Chapter 739

Jared’s words cut straight to the heart, exposing the lie I’d been trying to spin.

I forced a weak smile. “Yeah, I guess I am scared. If I never let myself go down that road, then there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“Did Edward pressure you?” Jared’s face changed suddenly.

“No, he didn’t. I was just overthinking,” I said, shaking my head.

Jared suddenly burst out laughing. “Victoria, sometimes I think you really have no idea how good you’ve got it. Edward and Ryan are giving you everything you need–you’ll never have to worry about money or your career again. And Nathan? He’s even crazier, just handing you shares. Once his company goes public, you’ll be sitting on hundreds of millions. You could spend the rest of your life just counting your cash.”

As I listened to Jared break it all down, it was like a light switched on in my head. ‘Seriously, I’m already loaded. Why am I stressing about love?’

“So, when’s Nathan’s company supposed to go public?” I asked, knowing Jared always kept an eye on his business.

“It’ll be listed by next spring, for sure,” Jared said.

With Jared’s words, I finally felt at ease.

We headed straight to Disneyland, where Jared had already grabbed us FastPasses, so we didn’t have to wait in line and just had a blast all the way through.

While Jared was playing with Yvonne, I got a text from Aiden.

He sent me a picture of a plane ticket to Aurelia. “Hey sis, I got another chance to go study abroad! I’m super excited! The company really values me now, and they said I’ll get promoted once I’m back.”

For a second, I was stunned. Aiden was doing way better than he ever did in my previous life.

“Aiden, take care of yourself out there. If you need anything, call me anytime,” I reminded him.

“Don’t worry, sis. I’ll work hard!” He sounded so thrilled and happy in his voice message.

Leaning back in my chair, the sunlight was streaming down on me. I glanced back to see Jared comforting Yvonne.

Yvonne was sniffling, though I wasn’t sure why.

I hurried over, and Jared said, “She lost her toy and wants to go back to look for it, but she has no idea where she dropped it.”

I quickly pulled the cute little rabbit out of my bag. “It must’ve fallen on the floor–I found it and picked it up.”

“My Little Moon!” Yvonne grabbed it and hugged it close, nuzzling it. “Mom, you gave this to me, remember?”

I paused, realizing I’d totally forgotten about that.

Jared said, “She treats that bunny like her best friend. She cuddles it every night when she goes to bed.”

Yvonne gave Jared a little glare, then turned and went off to play.

Jared just shook his head and hurried after her, looking resigned.

I just strolled along behind, taking my sweet time, and couldn’t help thinking–having Jared here was definitely the right call.

Yvonne was like a little energizer bunny, never running out of steam. She dashed from one spot to another, and honestly, there was no way I could keep up with her.

By the time we got out of Disneyland, it was already after five. Jared turned to me and asked, “Do you want to crash in Shaville for the night before heading back?”

I nodded. “I’ll take Yvonne back to my place. You can stay wherever you like.”

I hadn’t been to my Shaville house in ages anyway, so I figured I might as well crash there for the night.

Jared looked at me with this plaintive, almost resentful expression. “If there’s no guest room, I can just sleep on the couch or even crash on the floor. It’s no big deal.”

“That’s not the issue,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s about boundaries–guys and girls shouldn’t be sharing space like that.”

Jared paused, clearly tempted to tease me, but then he remembered the last time he joked about me being ‘open to everyone‘ and I slapped him. He kept his mouth shut about my morals after that.

“Alright, I’ll crash at a hotel then. But can we still have dinner together?” Jared asked.

I nodded. “Of course.”

That night, I took Yvonne back home with me, while Jared just stayed at a hotel.

It was late at night and Yvonne was already sound asleep, but I just couldn’t fall asleep myself. I had this nagging feeling that things with the Jennings family weren’t over yet.

Sure enough, the next morning, I got a call from Jeffrey Jennings.

Chapter 740