Chapter 16\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stella didn\u2019t respond right away. When she finally found her voice, her voice trembled with\u00a0<\/p>\n
disbelief.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cR\u2013Really?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian hummed in response.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll make the arrangements. Keep this under wraps for now,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stella took a moment to compose herself, then swore repeatedly that she wouldn\u2019t tell a soul.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once she calmed down, she no longer believed Vivian could actually persuade Kingston to invest in Halcyon Group\u2019s project. The profit margin alone made it unlikely, and someone of his stature would never bother with something so trivial.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After hanging up, Vivian searched her bag for the business card Theo had given her after the car accident. She checked twice but couldn\u2019t find it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The insurance company had handled all follow\u2013up matters, and she hadn\u2019t saved a single contact for Kingston or his assistant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After much deliberation, she had no choice but to text Vanessa to get Kingston\u2019s address in Baymoor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vanessa, who usually responded in her typical laid\u2013back way, immediately perked up when she saw the message. Having grown up together, she naturally knew about the engagement that once existed between the Hartwell and Howard families.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cVivian, don\u2019t tell me you\u2019re trying to chase something you\u2019ve already let go.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian pressed a hand to her forehead in exasperation. \u201cIs that all you think I\u2019m doing?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vanessa pondered for a few seconds before replying, \u201cOr\u2026 you could be the one who turns the past into a stepping stone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian couldn\u2019t help but laugh, then got straight to the point. \u201cCamille said Kingston is interested in buying Whitfield Group\u2019s shares. I want to discuss it with him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vanessa fell silent for a moment before offering a word of caution. \u201cIf you sell your shares to him, Whitfield Group will eventually be absorbed by Howard Group and cease to exist.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Whitfield Group carried all of Vivian\u2019s years of effort. She had watched it grow from the ground up. Of course, it mattered to her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fun Merge\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maroo\u00a0<\/p>\n
Relaxing\u00a0<\/p>\n
X CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 16\u00a0<\/p>\n
7\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to think this through,\u201d Vanessa added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian glanced back at the Whitfield Group office building and muttered, \u201cThe only reason this company meant anything to me was because of what I poured into it. The company itself wasn\u2019t the point. What made it matter was my contribution.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Without her involvement, the place held no significance anymore. It was time to let go and focus on building the next chapter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Realizing that Vivian had completely let go, Vanessa teased her for a bit before ending the call. She immediately asked around about Kingston\u2019s address in Baymoor and sent it to Vivian as soon as she had it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI already checked with my brother. He says Kingston\u2019s at home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian arrived at the door of Kingston\u2019s luxury penthouse, following the address Vanessa had sent her. She pressed the doorbell and waited several minutes, but no one answered. Just as she raised her hand to press it again, the door swung open from the inside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stood there, his handsome face calm and unreadable, but his dark eyes betrayed a flicker of impatience. In his long, elegant fingers, he held a phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The screen showed a popular MOBA\u2013style game, its visuals dark and muted. His character had just been taken out by an opponent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian froze for a moment. She hadn\u2019t expected someone so cold and aloof to actually play a game like this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Howard, I heard from my sister, Camille, that you\u2019re interested in buying Whitfield Group\u2019s shares. I came to talk to you about it\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He glanced at her indifferently, but didn\u2019t wait for her to finish. As his character respawned, he lowered his head and dove back into the game. He didn\u2019t step aside or invite her in, but he didn\u2019t send her away either.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian could only wait silently at the door, watching him finish the round.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His complete focus was almost mesmerizing. He guided his character to support his\u00a0<\/p>\n
teammates, his awareness sharp enough to make an impact. But as soon as he appeared on the\u00a0<\/p>\n
battlefield, he barely had a chance to act before being eliminated again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kingston stared at the dimmed screen, his expression darkening along with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 16\u00a0 Stella didn\u2019t respond right away. When she finally found her voice, her voice trembled with\u00a0 disbelief.\u00a0 \u201cR\u2013Really?\u201d\u00a0 Vivian […]<\/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":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-i-cancel-the-engagement-and-level-way-up"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323","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=323"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":359,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323\/revisions\/359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}