The other four uncles fell silent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDamn it! He showed us all up again!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Larissa\u2019s eyes lit up. She took the binder. \u201cThank you, Uncle Rafe.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sapphira laughed. \u201cIf you give her such extravagant gifts now, what will you possibly give her for her birthday?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll just have to scour the globe for even more precious treasures!\u201d the uncles declared in unison.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Neville smiled warmly. \u201cAlright, now that Larissa is home, let\u2019s eat.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
They all moved to the dining room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sapphira beamed at Larissa. \u201cTo celebrate your first day at Starlight Media, I had Wren prepare a few extra dishes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Larissa immediately threw her arms around her mother, puckering her lips for a kiss. \u201cMom, you\u2019re the best!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
With so many people around, Sapphira playfully blocked her with a hand. \u201cAlright, alright. You must be tired after a long day. Eat up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou got it!\u201d Larissa grinned and, without ceremony, picked up her fork and dug into a large, plump oyster. \u201cDelicious. So, so good.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLarissa,\u201d Neville asked, \u201chow was your first day? Are you settling in?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Four pairs of uncles\u2018 eyes immediately locked onto her, eager to offer their help. The intensity was a bit much. Larissa quickly looked away and nodded. \u201cIt was fine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGood to hear,\u201d Neville said, relieved. He knew that no matter how big the mess, his daughter could handle it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The four uncles, however, sighed internally, a sudden feeling of uselessness washing over them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDad, how are things at Judson Pharmaceuticals?\u201d Larissa asked, avoiding her uncles\u2018\u00a0<\/p>\n
gazes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Neville\u2019s expression grew serious. \u201cNot good. The company has been downsizing for the past two years. We\u2019ve had to shut down two production lines and halt clinical trials. We\u2019re especially struggling with funding and talent acquisition for new drug development.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Larissa smiled reassuringly. \u201cAt the engagement party, I arranged a partnership with the Schwartz family. Judson Pharmaceuticals will have access to their medicinal herb cultivation base, and Luther has agreed to serve as a medical consultant for a year to\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
12:03\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 420\u00a0<\/p>\n
help train our staff. After that, we can focus on bringing in an innovation team to break through our technical bottlenecks. We\u2019ll see results. And if Kimberly successfully develops a new drug, selling it through Judson Pharmaceuticals would be even better.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hearing her plan, Neville\u2019s hope for the company\u2019s future was rekindled. \u201cExcellent.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just then, Larissa\u2019s phone rang again. She put down her fork. It was another unknown number. She answered on speaker, and Vivica\u2019s voice filled the room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLarissa, darling, it\u2019s me, your real mother.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every head at the table snapped in her direction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Larissa immediately hung up. \u201cSpam call,\u201d she announced with a hint of disgust, and then blocked the number.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sapphira let out a small laugh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A moment later, Larissa\u2019s phone buzzed with a text from a different number.\u00a0<\/p>\n
[Larissa, Finley was taken by Garrick. They still haven\u2019t released him.]*\u00a0<\/p>\n
They were relentless. Larissa was about to ignore it but decided that rubbing salt in the wound would be more satisfying. She typed back: [Who cares?]\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was the one who had orchestrated Finley\u2019s conflict with Garrick in the first place. She was more than happy to see him face the consequences. Why would she help him?\u00a0<\/p>\n
[How can you say it doesn\u2019t concern you? Finley is your brother! Larissa, we\u2019ve paid for our mistakes, we\u2019ve suffered enough. Isn\u2019t it time you let go of your hatred for us?]\u00a0<\/p>\n
17119:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
Wings of Broken Time by Alina Das 420 The other four uncles fell silent.\u00a0 \u201cDamn it! He showed us all […]<\/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":[89],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-throne-of-thorns-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30942","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=30942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30942\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}