"Mr. Royce, as expected, Nicole has leveraged the power of the Crests, enlisting the aid of several families to navigate through this crisis," Ian said softly."Mm," Lawrence responded nonchalantly, seemingly unsurprised."Everett has been very quiet. I wonder what he's planning. Should we make our move?" Ian inquired.Leaning against the couch, Lawrence replied calmly, "No rush, the real show hasn't started yet.""What do you mean, sir?" Ian was somewhat puzzled."Do you really think Nicole would ignore the matter with Ellar?" Lawrence countered.Ian furrowed his brows. "Patricia has been at BayCorp, and if she hasn't found anything, it must be because Doretta has hidden it too well."He felt that Nicole wasn't ignoring the issue; it was just that Doretta had hidden it too deeply."No, Patricia's capabilities aren't that weak. More importantly, they should know that the seal is missing, yet they've kept it quiet. That indicates there's a problem.""Should we warn Everett?" Ia
Meanwhile, at BayCorp, Ellar noticed Doretta arriving at work as usual, looking relaxed as if nothing had happened, which made him feel uneasy.He stood up and went to Patricia's office, asking her, "Do you think something might be wrong?""What kind of problem could there be?" Patricia raised an eyebrow in inquiry.The seal was commissioned by him, and he was more than clear about that. Moreover, he was now certain that Doretta had taken it, and by this point, it was likely already in Everett's hands.Understanding Patricia's implication, Ellar sighed. "I get it, but Doretta's behavior is just too odd."That's why he was feeling unsettled. Could it be that Doretta discovered something and didn't hand over the seal to Everett?Patricia couldn't help but roll her eyes at him, "Acting like this is more likely to make her suspicious, you know.""I haven't done anything though?" Ellar claimed innocently.With a sigh, Patricia advised, "That's exactly why you should go back to work
At lunchtime, Lulu came to invite Nicole out for a meal.After a busy morning, their stomachs were growling with hunger."Nicole, let's go," Lulu called out as she opened the door."Okay," Nicole agreed, putting down the document she was holding and getting up from her desk.As the two prepared to leave for lunch, they suddenly heard someone calling them.Nicole turned around to see Sean and Steve. "Hey guys, what's up?""Going out for lunch?" Sean glanced at Nicole and Lulu."Yeah, wanna join us?" Nicole asked, noticing they were also planning to grab lunch."I can't, I need to head home for a bit. Sally has a prenatal checkup this afternoon," Steve replied."What about you, Sean?" Nicole turned to Sean."Wait a sec, Jane will be here soon, and we'll all go together," Sean said, looking toward the office direction.Sure enough, Jane was coming their way and soon joined the group."Jane," Nicole and Lulu greeted.Jane nodded in acknowledgment, standing next to Sean.Sean
Lulu's expression turned complex as if she had realized something. It must be Everett making his move!"Let's talk inside," Nicole suggested after glancing at Patricia."Yes," Patricia agreed, following Nicole into the office with Lulu close behind."Should we go have a look?" Jane quietly asked Sean.Sean's gaze darkened slightly. "Let's trust Nicole to handle it. We should focus on our tasks."This way, Nicole wouldn't have to be distracted and could concentrate on her own matters."Understood," Jane acknowledged Sean's intent and left with him.Inside the office.Patricia reported to Nicole, "Everything was quiet this morning, but during lunch, Everett showed up and took Ellar away.""He couldn't resist making a move, then," Lulu commented with a grimace."What happened next?" Nicole asked in a serious tone."I was secretly following them, but I was discovered and had to return here," Patricia continued."You were discovered! Do they have someone that skilled?" Lulu expr
Lulu thought, 'Who would have thought he had such people on his side? If it's really a group, that would be terrifying.'Nicole smiled slightly, maintaining her composure. "Our people are not weak either."Patricia was in the open while that person was hidden, which naturally made it easier for them to take action. But don't forget, she also had her own people in the shadows.Lulu furrowed her brows. "Do you think Everett could already know about Zane's people in San Joto?"Several people were mysteriously captured, and Everett didn't say anything, probably guessing something."Maybe he didn't know at first, but by now he should have guessed," Nicole responded. However, these details were not important. If Zane's people wanted to stay hidden, they wouldn't be easily found.Even if Everett guessed, it wouldn't matter. Without revealing themselves, his people couldn't find them."So now, he can only use BayCorp as leverage. He will definitely try to take control of BayCorp." It's
"Fully fed and watered, nothing happened," Ellar leaned back in his seat, a slight smile playing on his lips.The assistant ventured, "He hasn't discovered anything, has he?""No, it doesn't seem like he's noticed anything yet," Ellar confidently stated. "He even warned me as he was leaving, giving me three days.""Three days, but what will he do after that?" the assistant inquired.Ellar shrugged. "Guess he'll start threatening me then." Everett had only talked about wanting to collaborate this time and hadn't mentioned anything about the seal. Ellar could only continue to pretend he didn't know the seal was missing and wait. In three days, when Everett shows up with the fake seal, Ellar plans to strip him of everything.Time flowed swiftly, and three days passed in the blink of an eye.Nicole and Jared arrived at the dining room as usual."Mom, Dad," Nicole greeted before sitting down with Jared."Daddy, Mommy," Nolan and Lana sweetly called out to the two.Nicole, with eyes
Gloria pondered for a moment before replying, "Well... we'll see when the time comes."If there really was nothing else going on, a trip could be nice."Deal," Daniel said with a laugh.Gloria rolled her eyes at him. "I haven't agreed to it yet.""You'll go," Daniel was quite confident.Seeing Daniel's demeanor, Gloria couldn't help but laugh.After Nicole and Jared dropped off Nolan and Lana, they arrived at Riddle Corporation.As the car stopped, Nicole looked up at Jared with a smile. "I'm heading up."Jared gently squeezed her hand, softly saying, "Alright, I'll come to pick you up after work.""Mm," Nicole agreed, then opened the door and got out of the car.After watching the car drive away, Nicole turned to enter the company and happened to run into Lulu."Jared has left, but no worries, I'll keep you company," Lulu joked, linking her arm with Nicole's.Nicole gave Lulu a look, feeling amused. "Then I guess I should thank you.""Don't mention it," Lulu replied with
"We'll just have to wait then," Lulu sighed.Nicole smiled, a curve playing on her lips. "Don't worry about it anymore. Mom mentioned this morning that Steve might not be able to come to the office for a while. So, I was thinking of handing over Steve's responsibilities to you.""Oh, sure," Lulu readily agreed, understanding that Sally must be close to her due date."You've had some experience with Steve's tasks before, and we haven't involved him in any new projects lately. So, taking over shouldn't be a problem for you," Nicole reasoned, feeling that Lulu was the right choice."Don't worry, I can handle it." Knowing that Steve would soon be on leave, she had already prepared herself to take over his duties.She had also thought it through—there was so much going on in the company, and with Nicole needing to deal with Everett's matters, taking some of the load off seemed like the only thing she could do."That's the best. When Steve comes back from his leave, he should be able t