Fate has a way of pushing you right into the path of the people you’d rather avoid.

I’d been keeping my distance from Edward, just so he wouldn’t watch me too closely. I knew he was only interested in my actions because of Ryan. He really spoils his nephew. He’s so overprotective, he even personally takes charge of picking out women for Ryan. But now, that swing had landed me in trouble at the worst possible moment.

My face flushed with embarrassment as I forced myself to stay calm. “Mr. Jennings, you’re here too?”

“Nathan invited me,” Edward replied.

I was taken aback. It seemed Nathan had already openly accepted help from the Jennings family. By inviting Edward, he’d basically made their collaboration public.

“Are you two planning to keep working together?” I asked with a forced laugh.

“Yes, we’re in the middle of negotiations,” Edward nodded. “The tech industry here is booming, and I see a lot of potential in this market.”

I just replied with an “oh,” and the conversation came to an abrupt halt. The room suddenly felt awkwardly quiet.

“Do you agree with what I said earlier, Ms. Murphy?” Edward asked, clearly not ready to let me go just yet. He kept the conversation going.

I pretended to be clueless. “What did you say? I was on the phone and didn’t catch it.”

Edward’s face tightened a little, and those sharp, hawk-like eyes locked onto me, making my nerves jump.

“Ms. Murphy, you’re still so young, yet you already know how to play the game—strategizing, shifting resources, and making moves with capital. That’s some impressive skill,” Edward said, laying it on thick.

I stared at him in surprise, forcing a laugh. “Mr. Jennings, you give me too much credit. Nathan is my ex, and I just think his company has so much more potential. That’s why I wanted to bring in the Jennings family to help him out.”

Edward’s gaze grew even more intense, like he was trying to see straight through to my ambitions.

“On the surface, it looks like a reasonable favor, but it also lets your assets hitch a ride on a ship bound for bigger things. That’s a kind of indirect leverage, isn’t it?” Edward said, and I realized he must already know about my shares in Hayes Corp. Since the company wasn’t public yet, those shares weren’t public knowledge. The Jennings family was kind of terrifying.

At this point, I couldn’t keep up the act of being above it all. I just smiled and said, “We’re all benefiting here. What’s wrong with that?”

Edward stepped around the swing set, moving closer to me. “It’s fine, but using your looks to get things done isn’t exactly sophisticated, Ms. Murphy.”

‘Using my looks?’ My heart skipped a beat, and I bit my lip, unable to argue. Honestly, if Ryan didn’t like me, none of this would’ve happened. So yeah, I guess he’s not wrong.

“What do you want, Mr. Jennings?” I asked, feeling cornered. Was he just trying to embarrass me?

Power, money, and beauty always go together. There’s always a bunch of gorgeous women behind every big shot, right?

“I just hope you won’t use your looks to get ahead anymore, Ms. Murphy. Just focus on Ryan and be good to him,” Edward said, his voice cold.

I just smiled. “Mr. Jennings, you’re giving me way too much credit. I’m really not that clever. I don’t have what it takes to cause drama. If Ryan wants to be with me, I’ll be genuine with him.”

Even though I was being sincere, Edward still looked displeased.

Just then, Jared came over from not far away. He looked like he’d been searching for me.

Edward noticed Jared approaching and quietly slipped away down another path.

Jared watched Edward’s figure disappear, then turned to give me a long, searching look.

“That was Ryan’s uncle, right? Did he want something from you?” Jared asked, sounding half concerned, half jealous.

I nodded. “Yeah, he wanted to talk about me and Ryan for a bit.”

I didn’t try to hide it from him. Everyone already knew about me and Ryan anyway.

Jared’s face soured, and he gave a mocking laugh. “Victoria, look at what you’ve been up to lately. You’re going through men like a revolving door. Impressive.”

I shot back, “If you really wanted to, Mr. Holcomb, you could have your own little harem by now.”

Jared’s expression stiffened, then he snapped, “Do you really think I’m that kind of guy? I’m not nearly as greedy as you are.”

“Since when did you get so high and mighty, Mr. Holcomb? That’s not the Jared I remember,” I said, my sarcasm even sharper as I thought about how much of a player he was in his previous life.

Jared froze for a moment, his jaw clenched tight, saying nothing.