Chapter 397 The Confrontation

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    The woman was Serena Wynn, a junior associate at Wesley’sw firm who openly nursed a crush on Weston. nking her were two debutantes from Jexburgh, their diamonds winking with practiced superiority.

    Those two regarded Laura as though they had purchased front–row seats to a farcical y and were merely waiting for the punch line.

    The bull’s–eye of their thinly veiled hostility was unmistakable–Laura.

    Quinn parted her lips, ready to fire back, but Laura caught her arm with a calm, almost yful smile. “If they’re itching for a quarrel, let me be the one they scratch at.”

    Laura turned to Serena, her voice velvet over steel. “A filthy mind dredges only filth. Oh, Serena, have those soap–opera marathons convinced you that the powerful are there for the clinging, like designer handbags on sale?”

    “You!” Serena’s eyes red. “A tacky upstart like you must have used some shady trick just to secure an invitation tonight.”

    Laura arched an eyebrow. “Shady tricks? Then you’re using Whitethorn Group’s three–bid system of being rigged. My firm supplies them, after all. Julius is here this evening. Why don’t you stroll over to him and repeat that charge? Let him decide whether darkness hides beneath the numbers.”

    Serena’s cheeks zed scarlet. As iif /iianyone /iiwould /iidare /iiask /iMr. iWhitethorn /iiabout /iithat/i.

    Trying to salvage pride, she said, “I’m merely exercising reasonable doubt. Your littlepany bing a Whitethorn supplier strains belief.”

    Laura let out a low, chillyugh. “Reasonable doubt? And you call yourself awyer, Ms. Wynn? On this alone, I could sue you for nder. I’m no expert in statutes, but Weston will walk me through the fine print.”

    Color drained further from Serena’s face until it matched the rim of her winess–pale and

    sour.

    A new voice sliced through the tension. “rify what for you?”

    Laura turned, following the sound to Weston. Given Serena’s presence, his appearance here was hardly surprising.

    After all, Wesley’s firm handled recurring work for Whitethorn Group.

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    Laura’s smile broadened. “Your colleague here suspects I bribed my way onto Whitethorn’s vendor list and that I’m prowling this party hoping to leapfrog into high society.”

    Weston’s brows knitted; his gazended on Serena with unmistakable disapproval.

    Serena’s blush deepened to painful crimson. She had never imagined Laura would unload every word in front of him.

    “Funny, isn’t it? With a boyfriend like you, why would I covet another man?” Laura purred. She hooked a teasing finger beneath Weston’s chin, striking a pose designed to scandalize. “Or does your colleague think you rank beneath the men milling around tonight?”

    Weston lifted his jaw a fraction, yet he did not remove Laura’s hand.

    The famously ascetic nes of his face softened into something dangerously alluring. “So the only man you’ve set your sights on is me?”

    A collective gasp rippled through the ballroom, champagne flutes freezing midway to painted lips.

    iIs /iithis /iireally /iiWeston /iiWindore/ii, /iwho isteers clear /iof iwomen/ii? /i

    Serena looked thunder–struck, as though lightning had splintered the marble at her feet. Even the two heiresses beside her shed their mockery, their expressions turning grave. Weston’s significance in Jexburgh’s upper echelons wasmon knowledge, and tonight he had not denied the woman calling herself his girlfriend.

    Among the old–money dynasties,wsuits had be asmon as cocktail gossip; few great houses were spared a docket swollen with disputes.

    In Jexburgh, four colossalw firms ruled that battlefield, yet every partner silently followed the Windore name. Weston, their scion, had never tasted defeat. Anyone reckless enough to stand against him could kiss future verdicts goodbye.

    “Well? Is the question really that hard?” Weston asked, azy challenge curling in his voice as his gaze pinned Laura where she stood.

    He remembered how brazenly she had teased him moments ago. Now the woman before him looked like a skittish doe caught in sudden headlights.

    “Um… Since you’re currently my boyfriend, naturally, you’re the only man I have my sights on,” Laura said, her voice scraping out like a reluctant violin note.

    Weston arched an eyebrow. iSo /iishe /iibelieves /iithat /iionce /iiour /iione/ii–/iiyear /iipact /iiexpires/ii, /iishe /iican /iisimply /iicast /iiher /ii /iifor /iiother /iimen/i.

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    He decided not to corner her yet. Frighten a rabbit too soon, and it bolts further into the woods.

    “Then it’s settled,” he said, each consonant delivered like a verdict. “Once you set your sights on me, you forfeit the right to stare at anyone else.”

    For a heartbeat, she felt his stare weave an invisible around her, silken yet unbreakable, anchoring her in ce.

    “All right,” Laura managed, forcing a brittle smile that threatened to shatter.

    Quinn looked on, doubt creasing her brow. Laura had sworn their arrangement with Weston wouldst only a year, yet thewyer’s possessive gaze told an entirely different story.

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    Chapter 398 I Warned You