Chapter 236
猛的
13.55 yours
Finn reached out and pulled Zachary back into his seat. His gaze landed on Daron, and he gave a small smile as he spoke.
“Did you ever ask your cousin Larry what the girl’s name was? Is her last name Finley by any chance? Finn
asked.
Zachary didn’t catch Finn’s hint and shook his head, “No, I haven’t asked, he replied.
After a few seconds, Zachary finally noticed the unusual look in Finn’s eyes. He immediately turned to Daron, his eyes widening in surprise.
“I’ll ask him right now. There might be some misunderstanding,” Zachary said.
Zachary had seen for himself how Daron stood up for Marina at the Clark family’s engagement party.
If his cousin really tried to compete with Daron for the same girl, he’d be doomed before he even knew what was happening.
Seeing Zachary about to make the call, Finn reached out to stop him.
The whole thing was obvious now. There was no point in calling to double–check.
“We’re all dealing with the same mess, so why twist the knife in Larry’s heart with a call? You’d just drag Daron into it too,” Finn said.
Daron paused with his glass halfway to his lips, shooting Finn a slightly aggrieved look.
Finn arched his brow, lifted his glass, and clinked it against Daron’s.
“She said she just wants to be friends with Larry. So, how’d she shoot you down?” Finn teased.
Daron felt annoyance bubble up inside him, and he shot Finn a frosty look.
“Because of you,” Daron muttered.
Finn froze.
Zachary’s hand shook as he held his glass.
“No way!” Zachary blurted out.
‘Hold up, Marina’s into Finn?‘ Zachary thought, stunned. ‘Is she trying to mess up our friendship?”
Daron downed his drink in one go, his voice cold as he said, “She told me she sees me just like she sees you, just a brother.”
Zachary took a gulp of his drink and nearly spit it out.
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“Seriously, who is her ex? What’s so great about him that she’s still hung up Turning down my cousin is one thing, but rejecting you too? She’s totally lost it, Zachary said.
“Honestly, you might as well just get engaged to Joyce, Old Zamora seems pretty happy with her anyway, Zachary added,
“Don’t go coming up with dumb ideas,” Finn chuckled, reaching over to give Zachary a hearty slap on the
back.
Zachary felt like Finn was about to smack his guts out, and he couldn’t help but suspect Finn was just taking the chance to get some payback.
‘Wait, did I even do anything to piss him off lately? Zachary wondered, confused.
Daron’s face grew colder by the second.
Finn spoke up at just the right moment, his voice calm.
“Marina’s not the kind to get stuck on the past,” Finn said.
“Kara told me she kept her cool the whole time during her last breakup and didn’t even shed a single tear,
Finn added.
Finn probably knew the Finley family inside out.
Their moms were super close, so Finn had picked up a ton about the Finleys just from listening to his own mother talk.
“These
past few Finn said.
years, Marina’s changed a lot because of her mom. Even her outlook on life is different now,”
“When Sarah was really sick, my mom still kept in touch with her. Even though she’d been divorced from Carter Finley for over a year, she just couldn’t let it go. Every time she talked, it was all complaints about Carter and how miserable she felt marrying above her station,” Finn added.
Marina was with Sarah almost every single day. There was no way she came out of that untouched.
She wasn’t that bold, confident little girl anymore. She’d changed a lot since back then.
You could see it just by comparing her to Kara. The difference in their personalities was huge. Over the years, Marina had become way more reserved.
She just didn’t speak her mind like she used to.
Zachary clicked his tongue and grumbled, “Women are seriously the biggest headache on earth.”
Finn gave him a sidelong glance and laughed, “Compared to those girls who only care about maxing out your credit card, yeah, she’s way more trouble.”
“Hope you never run into a girl who won’t even bother spending your money when you offer,” Finn joked.
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Zachary just raised an eyebrow and shrugged it off.
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After dropping Marina off at the Finley residence, Larry just sat in his car for a long time, lost in thought.
He called Zachary for help, but all he got was a half–hearted response. Frustrated, he scratched his head.
Maybe he shouldn’t have blurted out that he’d liked her for so long.
But he just couldn’t help himself.
He wanted to seize this chance, but he didn’t want to rush things.
After hesitating for ages, he ended up texting Marina. [Marina, I’m really sorry my feelings put any pressure on you. Seriously, you don’t need to feel bad about it. Liking you all these years was my own choice.]
[And don’t let what happened before make you question yourself. You’re honestly a great person.]
After washing up, Marina lay in bed, phone in hand, reading Larry ‘s message as she pressed her fingers to her brow.
She tried to recall who she used to be.
Back then, she was great at making friends, always cheerful. With her older sister handling all the family expectations, Marina never had to worry about taking over the business.
She just had to sit through those etiquette lessons, and the rest of the time, she could do whatever she liked.
But that version of Marina vanished the summer she turned seventeen.
Life was never the same after she left the Finleys with her mom and moved back to Sicester.
Her mom used to be gentle and caring, but after she got sick, she started snapping at Marina all the time. The pain from her illness just made her lose it.
She was terrified Alyssa would be left all alone after she was gone, so she kept making Marina promise over and over that she’d never leave Alyssa behind and go back to the Finley family.
She’d always reminisce about how sweet things were with Carter when they first got married, then start ranting about how he turned into someone she couldn’t stand.
After Kathy got sick, she barely left the house and didn’t want to see anyone. She became super withdrawn and just kept to herself.
Marina couldn’t help but pick up on that, and before long, she started hating social stuff too.
So when Ross Group was just getting off the ground, Lavern was always the one handling all the schmoozing and business meetups.
Larry was into the Marina from her teenage years, back when she was sixteen or seventeen.
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But the person she was now? She wasn’t someone people liked anymore.
She started to type a reply, but ended up deleting it all and didn’t respond.
She doubted she and Larry would ever have anything to do with each other again.
Once her sister was back, she’d ask her to line up another blind date for her.
Larry didn’t meet her criteria.
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She was looking for a true marriage of convenience, no romance, no strings attached, just a business partnership.
Saying too much would only give Larry false hope.
Marina rubbed her temples, about to drift off, when her phone suddenly rang. It was Chloe.
Since joining the Zamora Group, Chloe had never contacted her outside of work hours.
Worried she might’ve messed something up at work, Marina picked up right away, almost on reflex.
As soon as she answered, Chloe’s polite, respectful voice came through.
“Ms. Finley, Garret is injured, so starting tomorrow, you’ll be covering for him and handling his usual duties. I’ve sent the workflow to your email. Take a look, and just let me know right away if you have any questions,” Chloe said.
“Got it,” Marina replied.
After hanging up, Marina followed Chloe’s instructions and opened her email.
After reading through the whole workflow, she finally got what Garret actually did for Daron.
Talk about a textbook personal assistant gig.
Every morning, she had to show up at Daron’s place before he even woke up and get his clothes all set for him.
She’d have to handle everything from his meals and outfits to his daily schedule and travel arrangements.
She’d be taking notes at meetings, tagging along to all his business events and trips, and basically on call 24/7.
Marina scanned through the long list of tasks. Every single item was spelled out in crystal–clear detail.
She barely had any questions.
The job itself wasn’t that hard.
For her, the biggest challenge was that, for the next three months, unless Daron was at home resting or lying in bed, she’d have to shadow him everywhere he went, basically glued to his side all day, every day.
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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.
