The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

Plenty of beautiful women had tried to win him over before. Zane dropped those words and drove off, leaving Yelena behind. Anger boiled inside her as she watched the car disappear, and she stomped her foot hard.

Turning to Otis, she demanded, "Dad! What now? I did exactly what you told me, but Zane refused to help!"

Otis had a headache of his own. He hadn't expected there to be surveillance cameras inside, let alone that they'd recorded everything.

Shaking his head, he said, "I don't know either. We'll need to find someone to help us."

"Who?" Yelena asked.

"Jessica." Otis didn't bother explaining. He called Jessica right away and brought her up to speed.

Then, he said, "The plan was a bust. Zane saw right through it."

"Well, obviously. Did you really think he was dumb enough to fall for something that childish?" Jessica said, sounding incredulous.

saying, "This isn't the time for sarcasm. You know Zane better

out what to do next. Otherwise, all that

Jessica bothered dealing with these idiots was because of the

still have a partnership with Huxham Corporation, don't you?"

needed to put two and two together. "Oh, right! How could I forget? Alright, I'll bring Yelena along next time we make

sure she acts smart. Zane has no patience for fools," Jessica warned. Otis

let out a deep breath and asked, "Any chance you can get smarter in the next few

that supposed to mean? I'm smart

afraid even if I handed you the perfect opportunity, you wouldn't

what if I offend

Yelena had

saved up her bonuses, tutored people on the side, and used every cent she

kid I know wants to, but their families do whatever it takes to stop them, afraid they'll waste their

you or your spoiled friends. Every small