Chapter 28
Chapter 28
“What did Stride Commelre say?” Clayton asked the moment he answered the call.
“What the hell did you do today?” his friend shot back.
Clayton didn’t want to get to the details that his wife and his childhood friend had an argument at a client’s office. That kind of mess was beyond
embarrassing.
Clayton stammered, “There was a situation. Is Stride Commerce still open to working with us?”
His friend reped, “They asked me to pass on a message. The great lawyer Mr. Patel believes whatever his girlfriend says.
“I wonder if the companies that pay you as a legal advisor have to tiptor around her too, just in case they get stabbed in the back for no reason!
The man on the other end asked curiously, “Wait, dude, I thought you were married. Who’s this girlfriend they mentioned?”
Clayton clenched his jaw and growled, “get it. We’ll talk later.”
After hanging up, his eyes turned cold, locked on the windshield. He thought, Audrey must be pleased now. All it took was one sarcastic line from her, and my biggest deal is dead in the water.
This was the firm’s most important client now. Losing Stride Commerce wasn’t just a slap in the face, it meant the firm’s whole business could start falling.
Beside him, Valerie caught the edge in his expression and felt a chill crawl up her spine. But then a different thought crossed her mind. The more Clayton blames Audrey, the better I shot at becoming Mrs. Patel.
Valerie reached out to grab his arm and asked in a gentle tone, “Clay, what did they say? Did they cancel the deal? If it’s because of me, let me go apologize to Mr. Gibson,”
She turned around, pretending like i
ike she was about to get
aut
of the car.
She moved slowly and deliberately. When she noticed Clayton didn’t stop her, a flash of determination passed through her eyes. Shejabbed her injured finger hard against the car door.
She let out a loud scream while holding her fingers.
Clayton came back to his senses and grabbed her wrist in a rush. There was a trace of irritation in his voice. “Stop moving around since your fingers are injured.”
Tears welled up in Valerie’s eyes in an instant. “I’m sorry, Clay, I’ve caused so much trouble again. I should’ve never come back, I think I’d better leave”
“That’s not what I meant Clayton said, his tone growing tired. It was the first time he felt truly worn down by her tears.
Valerie kept sniffing while peeking up through her lashes to watch his face.
Just then, Emilia called Clayton. “Mr. Patel, you need to come back. We’ve got a situation”
Meanwhile, Audrey was at the hospital with Brooke, who had just finished her exam.
It turned out that Brooke had a small cervical polyp, and last night’s sex caused some bleeding. It was nothing serious, and the doctor removed it di
the exam
While Brooke waited there, Audrey went to pick up her prescription. She ran into Carson.
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Chapter 28
“Audrey? Are you not feeling well or something?” Carson asked, surprised.
“Oh, I’m fine. Just grabbing some meds for a friend,” Audrey said calmly
Audrey wouldn’t take her angel with Clayton out on his friend, but she wouldn’t tell him everything, Thins, her tone was polite but distant.
Canon assumed she was just making an excuse. Still, with everything that happened at Ashwood, he figured this was a good time to play peacemaker
Carson spoke up. “Audrey, if Clayton had known how shady Ashwood was, he never would’ve sent you there. He’s already cut les with them. He’s going to make it right.”
“He didn’t cut ties for me. He did it because helping Ashwood cover things up would get him in trouble” Audrey waved him off. She clearly didn’t want to talk about Clayton anymore.
“I’ve got stuff to do. See you around,” she added.
Carson watched her figure fading down the hallway. Then another image flashed in his mind–Valerie, and the way she looked at Clayton.
He clicked his tongue and pulled out his phone to call Clayton, but Clayton’s line was busy.
Before Carson could try again, a nurse rushed up to him. A patient in one of the rooms had taken a sudden turn, so Carson hung up and hurried off
At that same moment, Clayton was already dealing with another mess.
On Valerie’s first day working as the receptionist, she met a client and caused a disaster
A client walked in and explained their case in vague terms, Valerie, who didn’t know anything about the law, promised they could win. But after Emilia looked through the actual documents, she found the case full of red flags.
Now, that client was yelling and making a scene in the law firm, and the client was none other than Leo’s mistress, Valentina Wright
Leo’s wife demanded everything back: the house, the car, the jewelry, and even the money Leo had spent on Valentina and her kid.
Naturally, Valentina refused to return everything. The moment she spotted Valerie, she pointed straight at Valerie and yelled, “It’s her. She told me I didn’t have to return anything, and that what was given to me was mine to keep.”
Valerie shot a look at Clayton and defended herself, “The house and car are under her name, so legally they’re hers, aren’t they?”
Emila handed Clayton the file. He flipped through a few pages, and his face immediately turned gloomy.
The transfer records showed that Leo paid for everything. Regardless of whose name the assets were in, Leo’s wife had every right to claim them as marital property.
Clayton said to Valentina, “Sorry, the just started work today. She still…”
Valentina scoffed, “Oh, so you’re passing the buck to her now? What is she, an intern? A temp? Don’t you do any kind of training before starting to work? You let the newcomer speak to clients directly? already paid you. This is fraud.”
“She made a mistake, and we’ll handle it internally. As for your case, I’ll take it on myself and fight for your best outcome,” Clayton said.
Divorce cases weren’t usually his thing that was Emilia’s. But this mess was caused
d by Valerie, so cleaning it up was now his responsibility
But Valentina didn’t accept whatever Clayton Said. “Internally? Tell me how? Moving her from the front desk into an office?” she said, circling Val
Valerie instinctively moved to hide behind Clayton. “Clay, L
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“it’s fine,” Clayton said while giving her shoulder a reassuring pat
Valentina threw her head back and burst into laughter. “Well, well. So this is Mr. Patel’s childhood weetheart, huh? Thanks to you, Mrs. Patel ended up in Ashwood, huh? You’re really impressive”
Clayton and valerie’s laces cropped instantly. Ever since Ashwood got exposed, even the firm’s employees started to shoot strange gazes at Clayton They still showed him respect to his face, but behind his back, the possip was nonstopi
However, no one really knew what was true and what wasn’t. But now, Valentina said it out in front of everyone, and that made it real
Valerie knew Valentina was a mistress, yet she didn’t expect Valentins would be Leo’s mistress if she’d known that, she wouldn’t have gone case just to show off her skills
“Ma’am, I’d advise you to watch your words, Claylon said, his voice like ice,
Valentina shot him a glance and sneered, “If you hadn’t been to Ashwood yourself and hadn’t learned the truth, I’d say I respect her tricks.
You’ve been cheating on your wife all along”
“But since ›
you know everything, and you’re still protecting her. What does that tell us? You’ve
Valentina didn’t let Valerie get a single word in. “Valerie, you said the money’s rightfully mine. Is that because Mr. Patel also bought you plenty of gifts too? You think what is given to you belongs to you forever, huh?”
“Ms. Wright, that’s too harsh,” Valerie said, her voice trembling, and her tears were already brimming
Valentine rolled her eyes. “Oh, please drop the act. We’re both side chicks. Who are you putting on this show for?”
Clayton’s temple throbbed. A bunch of interns in the open office area were pretending to pore over case files, but anyone with eyes could see they were listening to every word.
Someone thought, “One mistress publicly tearing into another? it’s the kind of drama no one wants to miss.”
Another intern mused, Valerie got admitted because of Mr. Patel. She screwed up this badly on her first day. If it had been any other intern, they’d have been shown the door on the spot
The interns didn’t know the full story behind Clayton’s wife and Ashwood, but they all saw this mess with their own eyes. how Clayton would resolve it.
They were all curious about
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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.
