Never Mistake a Queen for a Lapdog novel Chapter 342

Turning her head, Bianca spoke softly to the man whose arm she held so fondly, her cool voice taking on a gentle warmth. “You’ve been standing for ages in those heels. Why don’t we find somewhere to sit down?”

“Sure,” she replied.

The two of them left, clinging to each other as if nothing else in the world existed.

Noreen glanced down at her own high heels, a faint, wordless smile touching her lips.

She remembered complaining to Claire about this back in college: high heels—the ultimate torture device.

Once she entered the workforce, she’d had no choice but to adopt the adult uniform, squeezing her feet into shoes she’d always hated. That first year, her feet never really healed. Her medicine cabinet overflowed with every kind of blister patch and pain relief strip imaginable.

Sprains, raw skin, bruised toes—those became the new normal. The worst was the time she actually broke a toe but didn’t realize it, thinking the shoes just didn’t fit right. She powered through an entire day, shadowing Seth as he inspected a project site. By the time she finally went to the hospital, the pain was unbearable; the X-ray showed a clean break.

The doctor scolded her for being careless, amazed that she hadn’t noticed a broken toe. Claire berated her for not taking care of herself and even snapped at Seth for not showing a shred of sympathy. Claire threatened to give Seth a piece of her mind, but Noreen talked her down.

Seth had been juggling two major projects then, practically living out of a suitcase. Noreen couldn’t bring herself to add to his worries, so to this day, Seth still didn’t know she’d once broken a toe in her heels.

Just like he never knew she’d landed in the hospital with a bleeding ulcer after too many business dinners.

In this relationship, she’d always thrown herself in, never asking for anything in return. She truly believed that love was about giving, freely and willingly.

That was how she’d loved Seth.

And in a way, she’d been right. Love is about giving—just not always to you. For Seth, the person he was willing to give everything for was Bianca.

Hoping to be loved is the last illusion anyone holds onto. Let it go, and you finally set yourself free.

Like now—she looked at her shoes and realized, to her own surprise, that they actually looked pretty nice. And, for once, they even felt comfortable.

“What’s got you smiling like that?” Castle had appeared at her side without her noticing. He caught sight of her bright expression and couldn’t help but ask.

Once he was sure she was alright, Castle politely let go of her waist. “Glad you’re okay.”

“We’re almost there,” he added.

Noreen hurried to keep pace, following Castle into one of the rooms upstairs.

Trailing behind them was Henry. He’d come looking for Castle and Mrs. Joyner, but instead stumbled upon the scene of Noreen practically throwing herself into Castle’s arms.

This woman... utterly shameless.

First she seduced Seth, and now she was making a move on Castle? She looked so innocent, but clearly she was full of underhanded tricks.

No wonder his mentor kept losing to Noreen in every project competition.