Chapter 124
He shot his sister a look that said, “This is as far as I go, sis. You’re on your own now“!
Claire pressed on, “Selena, I’m your aunt. Why would I ever steer you wrong? With Lydia getting a spot at Bennett Corporation, she’ll be close to Everett and can keep tabs on him for you. It’s all for your benefit! Don’t be ungrateful!”
“Really? Is this truly for my own good?” Selena retorted coolly, her eyes sharp as if she could see right through the charade.
Claire was left speechless.
Just then, Brook strolled in, breaking the tension in the room. Completely unaware of the awkward vibe, he chirped, “What are you all chatting about that’s so much fun?“)
Selena thought, “Uncle Brook, seriously? Does this look like fun to you?“!
With Brook’s entrance, Claire quickly dropped her icy act, stood up, and took his briefcase and coat, saying, “Dinner’s ready. We were just waiting for the birthday boy.
Brook smiled, “Alright, let’s eat.“%
Everyone moved to the dining area!!
After the meal, a servant wheeled out a cake and lit the candles. Despite Brook’s grumbling about adults indulging in such traditions, he playfully closed his eyes, made a wish, and blew out the candles.
Selena and Ricky played the part of the party cheerleaders, one singing the birthday song and the other doing a little birthday jig.
Brook was touched, especially when he saw the fancy watch Selena gifted him. His eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store.
After slicing the cake, Brook handed a piece to Selena, “You’ve loved cake since you were a kid. Here, have the biggest slice.”8
Selena accepted it, “Thanks, Uncle Brook.”
She took a bite. The cake was incredibly sweet
Brook watched her, about to say something but holding back. Selena noticed but kept eating her cake in silence.
“Selena, about what your aunt mentioned, could you help us out?“}
ཐ འཆ ཨེ ཆ ཇ ༀ ཧ རྨ ཤཱ ཨོཾ ཆབ འཇ ཕ བ ཝའོ །
Selena saw this coming. “Uncle Brook…
Brook started to get misty–eyed, “Selena, I’m really stuck here. You know your aunt is a force of nature. If things don’t go her way, it’ll be chaos at home. Please, for my sake, pass the message to Everett ”
Selena wanted to say no, but then she noticed the gray hairs at Brook’s temples and the tiredness in his eyes. Her words caught in her
throat.3
She took another bite of cake and softly said, “I can’t promise it’ll work.”
Overjoyed
at her agreement, Brook said, “Selena, I have all the faith in you. If you talk to Everett, hell surely come around.” Selena thought to herself, With how things are between me and Everett, me passing the message might just ensure Lydia never steps foot in Bennett Corporation.
The next moming, just after Selena woke up, Brook called again, urging her to hurry since campus recruitment was wrapping up. Selena thought, ‘Everett is so mad at me. He probably wouldn’t be back at Moon Bay soon. If I couldn’t reach him, it wasn’t my fault, right?
She figured Everett wouldn’t agree anyway, so she’d just go through the motions for her uncle’s peace of mind.
Selena tried calling Everett, but unsurprisingly, there was no answer. He was still furning.
She got ready, choosing an outfit Everett liked–sophisticated and classy–and headed to Bennett Corporation.
An hour later, she pushed open the door to the CEO’s office and walked in.
Everett, wearing gold–rimmed glasses, was engrossed in the stock market trends on his screen. Hearing her enter, he glanced up. His gaze landed on her smiling face, and he curtly said, “Get out-”
