Chapter 193

I felt like I’d changed, inside and out. My eyes were shining again. Instead of getting lost in my own feelings, I was talking shop with my coworkers, way more interested in work than my personal drama.

Being out in the world and meeting all kinds of people, I finally understood that looks really mattered. Whenever I talked to guys, they’d instantly turn into perfect gentlemen, voices dropping a notch.

When I got back to the office that afternoon, I was wiped out from all the traveling, but it was just my body that was tired. My mind and heart felt refreshed.

All those new experiences and lessons made it feel like my soul had been uplifted. When I saw a flower in full bloom, I could just appreciate its beauty, instead of worrying about how quickly it might fade. I wasn’t depressed anymore.

That afternoon, we had an important meeting. Harmonia Hotel was getting renamed again, this time to something more evocative and romantic. The new name would be decided right there in the meeting.

I was sitting in the third seat at the table. When the office door swung open, I turned my head and saw Jared walk in.

It had been a while since I’d last seen him. Dressed in a gray-blue shirt, he looked slimmer and somehow even more attractive than before.

When he glanced my way, his eyes lingered on me for a couple of seconds before he took his place at the head of the table. “Let’s get started,” he said, his tone cool and detached.

“Victoria, why don’t you take this one?” one of the execs said, sounding a bit on edge. Maybe it was the pressure from Jared, but he clearly didn’t want to be the one up there, so he smoothly pushed the spotlight onto me.

Well, I guess it made sense. Being Jared’s wife did give my words a little extra weight.

Jared watched me in silence, like he was wondering if I was really up to running this meeting. In his eyes, I was probably still that woman who’d rather stay in his shadow—too shy to ever step into the spotlight.

I rose from my seat and stepped forward as the projector cast the meeting’s key points onto the screen. With poise and an easy confidence, I began my presentation, my voice smooth and unhurried.

Jared didn’t bother looking up, his eyes glued to the stack of papers in front of him, occasionally flipping through them. He hardly glanced at me, and honestly, I had no idea if he was actually paying attention.

The meeting stretched on for more than an hour, with my team doing most of the talking. Jared and the other two execs kept quiet, nodding when they agreed, and only chiming in with a couple of short remarks when they had something to say.

When the meeting wrapped up, we all started packing up to leave. I was gathering my papers, about to head out, when Jared finally spoke up, his voice low. “Victoria, could you stay for a minute?”

As soon as he said that, everyone gave us these looks, like they thought we were about to do something we shouldn’t in the conference room.

Once everyone had left, I wanted to ask him what he wanted, but Jared reached out and pulled the door shut behind us.

I frowned. It would be easier to talk with the door open. Now that he’d closed it, it’d be even harder to explain ourselves.

Jared looked at me, his gaze hard to read. “Wasn’t all that running around for work exhausting?”

I shook my head. “Nope. Honestly, I enjoyed it.”

Jared paused, a bit surprised, and then gave a quiet compliment. “You did a great job with the presentation. You’re really coming into your own as a professional woman. You’ve changed a lot.”

“Is that so?” I arched an eyebrow. “Thanks for noticing.”

“So, the name you guys came up with—Dreamy Ripples—was that your idea?” Jared asked.

I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t me. We actually had a master pick it for us.”

For some reason, Jared broke into a genuine laugh. “So you’re even getting into all that mystical stuff now?”

I nodded. “Hey, people pick wedding dates based on fortune-telling, right? For a hotel this big, of course, we have to turn to an expert.”

Jared’s eyes grew intense, almost burning with emotion as he looked at me. “It’s been a long time since I last saw you. I really missed you.”