 14 Jun
Chapter 264
pocket, revealing a blood stained razor blade inside,
He thought to himself, “Hair is alright for DNA, but blood is faster and gives cleaner results.”
Audrey was sound asleep when she felt someone slip into bed beside her. The familiar, crisp scent made her instinctively snug into his arms
She always liked sleeping with her leg draped over him, so when he tried to pin her leg down, the quickly pulled it away and pressed it of him.
But after a moment, Audrey sensed something was off. There was something pressing against her.
Her mind slowly shook off the fog of sleep, and she opened her eyes. By then, the sky had just started to lighten. The curtains were drawn, but men the dim room, she could make out the solid figure lying beside her.
Yann had been propping his head up s her. “Tmally awake?”
with his hand, staring at her for who knows how long When he saw her open her eyes, leaned down and kissed
All Audrey could do was mumble, “Mmm.”
Yann grinned. “Well, if you’re not sleeping, we might as well do something else.”
With that, he took Audrey’s hands and gently pinned them above her head. She blinked at him. “Weren’t you supposed to be back tonight”
With swift, practiced ease, Yann slipped off her nightdress, his hand tracing the curve of her back and resting over the tattoo on her lower spine. “You missed me. So, I came back.”
He still had work to wrap up this morning, so he had sent his chief secretary, Freya, in his place and caught the red eye flight home.
At the time, all Yann could think was, ‘She wore that nightgown and danced for me, man. Of course, she missed me. How could I leave her alone like
that?
But when he got home, he had found Audrey sprawled out on the bed, fast asleep, snoring ever so faintly.
She was always grumpy when she first woke up, so Yann just waited patiently. Now that she was finally awake, he figured it was his time to shine and he planned to show it with actions, not words.
To be honest, Audrey hadn’t been in the mood at first. But after that little dance she did last night, seeing the flushed look and hunger in his eyes through the screen, she changed her mind.
She had to admit it felt pretty damn good to have that kind of effect on him.
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