Frederick couldn’t sit still anymore. He immediately turned to Janice and asked, “What’s going on? Who did you partner with?”

Janice didn’t even look up. “What’s it to you?”

Frederick frowned. “Janice, I’m your brother. You’re a Swatson. How can you not share internal updates? Faye Tech has great potential. I’ve decided to invest and come on board as a partner.”

Janice looked at him, speechless.

He pressed his lips together and continued, “Still, I stand by what I said. A good project shouldn’t have any stains. I know you’re close with Ariel, but you need to look at the bigger picture. Take her off the project team. You can listen to me on this. I’m just looking out for you.”

Janice gave a sneer and smacked her fork down on the table “So now that the cake’s ready, you want a slice of it? You want to invest now? Keep dreaming”

“What kind of attitude is that?” Frederick snapped, annoyed.

“Some things I can’t explain in detail due to confidentiality but I’ll say this. Don’t target Ari again. You’ll only embarrass yourself later.”

Janice didn’t want to say more. She gave Frederick a light pat on the shoulder as she left. “Forget about getting a slice of the cake. You won’t even get a taste of the cream.”

She actually knew Frederick had once had feelings for Ariel.

But once Ariel got married and became a housewife orbiting around Jayson, Frederick had looked down on her ever since. That prejudice ran deep.

He couldn’t understand why Janice was always so protective of Ariel. In his eyes, Ariel had nothing

So how could Janice and Chad willingly let her leech off them?

Frederick couldn’t take it. He started contacting Zach, Matt, and the others to dig for answers.

At Faye Technologies, Ariel didn’t get a break all morning. There were a ton of things to coordinate once the funding came through.

She hadn’t gone back to clean up the house.

Actually, most of the stuff left there was Jayson’s. She didn’t care and didn’t plan to keep any of it. Eventually, it would all be tossed out.

She had reminded him. If he didn’t handle it, it was on him.

That afternoon, Ariel had just finished reviewing the last document when Chad came back from outside.

She looked up. “Done talking with Nexura?”

Since they had decided to move forward with Nexura Solutions as the manufacturer, it was time to iron out the contract details.

Chad dropped the contract on her desk and let out a scoff. “Just as we guessed. Nexura assigned Nancy to handle the follow–up with us. Jayson really is grooming her.”

1.2

Apparently, Nancy would now be in charge of the product manufacturing coordination for Faye Technologies. Jayson was giving her real responsibility.

Ariel paused at the news, but she wasn’t surprised.

Anyone could see that once the project went public, Nancy track record and reputation as the project lead at Nexura Solutions would rise with it.

“That’s his business.” Ariel glanced over the contract. After confirming the terms, she added, “As long as no one is stuffed into our R&D team, I don’t care.”

Chad clicked his tongue. “Seriously, what’s going through Jayson’s head? Shoving his girlfriend into his ex–wife’s project? Who’s he trying to annoy?”

Ariel thought for a moment. “If he cared about how I felt, we wouldn’t be where we are. The truth is, he’s never cared what I think.”

Still, none of this really bothered her anymore.

A little later, Janice arrived at the company. The moment she walked in, her face was all scrunched up like something was bothering her.

Ariel reached out and pinched her cheek. “What’s wrong?

Frowning, Janice let out a deep breath. “Are you sure your house is really sold?”