Chapter 581

After taking his meds, Rupert yanked off his tie and tossed it aside.

"You can head home," he muttered.

Orson didn't reply. It was the first time he'd seen Rupert looking this rough-not just physically, but like something inside him was broken, too. Chapters first released on FindN0vel.net

He hesitated, then stepped out of the room, deciding he'd crash on the couch for the night-just in case.

Sitting there, Orson absentmindedly glanced down at the worn cushions and sighed.

Honestly, he didn't really believe Sylvia was the kind of girl who'd mess around. Maybe there was some misunderstanding?

He pulled out his phone and scrolled through Twitter until he found Zion's profile— just a bunch of shirtless flexing pics, as usual.

"Where are you?" Orson messaged.

"Venmo me $500 and I'll tell you."

"Goodbye."

"Hey, don't be like that. You still owe me for the doctor's bill after you knocked me over last time. Dr. Chris said it wasn't a minor injury."

"Where's your boss?"

"Trying to get info out of me? Ha, Venmo me $5000 and I'll spill."

Orson dropped his phone and closed his eyes, ready for sleep.

A few minutes later, Zion messaged again.

"My boss is a total gentleman. So am I. We don't play girls."

Without another word, Orson screenshotted the messages and sent them to Rupert.

Boss, that's all I've got for you.

A minute later, Rupert replied-he'd transferred $50,000.

"Venmo him."

"On it."

Orson immediately sent Zion the $5000.

Zion replied with a cheeky emoji.

"Don't think I don't know you're skimming off the top! 50-50 split, no less."

Orson just shut his eyes and tried to sleep.

Meanwhile, Zion, legs kicked up, dialed Lester's number.

"Boss, I said everything you wanted. But honestly, isn't it better if Mr. Rupert is still confused?"

"You think I'd use a woman's reputation for something like this? Rupert's unhinged-I don't want Reese or Sylvia caught in the crossfire. I'm sticking around

vel

because donhink Sylvel

fully

over it yet. Maybe having someone here helps her feel safer. s

"Fair enough, boss."

The next morning.

Sylvia jolted awake and saw it was already nine. A minute later, she remembered -oh crap, she had a guest at home!

She scrambled out of bed.

Lester was already dressed, looking relaxed in the casual clothes Zion had brought over earlier.

"You're up? I wasn't sure what you liked, so I asked Zion to grab a mix of breakfast stuff."

Sylvia glanced at the spread-eggs, toast, some fruit, and coffee. She scratched her head, sheepish. "Sorry, I totally forgot to set an alarm. I'm on vacation."

"Eat up. After breakfast, we'll hit the grocery store," Lester said.

"Okay, I'll go wash up."

When she came back, Sylvia noticed Lester had already peeled her boiled eggs and pushed a mug of coffee her way.

He wiped his hands and nodded at her plate. "Go on, dig in."

Sylvia laughed. “Mr. Sanford, are you that excited to go grocery shopping?"

He grinned. "Didn't think I'd be that obvious, huh?"

"I'll be quick, promise."

After breakfast, Sylvia grabbed two big reusable shopping bags and they headed

out.

She led Lester through the

neighborhood supermarket.

Compared to the fancy organic markets he was used to, this place felt a lot more real-families, chatter, cluttered aisles. Sylvia didn't buy much but Lester wound up with a random assortment of snacks, cereal, and, thanks to the attention of the local moms, two huge cartons of milk. s

As they walked home, Sylvia teased, "You know, Mr. Sanford, you're a real crowd-pleaser. All it took was someone calling you handsome, and now we're stuck with enough milk to Tast a month! What were you

thinking?" s

He smirked. "She said, 'Handsome, you should buy two cartons for your

girlfriend.' I was just following orders."

Sylvia blushed, lost for words.

Just as they reached her building, a voice called out from nearby.

"Hey, bro. Sylvia!"