Chapter 18\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kingston reached over and took the phone from Vivian\u2019s hand. His long, slender fingers brushed her palm, leaving a faint tingling in their wake.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He quickly withdrew his hand, expression unreadable as he glanced at the screen. He tapped Confirm\u201d beneath the bolded \u201cDefeat\u201d and exited the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian pressed her lips together, thinking for a moment before speaking softly. \u201cIf you\u2019d like, I could carry you in a game.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kingston raised an eyebrow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCarry me?\u201d he asked skeptically.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His deep, narrow eyes locked onto hers without blinking, as if assessing her skill.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The look sparked Vivian\u2019s competitive streak. She immediately pulled out her phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really good at jungling. Several of my heroes have regional badges.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As she spoke, she swiped through her phone, looking for the app to prove her point. But it wasn\u2019t there. Only then did she remember she had uninstalled the game long ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kingston\u2019s intense gaze lingered on her. Seeing her hesitation, he let out a quiet scoff. There was no mockery in it, yet it still felt pointed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian drew a deep breath and opened the app store to reinstall the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a game. Downloading it again won\u2019t take long,\u201d she said, keeping her tone light despite her embarrassment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Kingston frowned as he put away his phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019ve already stopped playing, don\u2019t force yourself to download it again. I know you\u2019re not the type to push yourself to do things you don\u2019t want.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian froze. She was about to protest that she didn\u2019t feel forced, but he had already shifted his\u00a0<\/p>\n
gaze away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He pulled a cigarette from the pack on the table and headed toward the balcony.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She pressed her lips together, suddenly remembering why she had come.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian looked at his retreating figure before saying tentatively, \u201cI heard you\u2019re interested in acquiring Whitfield Group\u2019s shares. I came to see you today because I want to sell you mine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fun Merge\u00a0<\/p>\n
Relaxing\u00a0<\/p>\n
FREE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Marcor\u00a0<\/p>\n
Play now\u00a0<\/p>\n
X CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 18\u00a0<\/p>\n
212\u00a0<\/p>\n
She went straight to the point.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kingston paused mid\u2013step and turned to face her. \u201cIs that what you heard?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian nodded. \u201cYes. I hold 51% of the company\u2019s shares. I\u2019m willing to sell all of them to you, but I need you to agree to one condition.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He held the cigarette in his left hand without lighting it, a faint, unreadable smile on his lips.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven our history, Ms. Hartwell\u2026 Why would I even consider doing business with you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was early summer in Baymoor. Even with the midday sun, the temperature wasn\u2019t particularly warm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kingston stood at a distance, and his aloofness was obvious.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian\u2019s heart sank as she suddenly realized there was another meaning behind his earlier words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back then, she had insisted on staying in Baymoor, even if it meant severing ties with the Hartwell family. She was determined to be with Logan and had vowed never to force herself to do anything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kingston had been groomed as the Howard family\u2019s successor. He\u2019d grown up pampered and privileged, surrounded by admirers. Being rejected by a fiancee he had never even met was probably the first setback he had ever experienced.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian still remembered Camille\u2019s warning when the Hartwell and Howard families first broke off the engagement. Their family had embarrassed the Howards, and the latter severed all business partnerships.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Given their history, Vivian and Kingston really weren\u2019t suited for business negotiations at the moment. She lowered her gaze, silently chastising herself for being so presumptuous today.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She should have confirmed whether he truly wanted to acquire Whitfield Group before coming, or perhaps had Camille help sell the shares. That would have been much easier, especially since her sister and Kingston were high school classmates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian was confident in planning and strategizing, but negotiating business deals at a table wasn\u2019t her strength. Now that she was here, she couldn\u2019t just leave without trying.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 18\u00a0 Kingston reached over and took the phone from Vivian\u2019s hand. His long, slender fingers brushed her palm, leaving […]<\/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-325","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\/325","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=325"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":361,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325\/revisions\/361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}