Ariel took the next day off, and she immediately went to bed to rest and recover. She knew how fragile her body was and wouldn’t push herself unnecessarily.

That night, at 10:00 pm, Jayson returned to the house he shared with Ariel.

When he opened the shoe cabinet to grab a pair of slippers, he paused. His eyes scanned the rows, and he noticed something different.

Ariel had a calm and indifferent personality, but she was particular about life. She loved everything vibrant and was full of life. Even the most ordinary slippers she bought were always in bright colors.

Her yellow, green, and blue slippers would be placed beside his black, grey, and white ones.

It was hard to miss those pops of color.

Now, the vibrant colors were gone from the shoe cabinet. It became dull.

Georgia approached to take his suit jacket. “Welcome back, sir.”

Jayson closed the cabinet door and asked, “Where are her slippers?”

Georgia glanced at the cabinet and replied, “Mrs. Larkin came by and told me to throw them out. She must have wanted to buy new ones.”

Jayson considered it possible.

As expected, Ariel hadn’t returned.

Jayson loosened his tie while pulling out his phone to take a look. The message he’d sent to Ariel two hours ago still hadn’t been replied to.

He wondered if she was still feeling unwell or if she had just been too busy to reply.

But it didn’t matter.

He had already given her an out, hadn’t he?

Ariel rested for the entire day and then returned to work.

Faye Technologies recently completed a project and secured new contracts, one of which was with Nexura Solutions, a technology manufacturing company under Bluum Corp.

They needed to conduct a material selection and evaluation. Chad had to go on a last–minute business trip, so he entrusted the task to Ariel and Janice.

“Will you be okay?” Chad was worried that Ariel might feel awkward.

Ariel gave a calm smile. “Business is business. Don’t worry.”

Plus, it was just a subsidiary of Bluum Corp. She might not necessarily run into Jayson.

Chad admired Ariel’s mental toughness. She didn’t mix her personal feelings with her work, which made her practical and rational.

When Ariel and Janice arrived at Nexura Solutions, they were greeted by Tom Chapman, the person in charge there.

Tom knew Janice was a major shareholder of Faye Technologies. His attitude was notably more respectful. “Ms. Swanson, Ms. Walker, this way, please.”

Janice was excellent at networking but wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about contracts and technical materials, so

she had Ariel take the lead.

After all, Ariel was a technical shareholder at Faye Technologies. Her authority was equal to Chad’s and Janice’s. Tom watched Ariel closely and found himself puzzled. He couldn’t quite understand why Faye Technologies had sent such a young and attractive woman to handle the technical discussions.

Ariel noticed his scrutiny but didn’t take offense.

She’d been married to Jayson for three years and had kept their relationship private. Jayson had never brought her to Nexura Solutions either.

He had always been strict about keeping work and personal life separate. Plus, he had never introduced her as his wife, so it was only natural that Tom didn’t recognize her.

Ariel didn’t explain. Instead, she examined the samples provided by Nexura Solutions. Calm by nature, she remained focused as she asked several technical questions that directly addressed the key issues.

Tom began to see that Ariel wasn’t just a pretty face. She was professional.

He couldn’t help but think that Janice’s subordinate was quite impressive. No wonder Janice had brought her to handle everything.

Tom, shedding his previous bias, began to engage with Ariel seriously.

Janice, watching Ariel speak with such passion and expertise, felt both proud and moved. This was the Ariel she had always known–strong, resilient, confident, and composed.

She couldn’t help but take a photo of Ariel and Tom talking and post it to her social media.

As Tom was preparing to take Ariel to the sample room, the door to the conference room opened. Ariel looked up and saw Nancy walking in.

Nancy glanced at Ariel briefly before

ng her attention to Janice and walking over to greet her.

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Swanson,” she said gracefully.

She knew Janice, who, despite ho

young ago RT

was already one of the major shareholders of Faye Technologies.

Janice responded with a tight smile, pretending not to recognize her. “You are…?”

Tom immediately stood and introduced Nancy. “This is Ms. Nancy Stanton. She’s Mr. Larkin’s girlfriend.‘