Echoes of Unrequited Love

Chapter 180

| totally didn’t see it coming that Timothy outed himself like that. | was so flabbergasted that | couldn’t even cobble together a decent line.

The others were clearly gobsmacked by the news too; Cecilia covered her mouth in disbelief and blurted out, “No way, Mr. Temple, you’re not yanking our chain, are you? FreeMan, isn’t he supposed to be Mr. Abbott?”

Timothy shot her a look, and said seriously, “Do | look like I’m joking right now?” Suddenly, Cecilia was lost for words, and she turned to Hogan with those ‘save me* eyes.

But Hogan, cool as a cucumber, didn’t miss a beat. Instead, he gave me this knowing look and said all chill, “So, this is why Ms. March went to all the trouble to come see me, huh?”

| could hear the sarcasm dripping from his words. To explain it or not, it seemed wrong either way.

Especially since they had already slapped the ‘traitor label on me not too long ago.

Since they know Timothy’s real deal now, who knows what kind of colored glasses they’re gonna view me through next. | had this bad taste in my mouth; it felt like I'd shot myself in the foot.

Out of the blue, Timothy spoke up, “Why keep giving Xaviera a hard time, Mr. Zade? I’m the one who asked her to keep secrets. I'm the one who said no to working with Rainbow Capital. I’m right here, so if you’ve got issues, let’s hash it out.”

Timothy was playing it cool, but then he glanced my way and reminded me, “You're not feeling great. Go lie down on the sickbed.”

| figured he was trying to get me out of the line of fire.

But with all this chaos, how could | possibly duck out? So | shoot back. “It’s no biggie, just a little low blood sugar, no harm done.” No sooner had | spoken than | felt this icy stare drilling into me. When | looked up, | met Hogan’s frosty, steely gaze.

It was like an invisible ice dagger, quietly jabbing at me.

Judgment and disdain, all rolled into one.

“Why’s Mr. Zade gone silent?” Timothy's crisp voice cut through again, and his eyes twinkled with mischief; “Here’s your beloved FreeMan right in front of you. Speak your mind, Mr. Zade.”

He then grabbed a water jug nonchalantly and poured himself a drink, acting like Hogan’s not even worth his time. It was clear as day that Timothy was poking the bear. Bold as brass.

| had this sinking feeling, and when | glanced back at Hogan, | saw his face with this icy veneer; he said coldly, “I had some expectations before meeting FreeMan in person, but now,”

He trailed off and lazily added, “kind of a letdown.”

Timothy’s hand froze; he instantly locked his pretty eyes on Hogan and countered, “Before interacting with Rainbow Capital, the outside world had some pretty decent reviews, but after a few encounters, it’s been one surprise after another.”

Listening to their back-and-forth, | was sweating bullets on the inside.

This wasn’t a negotiation, it felt more like a roast.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

And these two were masters of throwing shade without a single swear word.

At this rate, any chance of partnership was about to go down the drain.

My heart was hanging by a thread.

Just then, Cecilia, who’d been standing off to the side, stepped up with her gentle tone, “It’s all misunderstanding; we never imagined Mr. Temple was actually

FreeMan. Looks like you and Xaviera wanted to sneak us a little surprise, doesn’t it, Xaviera?”