To Love a Shadow, To Be the Sun novel Chapter 183

Elara calmly slipped Ryan's phone into her pocket and stepped around him, moving forward without so much as a glance back.

"I'm here to see someone."

"And who are you here to see at the Lawrences' offices, Mrs. Vincent?"

Elara wasn't the least bit surprised that Mrs. Lawrence recognized her.

After all, she and Brian had been married for four years; he'd never made a secret of her existence. And with the recent scandals plaguing the Vincent family, it would have been child's play for someone with Mrs. Lawrence's connections to dig up every detail about her opponent.

"I'm here for Jason."

Her voice was steady, her gaze unflinching as she met Mrs. Lawrence's appraising stare.

A cold, thin smile played at the corners of Mrs. Lawrence's lips. "From what I've heard, Mrs. Vincent, you never involve yourself in business matters. I wonder what official business you have with my son today?"

The underlying mockery was impossible to miss.

Elara didn't rise to the bait. She smiled mildly. "You seem to know everything about everyone else's affairs, Mrs. Lawrence. If only you understood your own son half as well, you wouldn't be saying this to me today."

With that, she turned on her heel and walked away without waiting for a response.

Just then, Jason emerged from the private elevator. He ignored his mother completely and hurried after Elara.

"Miss Jules, wait!"

He finally caught up to her at the main entrance, calling out just in time.

Elara stopped, her expression unreadable as she turned to face him.

"You could have called me first," he said, a hint of reproach in his tone.

She glanced up at the company's sign above the door. "Your firm's got more red tape than the Pentagon. My showing up here must be an embarrassment to you."

"Of course not. If I'd known you were coming, I'd have had my assistant meet you downstairs," Jason replied, his voice warm and polite.

Elara only gave a dry, humorless laugh. "I'm not in the mood today. Let's talk another time."

Jason fell silent, watching as she walked away.

—

Elara headed straight back to Ignition Dynamics.

Developing a new battery for heavy-duty trucks was just a stopgap, never her endgame.

Summer intercepted her in the hallway. "You've been a ghost since you left the hospital. What have you been up to these past couple of days?"

"It's just a networking event, not a done deal. Let's focus on our work for now."

Summer grinned and playfully punched her shoulder. "That's our Elara—always thinking big."

Elara couldn't manage a smile.

—

That night, at The Gilded Room in Mirage Nightclub.

The dark red lighting draped the room in a haze of intoxication, wrapping luxury and desire in a velvet shroud.

A group of women in slinky dresses held glasses of wine, giggling as they fed each other drinks or belted out off-key love songs, skirts swirling in the decadent chaos.

In a shadowed booth, two men sat across from each other.

Ellis lounged carelessly on the sofa, two women eagerly massaging his arms while occasionally pressing a glass to his lips.

He took a lazy sip and said in a low voice, "I've already scooped up five percent of SiliconCrest Group on the open market, but I'm nowhere near a seat on the board. The rest is up to my father."

Gareth sat alone—by choice, no women at his side. He turned his glass in his hand, thinking for a moment before speaking.

"Mr. Wood is seriously disappointed with how SiliconCrest is being run. He's still holding eight percent. I'll invite him for a game of chess sometime."