The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

"Thanks a lot, Mr. Huxham! Best of luck with your business," the guy said. He sounded like he was at ease as he could easily take a few years off after locking down this deal.

"Thanks, I appreciate it. I'll just keep plugging away," Zane replied.

It wasn't that he needed more money, but to him, the more he earned, the more he could do for others.

I returned to the office just as Zane was wrapping up a call. As soon as he saw me, he got up and made his way over.

"Who were you talking to when you were downstairs earlier?" he asked.

"Casper's parents, Gary and Julia. They want Jessica to divorce Steven and get back with Casper," I answered without hesitation.

Zane looked surprised. "Parents like them typically don't go for a daughter-in-law divorcing and marrying someone else. They know Jessica and Steven are already married, yet they're still trying to push her toward Casper?"

He just couldn't understand why they'd think that way.

"Exactly. There has to be a reason they're suddenly all for her and Casper," I said.

"Oh?" Zane raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued.

Smiling, I explained, "They used to think there was another grandchild out there, so they saw Jessica as the homewrecker. They treated her terribly, forcing her to divorce Casper.

"But then they found out they'd been lied to. Cody was their only grandchild all along, and now they regret everything."

I added, almost absentmindedly, "Putting aside the fact that Jessica's married to Steven now, even if she'd done way worse, Gary and Julia would've let it slide in a second."

Zane nodded. "Makes sense. Grandparents are all about their grandkids. But whatever's going through their minds, that's their deal. What are they asking from you?"

Without hesitating, I said, "They want me to work with them to get back at Steven."

Zane flashed a half-smile. "And you agreed?"

I spoke deliberately. "Yeah. He messed me up in that relationship. Just throwing Jessica's mistakes out there might bother him a little but it's not enough. If teaming up with them means I can really hit him where it counts, why wouldn't I?"

Zane studied me for a second.

I raised an eyebrow. "What? You think I'm being too cold-blooded?"

He shook his head. "Not at all. Actually, I think it makes you even more fascinating."

...

Shane's company had hit a solid stride. At first, he'd been hesitant to pass off any of his projects. But as the business grew and more people came on board, even taking a small cut from each project started adding up to a nice chunk of change for him.

Over time, he got the hang of stepping back and handing off tasks to his team. As his income grew, so did his confidence. He even started pushing his staff to do their best.

Shane quickly glanced around the office. His current schedule was four days of work and three days off in a week, then three days on and four days off the next. He had two. teams-when one was off, the other took over. snovel

They only worked about six hours a day, clocking in at nine and out at five, with a two-hour lunch break. All in all, it wasn't much office time, but they made every minute count—just like they were doing now.noveldrama