Belinda looked around but didn't spot Chase. All she saw was her phone charging on the bedside table. She picked it up, and the first unread message was from Chase.
“The only thing I did last night was bring you to my room and crash on the couch. Don't think too much into it.”
Her heart raced, and her cheeks flushed. What the hell was he playing at? She was all kinds of confused!
Then there were the 99+ unread messages from her boyfriend, Jacob.
Belinda cringed. She'd been so out of it yesterday that she'd forgotten to reply to Jacob.
She opened their chat to find a bunch of messages from him, asking where she was, what she was doing, and if she'd gone to bed.
The last one was from this morning. “Belinda, why aren't you answering me? Reply when you see this!”
Feeling guilty, she quickly replied. “Sorry, I got caught up with something yesterday and forgot to reply to your messages.”
Jacob replied instantly. “No worries! I was just worried about you. Are you okay? Where are you?”
She replied honestly. “I'm still at my aunt's place. I'm okay; don't worry.”
Jacob asked, “Can I pick you up for lunch? It'll be just us two.”
For some reason, Belinda hesitated before replying. “Um... sure. Don't bother picking me up; I'll come to you.”
“Looking forward to it!”
After ending the chat with Jacob, Belinda got out of bed and cleaned herself up in the bathroom.
When she came out of Chase’s room, she saw Ellinor sitting alone at the kitchen counter, eating breakfast and working on her laptop.
Ellinor sipped her warm milk and squinted. "It's a good project. If the conditions are right, we can consider taking it. But we need to watch out for any potential traps in their contract."
"Got it. I'll bring our legal team to negotiate with them."
After hanging up, Ellinor rubbed her tired eyes. Even though she'd just woken up, she felt utterly drained.
The Blanchet Corporation seemed eager to work with Crescent Society, and she couldn't help but suspect it was Theo's doing.
Something was off, and it made her uneasy.
But if they refused, the Blanchet Corporation would just propose another project. They might as well face it head-on.
The doorbell rang.
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