Marina was so disgusted by Lavern that she lost her appetite. After Xavier finished his meal, she had Robert set up a workstation for him before heading back to her own office.
She kept digging through the backend system, flagging every contract that looked suspicious, planning to report it all to Daron later.
After all, she was working for Daron now, and if something was wrong with the company, she needed to let him know as soon as possible.
Lavern had been super sneaky about it, or maybe half a year was only enough for him to pull off one job, so the contracts after that didn’t show any obvious problems.
Still, some parts of the contracts were a bit off.
Marina jotted down the details of those contracts and projects separately. Just as she put down her pen, there was a knock at the door.
She quickly slid the notebook into her drawer.
“Come in,” she called out.
Xavier came in carrying a lunchbox, grinning.
“Ms. Finley, Mr. Zamora heard you hadn’t had lunch, so he ordered this for you. Please have some,” Xavier said.
Marina stared at the lunchbox sitting on her desk, a little surprised. “Did you tell him?” she asked.
She looked up, her tone a bit curious. “Did you mention it to him?”
Xavier nodded, lowering his voice. “I just brought it up while updating Mr. Zamora. It kind of slipped out.”
Marina didn’t blame Xavier at all. After all, he was Daron’s guy.
Her first–floor office area was still vacant.
Soon, everyone working under her would be handpicked by Daron’s side.
With Lavern always causing trouble for her, Daron wasn’t exactly putting his full trust in her, but Marina got it.
“Got it. You can go back to work,” she said.
Marina picked up the lunchbox and opened it. Inside were all her favorite dishes.
Surprise flickered in her eyes–who would’ve thought Daron actually knew what she liked?
But then she shrugged it off, figuring it was probably just a coincidence.
Still, when your boss treats you to lunch, you’ve got to show some gratitude.
Marina took out all the lunchboxes from the bag, arranged them for a quick photo, then pulled up Daron’s chat and sent
him a message.
Marina: [Thanks for the treat, Mr. Zamora! I’ll work extra hard and get your tasks done in no time.]
Daron didn’t reply.
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Marina added another message.
Marina: [There’s a bit of a financial issue at Ross Group, and I suspect Lavern might be moving some company assets]
Just as Marina was about to send over the files, Daron sent her a message.
Daron: [I’m busy right now. Come to my place after work and we’ll talk.J
Marina: [Okay.]
After she replied, Daron didn’t text back anymore. ‘Guess he really is busy, Marina thought.
Marina put her phone away and focused on her meal.
Once she finished eating, she threw herself back into work.
Robert had already looked into the legal representative of the clothing company Lavern invested in.
He sent all the info straight to her phone.
Marina opened the chat and checked out the files.
The legal representative of the clothing company Lavern invested in was named Jake Liu. When Marina opened his photo, she felt like she’d seen him somewhere before.
Then Robert sent over another photo.
In the picture was a woman with her hair in a bun, smiling sweetly and looking adorable.
Marina’s hand tightened around her phone as she stared at the photo, stunned for a moment.
She knew this woman.
It was Yara Slav.
She was Lavern’s high school classmate.
Marina transferred back to Sicester when she was seventeen.
Her very first deskmate was Yara.
When she first got back to Sicester, her parents‘ marriage was falling apart, and she was in a pretty rough spot emotionally. She had zero interest in making friends, kept to herself, and hardly talked to anyone.
Yara, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.
She was full of energy and pretty much the class darling.
She and Lavern had been best buddies since way back in middle school.
After spending so much time together as deskmates, Marina and Yara ended up becoming pretty close friends.
Lavern confessed his feelings to Marina for the first time during the second semester of their sophomore year.
Marina wasn’t interested in dating at all back then, so she turned him down.
After graduation, Lavern had Yara snoop around to see which college Marina was aiming for.
At that time, Kathy was already in poor health, so Marina decided to stay in Sicester. Lavern signed up for the same
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university, choosing to stick around with her.
Yara, on the other hand, moved way up north, and over time she drifted apart from them.
When Marina turned twenty, Lavern told her how he felt again.
It had been three years since he first confessed.
Her mother passed away after a long illness, on a dusky evening, leaving Marina a bankbook with hundreds of thousands in it.
That became the very first startup capital for Ross Group.
Even though Marina still hadn’t accepted Lavern, he stepped up and offered to help out at her brand–new company.
Starting a business as a college student with no family backing and zero connections was a real uphill battle.
Lavern worked his butt off, and after six months, the company finally started to take off.
Knowing Lavern’s family situation, Marina gave him all the profits they’d made in those first six months.
But Lavern didn’t pocket the money. Instead, he put it right back into Ross Group, partnering up with Marina to build the company together.
He was all in for her, completely sincere, and for the first time, Marina was genuinely moved by him.
Out of the blue, Yara, who hadn’t messaged her in forever,reached out.
Yara said, “Marina, real feelings like that don’t come around often. Lavern’s had feelings for you for three whole years.”
She went on, “I’ve had someone I’ve liked for years too, so I know what it’s like to care about someone but not be able to be with them. I really hope you’ll give Lavern a chance.”
Yara teased, “Marina, you named your company Ross Group. Isn’t that telling enough? Come on, admit it—you like him a little too.”
With her friend’s encouragement and Lavern’s unwavering devotion, Marina couldn’t help but start to fall for him.
By the end of that year, she finally said yes to Lavern.
Now, she could barely remember the way Lavern’s eyes lit up with tears of happiness when she agreed to date him. But she still remembered clearly why she named the company Ross Group.
Because it was so far out of reach, you had to give it everything you’ve got.
Marina snapped out of her memories and spent a long time searching through her contacts before finally finding Yara’s info.
She clicked into Yara’s Moments feed, hoping to see what she’d been up to.
But all that showed up was a blank bar.
Yara had hidden her posts from Marina.
Just six months ago, when Marina sent Yara an invitation, she could still see Yara’s social feed.
Back then, Yara even chatted with her for a bit.
Yara told her she was finally with the guy she’d liked for years.
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Marina had congratulated her.
But now, looking back, Marina reckoned that the guy Yara had been into all those years was probably Lavern.
Marina just sat there, quietly staring at Yara’s profile, not saying a word.
Robert shot her a message.
Robert: [Ms. Finley, what’s our next move?]
Her gaze turned cold. Marina drummed her fingers on the desk, phone in her left hand, pressing down the voice message
button.
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
