Chapter 53 Real Talk With Halle\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHuh?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ayla froze for a few seconds. \u201c1.5 billion?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Halle nodded, looking even more shocked than her. \u201cYeah. You didn\u2019t know?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ayla remembered-Halle did send her a big package. She kept it in the closet and never opened it. When she got divorced, she didn\u2019t even think about taking it. So it was still sitting in the closet of Troy\u2019s villa!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Halle was speechless. She sighed and said, \u201cWhen you love someone, you really can\u2019t see anyone or anything else. Our friendship lasted this long probably because I\u2019ve been totally loyal-never leaving.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Halle\u2019s family was a mess, so she didn\u2019t have any fantasies about love.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t really get Ayla\u2019s feelings for Troy, but it didn\u2019t matter-she didn\u2019t need romance. She only loved money and Ayla, her friend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As for being loyal to Ayla, well, Ayla was just that compelling. She was happy to do it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ayla said, \u201cI\u2019ll go back in a few days to get it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Halle said, \u201cYou\u2019d better do that! That\u2019s a lot of money!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ayla looked at her seriously. \u201cThanks for sticking with me. I wouldn\u2019t have moved on so fast without you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After this experience, Ayla was completely done with romantic fantasies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Halle froze for a while.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sudden honesty almost made Halle tear up. She was tough and hated being sentimental, so she blinked it away. \u201cAyla, after all these years, I\u2019ve learned a lot from watching you. Nobody\u2019s perfect. And when someone\u2019s set on a path, no one can stop them. You got out of it not because of me-you figured it out yourself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ayla quietly listened to Halle talk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When people drink, they tend to talk more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the past, Halle had told her not to throw herself completely into her marriage. She\u2019d scolded her and kept saying women need careers, not just endless giving. Ayla didn\u2019t listen back then.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, she understood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Completely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the private room next door.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Troy heard from Norris that Skyla made a huge contribution to the project team. His eyes were full of admiration. His voice was low and gentle. \u201cCongrats.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rolf didn\u2019t get what he wanted, but he admired Skyla\u2019s skills.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ever since he took over the tech company, he learned how hard R&D was-endless problems every day, and pressure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Women as young, highly educated, experienced, and capable as Skyla were rare.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He poured a glass of wine, and congratulated her. \u201cWhen you came out of ZeitTech earlier, you looked upset. I thought something went wrong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Troy didn\u2019t know about this. He frowned, his eyes darkening a bit. \u201cLooked upset?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rolf nodded. \u201cYeah.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Troy asked, his voice low. \u201cWhat happened?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Skyla said, \u201cIt was nothing. After I finished discussing the collaboration with ZeitTech\u2019s CEO, I brought up LugiX for Mr. Rolf. Ms. Kinsman just said some nasty things. Maybe she\u2019s just too young.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Troy repeated, \u201cSome nasty things?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rolf frowned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Skyla continued, \u201cI don\u2019t know. I\u2019m not sure what I did to annoy her. She said I was just an errand girl and had no right to ask about LugiX.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Troy thought for a few seconds. \u201cI\u2019m going out to make a call.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rolf was annoyed. \u201cIs Ms. Kinsman really that rude?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Skyla nodded. \u201cThat\u2019s exactly what she said.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rolf\u2019s face turned even colder. \u201cTroy\u2019s going to handle this for you, so I won\u2019t get involved. But thank you. I\u2019m the one who asked for your help, and you ended up getting insulted for nothing. With ZeitTech\u2019s snobbish attitude, I\u2019ll never work with them again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Skyla said, \u201cI\u2019ll try to recommend some developers to you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve already introduced some to me. I appreciate it. No need to trouble yourself anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though he said that, he was still disappointed. His company had studied LugiX. For a large language model Al released three years ago to still be competitive, the developer behind it had to be a genius.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But disappointment aside, seeing a top talent like Skyla wasn\u2019t treated with respect made Rolf resent ZeitTech.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Outside the private room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ayla walked out of the restroom and unexpectedly ran into Troy making a phone call.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She paused and listened to what he was saying.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Troy was telling Jed to teach ZeitTech a lesson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ayla had guessed this would happen, but hearing it herself felt different.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was like running into someone you can\u2019t stand You feel fine when they\u2019re out of sight, but seeing them-even for a second-hits you with disgust.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was why running into Troy always hurt Ayla.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But this time, Ayla paid attention to how she felt and realized it didn\u2019t hurt anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
373<\/p>\n
Unwritten Feelings Drift by Austen 53 Chapter 53 Real Talk With Halle\u00a0 \u201cHuh?\u201d\u00a0 Ayla froze for a few seconds. \u201c1.5 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-retired-from-your-heart-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24488\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}