Chapter 397

Claire, who had been scrolling on her phone throughout the meal despite Noreen's reminders, suddenly shoved her phone in Noreen's face. “Quick, look at this!"

Noreen glanced down. It was a breaking news alert.

A horde of reporters had managed to get into Bianca's hospital room and were ambushing her with an interview-or rather, an interrogation. They were grilling her about why she would set off fireworks in a protected ecological zone like Westbrook and demanding to know who had pulled strings to get the event approved.

The scene was pure chaos. Bianca, cornered by the press, had nowhere to hide. The arrogance she usually wore like a shield was gone, replaced by raw panic and helplessness. Just then, someone pushed through the crowd and wrapped a protective arm around her, shielding her from the flashing cameras.

"Who the hell is that?" Claire grumbled, annoyed that someone was ruining the show.

The man's face was obscured, so Noreen took a guess. "Probably jerk Seth." Who else would care that much about Bianca?

Just as Claire was about to launch into a tirade, the man's face flashed on screen for a second. "Nope, not jerk Seth," she confirmed.

Noreen looked closer and saw that it was Henry. She amended her answer. "It's her lapdog, then."

"She has so many," Claire sighed.

The rest of the meal was light and pleasant, and Padgett got to see a side of Noreen that was more relaxed and personal than her work persona. He found it utterly charming.

The next day, Jude showed up at Winrich again. And again, he failed to get a meeting with Noreen. Dejected, he decided to call for backup. This time, he reached out to Dylan.

Dylan, who was out of town inspecting a project, offered him a simple piece of advice: make a public apology to Noreen.

Jude balked at the idea, complaining that it would be too humiliating.

Dylan had said all he needed to say. "Fine," he said, his voice flat. "Then use your pride to save the Seymour Group."

Just as Sophia was shooing Jude out the door, Henry arrived. It was turning into a busy week. Of course Henry didn't get to see Noreen either He didn't linger After leaving Wrich, he went straight to see Padgett Novak.

Padgett asked what he could do for him. Henry explained Bianca's situation and asked if there was anything the government could do to suppress the negative press.

"First of all this didn't happen in Rivercrest City, so it's not under my jurisdiction," Padgett said firmly "Second, with this level of public, outrage who would dare intervene?"

Padgett didn't know the full extent of Henry's relationship with Bianca, but as an

old acquaintance, he felt compelled to offer a word of caution.

"You should distance yourself from Miss Lowell from now on."

He couldn't say more, but he hoped the hint was enough. Whether Henry would take it was up to him.

In Henry's eyes, Padgett had always been an upstanding and honorable man who never gossiped. This was the first time he had ever heard him speak about someone in such a way. Henry was confused and instinctively defended Bianca "She's a wonderful person. She helped me a lot when I was studying abroad."