Never Mistake a Queen for a Lapdog novel Chapter 269

A gift like that definitely deserved a thank you.

Noreen kept it simple and shot Healy a two-word message: Thanks.

Healy was at a bar with friends when he saw her text. He replied in seconds.

He also sent a photo of himself raising a glass. “Cheers from afar,” he wrote.

Noreen didn’t respond this time.

Healy waited with his phone in hand for a while, just in case.

Once he was sure Noreen wouldn’t reply, he finally put his phone away.

Jude nudged him with his elbow. “Didn’t you stash a bottle of Armand de Brignac Rosé here somewhere? Go on, bring it out—liven up the night for us.”

Healy shrugged. “Gave it away.”

Jude stared. “You gave away that bottle? To who? That’s generous!”

“Do I need to file a report with you?” Healy leaned back into the booth, making it clear he wasn’t about to spill any details.

No matter how Jude pressed, Healy didn’t give an inch.

“Fine, keep your secrets! Let’s see how long you can keep it up.”

Jude glanced over at Seth, who’d been glued to his phone since the night started. His expression was unreadable—calm, distant, impossible to guess what he was thinking.

“Texting Bianca?” Jude asked.

Seth neither confirmed nor denied it.

Jude kept going, “Bianca must be feeling terrible right now. She wouldn’t even come out for a drink. The whole point of this get-together was to cheer her up.”

He sighed, unable to help himself. “Honestly, who would’ve thought Noreen would actually land that deal? We really underestimated her. She’s got guts—signing a risky agreement like that with Mr. Charles. Most people wouldn’t dare.”

Something clicked for Jude, and he added, “She kind of reminds me of you back in the day, Seth—fearless, willing to take risks, never holding back. They say business is a gambler’s game. I never believed it before, but now I do.”

Seth said nothing, sitting quietly in the shadows at the edge of the booth, watching the other two. The gloom in his eyes only deepened.

Meanwhile, after returning from the team-building trip, the first thing Noreen told Sophia to do was to have their legal rep send Lillian a letter.

She’d been in a good mood at the time and didn’t want these petty issues to ruin it, so she hadn’t mentioned it before.

But that didn’t mean she’d forgotten.

Sophia, hearing she’d get to send a legal notice to Lillian, was eager to get it done.

That same day, Lillian received the letter from Noreen’s lawyer.

She stormed into Bianca’s office without even knocking, desperate to vent her outrage.

“Bianca, can you believe this? Noreen actually sent me a letter from her lawyer! She’s accusing me of slander!” Lillian was so furious her face had gone scarlet. “You have to stand up for me!”

Bianca had already been in a bad mood for days, and Lillian’s dramatic complaints only made her headache worse.