Chapter 99


    Chapter 99


    Leanne couldn’t say she had a good impression of him.


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    She muttered a polite “thanks,” trying to withdraw her hand with a hint of forced kindness.


    But Derek’s grip only loosened by half. As she pulled


    away, his palm slid along her forearm, grazing her delicate wrist, across her palm, and finally over her


    fingers, stopping at the tips.


    Goosebumps prickled up her back, and she instinctively stepped backward.


    Her brow furrowed. “What are you doing?”


    “Just giving you a hand. What’s the problem?” Derek managed to look innocent, and had it not been for


    the lingering difort where his touch had traveled from her arm to her fingertips, Leanne might have


    believed she had misjudged him.


    “You’re not wearing your ring anymore.” he said.


    A ring worn for many years leaves an immutable mark when taken off, and despite Leanne’s wless


    skin, a faint band was still visible around the base of her ring finger.


    Leanne involuntarily curled her fingers. “That’s none of your business.”


    “Word is out about your divorce from Curtis. The whole social circle knows,” Derek continued leisurely.


    “I heard the Richardson and the Wright families are nning a merger, and he’s getting engaged to


    Suzan.”


    A flicker of surprise crossed Leanne’s face.


    It wasn’t unexpected. Leanne had known Curtis and Suzan were bound to end up together. But she


    hadn’t anticipated it would happen so fast. Curtis’ eagerness was one thing, but was the Richardson


    family not even considering their family’s reputation?


    The paperwork for her and Curtis’ separation wasn’t even final, yet both families seemed in a hurry to


    discuss marriage and alliances as if she were an obstacle.


    But none of that mattered again.


    “My name is Castillo, and none of this concerns me,” Leanne had no interest in small talk and turned to


    leave, but Derek blocked her path with his arm against the wall.


    “Last I knew, Curtis was treating you like you were his world and didn’t let anyone mess. with you. How


    did he get over you so quick?”


    “I don’t know you. Please keep your distance.” Leanne swiftly sidestepped him and walked away.


    Derek didn’t follow.


    Chapter 99


    Reaching the door of the booth, she nced back before entering. Derek was still there, staring at her


    with an intensity that made her skin crawl.


    Inside, her colleagues were in high spirits, pulling her into the bar and thrusting the mic in


    her face.


    After singing a few lines, Leanne excused herself to the side, pulled a bottle of sanitizer from her bag,


    and vigorously rubbed it over her hands and arms several times.


    She didn’t rejoin the party after that. By eleven-thirty, the group spilled out of the bar. Donna gave


    several colleagues a lift, and Leanne shared a cab with another heading in her direction, dropping them


    off first.


    Continuing toward Golden Grove Manors, the cab driver suddenly clicked his tongue. “Has that car


    been following us?”


    Leanne looked back. The ck sedan’s powerful headlights were noticeable, but she couldn’t pick out


    anything special about the car or its number tes.


    “Are you


    you sure?” she asked the driver.


    “Yeah. That Mercedes has been tailing us since we left the bar. I thought it was a


    cidence and didn’t pay much attention. But we just took a detour from your friend’s It’s unlikely they’d


    still be following us, right? I can’t say for sure. I didn’t see the se te number,” the driver sounded


    unsure, “It might just be a coincidence. It could a different car.”


    ck business sedans weremonce. And seeing two simr ones wouldn’t be unusual.


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