CHAPTER 125: A TEST

Braelyn’s POV

Gregor’s letter left my mind in complete chaos. Dad was hiding something from me. What might it have been that would make me doubt my love for my parents?

’Trust Raphael even if it is difficult.’ What did he mean by that? Did Gregor suspect Raphael’s affair before he died?

Why was he insistent that I stay with Raphael? The more I thought about it the less sense it made.

Another thought snuck up my spine like a cold chill. What if he was after the benefits of Raphael and me being together?

My eyes widened in shock. Dad shares in the company. That could be very plausible; that’s why they wanted us to stay together, but what was the reason for the clause? The heir who bears a son first takes hold of Gregor’s controlling shares.

A sharp hiss left my lips. The more I thought about it, the more difficult it was.

I slouched back on my seat then stared at the white ceiling. At this rate, my brain will fry.

There was a soft knock on your door, and next, Juliet peeked into the office. "I hope I am not interrupting anything." She said, her lips pursed into a thin line

I sat up in my seat. It’s been a long day, my mind has been in chaos trying to figure out Gregor’s letter, work on Lucien’s project and lastly try to contact Killian Orlov.

"No it’s fine," I replied. She cleared her throat and then strode up to the table.

"This paperwork arrived from Mr Orlov’s office." She explained, placing a stack of paperwork in front of me. The moment I saw what project it was I started cussing a mischievous menace who was shoving his work to me.

"I will go through it later." I chimed. She smiled then walked towards the door.

"Make a cup of coffee for me ", I instructed before she walked out the door.

"I will get on it immediately."

As soon as the door shut behind her, I quickly picked up my phone to make a phone call. The caller picked up on phone, his voice drawled

"Hi Viper.." he had that alluring tone which was hypnotising and almost charming if not for the fact that he was dumping his work on me.

"I just received a suspiciously large pile of paperwork. I agreed on helping you on the project and not to do the entire thing myself, " I deadpanned, hitting the nail on the head.

"And here I was thinking you called because you suddenly started to miss me." He whined. My brows twitched. I was flipping through the pages.

"You know I am awfully busy," I replied with a flat voice. He sighed then dropped the act.

"Fine, I understand." He paused before adding his voice sounding more professional.

"I have a meeting today concerning the project and that’s the proposal I came up with. I was wondering if you could go through it before this evening," he explained. My heart dropped seeing how large the pile was.

"Did you write this yourself?" I asked curious.

He laughed. "That’s not my job. It was the one I deemed best but I feel something is missing I was hoping you could spot it out for me " he explained and I felt like face-palming myself

Of course, it wasn’t his job to write the proposal. My brows creased as I read through the first page, still confused why such a large project was assigned to Lucien, who practically lacks any experience.

"I will go through it " I said in resignation.

"Thank you." He said flatly like he expected me to accept. He was taking advantage of my kind heart.

"Lucien..." I called softly, still reading through the proposal.

"Yes, Viper.." his tone softened, seeing the shift in mood. A low breath slipped my lips and a dull ache was throbbing on my forehead. I massaged my forehead slowly before my voice slipped out.

"What do you think about this project?" I asked him, wondering if he knew this was secretly a test. It made me wonder if that was why he insisted on my help.

I was the only person he trusted her with. Which was a bit weird because, honestly, I didn’t think I trusted Lucien. He was a puzzle I could never figure out. That unknown made him thrilling but also shrouded him in danger.

"I wasn’t born yesterday Braelyn. Let’s just do our best." He replied. He knew.

It wasn’t a direct answer, but it was reassuring that he knew this was a test.

"I guess so. I will hang up now..." Before the call, Lucien dropped a piece of information

"You will be accompanying me to a meeting tonight. We are practically partners on this project now..." He explained before adding. "Please don’t say no...it might sound embarrassing but I need your support."

Those words struck my heart. He sounded vulnerable and my heart couldn’t bring myself to say no.

"Fine, I will accompany you to the meeting."

"I owe you one, " he said, his voice brimming with gratitude. The call hung up and I turned my attention to the proposal.

It was a large investment project that involved AI as well as estate development. I had some ideas about AI since I had worked on similar projects before. AI was the hot cake...

While I was going through the proposal, my eyes lit up at Lucien’s instincts and judgment. The proposal was excellent, with barely any errors. I was curious who had written it.

A soft notification sound on my phone distracted me. I glanced at the screen to realise it was an email notification from my private email

My attention was completely focused on the email. I immediately opened the email. I have been trying to contact Killian Orlov and unfortunately, there wasn’t much information about him online and the New Horizons group was pretty much hard to infiltrate

"Unfortunately, we could not schedule a meeting with the CEO. His schedule is packed until next year." My face scrunched up, realising I couldn’t get on his schedule.

I had expected this. The only way I could contact Killian was through his official email I found while going through Raphael’s bid folders

It was like finding a ghost. All I knew was that it was a man I was looking for, and there was a possibility that it might be a lie too. I had tried approaching him with a fake business proposal using an Alias identity.

That didn’t work. I gritted my teeth not ready to give up

Then something crazy popped up in my mind, what if I tried approaching the Orlov family directly ... But that was dangerous, Raphael might get suspicious.