Chapter 167

Millie's eyes drifted downward, her gaze heavy with resignation.

The moment had passed-any hope she'd harbored crumbled into dust.

Brandon had already surrendered his heart to someone else. So what if she told him the whole truth now?What earthly difference could it possibly make? Did she truly expect him to drown in guilt over her sacrifices?

The bitter reality struck her like a cold wave. If guilt possessed the power to restore what rightfully belonged to her, he never would have kept that tanzanite once he discovered its true significance.

Revealing everything now would only hand him another blade to twist deeper into her wounds.

She recognized the futility of lingering here any longer. Her life brimmed with urgent matters demanding attention.

The high-stakes wager with Vivian loomed ahead,and Ari's operation would arrive within days-these were the battles that truly mattered.

She refused to squander another precious moment of thought on Brandon's betrayal.

Millie pulled her attention away from him and prepared to make her exit when Brandon's brow furrowed deeply, his body moving to follow her retreating form.

She released a harsh laugh, spinning toward Egbert with renewed purpose.

"Didn't you mention wanting to help me?" she demanded, her voice carrying an edge of steel. "Then prove it by holding him back."

Egbert's expression shifted to mild surprise before settling into polite understanding. "Consider it done."

He pivoted smoothly and drove his fist straight into Brandon's jaw.

The impact caught Brandon completely unprepared,sending him stumbling backward until he collided with the coffee table. The piece of furniture toppled under his weight, sending its collection of items cascading across the floor in a symphony of destruction.

The office door burst open with violent force.

"Mr.Watson!" Brandon!"

Eugene and Babette charged into the chaos, their eyes taking in the scene-Brandon sprawled across the floor while Egbert stood above him, flexing his knuckles with evident satisfaction as he smiled down at Millie.

Eugene scrambled forward to assist Brandon back to his feet.

Babette's fierce glare burned into Millie with unmistakable fury. "What exactly happened here?"

Millie's lips curved into a mocking smile. "Exactly what it appears to be."

Egbert flashed a gentlemanly smile in Millie's direction,his demeanor unruffled by the confrontation.

Babette's fury blazed even brighter at their casual attitudes.

"I've been meaning to address this with you," she snarled, her voice trembling with barely contained anger. "Don't you think common courtesy demands you inform us before orchestrating something this reckless? Do you have any comprehension of how utterly irresponsible this behavior is? The damage this could inflict on our company's reputation?"

Millie's attention shifted to Babette, her expression remaining unnervingly calm. "You're aware that Brandon and I have legally dissolved our marriage,aren't you?"

"And what relevance does that hold?" Babette snapped back.

"Did you discover this information through my social media post?" Millie pressed forward, her tone deceptively casual.

"Precisely," Babette responded, her voice tight as she wrestled to contain the fury burning within her chest.

"Then you must have noticed the date stamped on the document." Millie's words sliced through the air with arctic precision.

This time, Babette's mouth remained sealed, her defiance crumbling under the weight of the question.

Millie's gaze drifted toward Brandon, who was roughly shoving Eugene's helping hands away as he struggled to his feet, his expression dark as a storm cloud.

"Choosing not to announce it publicly on the very day we finalized the divorce was already an act of compassion on my part. Therefore, Babette," Millie pronounced each syllable with crystalline precision."Direct your indignation toward the appropriate target.

I refuse to serve as your emotional punching bag."

Babette's complexion blazed crimson at Millie's cutting words. Her lips parted to launch a counterattack, but Millie's voice sliced through her attempt.

"Do we have an understanding?" Millie's tone remained soft as silk, yet it carried the weight of an unspoken threat.

She maintained an appearance of perfect composure,though her eyes had transformed into glacial pools of warning.

The sight sent an involuntary shiver racing down Babette's spine, penetrating straight to her core.

For one terrifying heartbeat, she found herself absolutely convinced that any further provocation would result in consequences far beyond her imagination.

The strangest part was her absolute certainty that Millie possessed both the capability and the resolve to follow through.

During that fleeting instant of distraction, Millie had already severed their eye contact with calculated indifference.

She cast one final glance at Brandon, who was dabbing away the crimson evidence of Egbert's punch,and then pivoted on her heel and strode toward the exit with unwavering determination.

Brandon lurched forward, desperate to pursue her retreating figure, but Egbert materialized in his path like an immovable fortress, still massaging his right knuckles while wearing that infuriating smile.

Beyond the officewalls, the sharp staccato rhythm of Millie's heels grew fainter with each passing second,while inside the room, the two men remained locked in their silent standoff.

Eugene stood frozen in bewildered helplessness,while Babette's eyes blazed scarlet as she fixed Egbert with a venomous stare. Finally, desperation drove her to bolt from the room in a futile attempt to intercept Millie.

But destiny had already sealed her fate-she would never catch up.

Millie had already disappeared behind the closing elevator doors, and the mechanical hum signaled its swift descent toward the ground floor.

As the elevator completed its descent,Millie emerged from the Watson Group building's gleaming lobby,but rather than disappearing into the bustling street,she planted herself just outside the main entrance.

Roughly sixty seconds ticked by before another elevator announced its arrival with a soft chime,and Egbert stepped into view.

He crossed the threshold of the building and immediately spotted Millie's silhouette waiting in the distance.

Without hesitation, he navigated the space between them with purposeful strides.

"Care to spare a minute for me?" Egbert inquired, his voice carrying genuine interest.

Millie's eyes swept toward the space where Myron's car sat waiting before she gestured toward a nearby area where fewer people wandered through their afternoon routines.

The two figures came to rest in comfortable stillness.

"Why did you do it?" Egbert's voice carried the weight of genuine curiosity.

Millie understood exactly what he was asking, but she chose to sidestep his question entirely. Instead, she allowed her gaze to travel deliberately over his form,studying him with calculating interest.

"Egbert," she began, her voice steady and probing "Why are you here?"

Egbert maintained his silence, his attention fixed solely upon her face as if memorizing every subtle expression.

"Please don't feed me some fabricated story about discovering my divorce and rushing back to capitalize on that opportunity. Your overseas ventures were flourishing magnificently." Millie refused to break eye contact."There's absolutely no logical reason for you to abandon that success and plunge yourself into this tangled web of complications. If my instincts serve me correctly, something significant must have unraveled in Flesta-isn't that the truth?"

Egbert finally allowed laughter to escape his lips, rich and knowing. He shook his head slowly as the sound faded. "Remarkably perceptive, as always. Your mind remains as razor-sharp as ever."

His hand disappeared into his jacket pocket and emerged holding a miniature wooden sculpture,expertly carved to capture the elegant form of a fox in perfect detail.

"This belongs to you now," he announced, extending the gift toward her. "Consider it a symbol of our enduring friendship. I believe it captures your essence quite perfectly."

Millie stretched out her hand and accepted the offering with careful fingers.

The fox truly possessed remarkable craftsmanship,every detail lovingly rendered, and she could tell immediately that he had carved it with his own skilled hands, just like that exquisite bottle of wine she remembered.

"I had every intention of presenting that wine to you personally," he revealed, seeming to anticipate the direction of her thoughts. "Unfortunately, Babette intercepted my plans before I could execute them properly."

Egbert studied her face intently. "What do you think?"

Millie continued examining the wooden fox, offering no definitive response to his question.

Golden sunlight caressed the elegant lines of her profile, yet he detected the profound melancholy that lurked beneath her lowered lashes.

He recognized that her thoughts had drifted once again toward that precious child she lost.

He spoke with quiet conviction. "| invested tremendous effort in the years that followed."

Millie's attention remained focused upon the intricate details of the wooden fox.

"Exactly as you advised me, I abandoned my frivolous ways and began genuinely pursuing the dreams that mattered, the goals | wanted to command, and learning to love and shield the people who held importance in my heart. The transformation demanded considerable time and patience. Many,many years of dedicated work."

He smiled, though his eyes betrayed an ocean of sorrow.

He pressed forward with his confession. "But despite all my searching and growth, I never succeeded in finding that person you described, Millie. Throughout that entire deep autumn season, and in all the seasons that followed, the person you spoke of with such certainty never actually materialized in my life, not from beginning to end."

Millie's gaze abandoned the wooden fox and settled upon a patch of ground at her feet.

The sun maintained its brilliant intensity overhead, yet darkness seemed to pool within her eyes.

"The words I spoke earlier inside the Watson Group weren't completely fabricated," Egbert admitted with raw honesty. "I've never harbored any genuine concern about Brandon or his welfare. All these years of conducting business with the Watson Group,negotiating renewals and maintaining professional relationships, every single interaction was motivated entirely by you. That fateful wager we made years ago altered the entire trajectory of my existence. So now I must ask you the same question."

He studied Millie with focused intensity, ensuring that no fleeting micro-expression escaped his notice.

"Did you ultimately obtain everything your heart desired? Do you still carry that same unwavering determination that once defined you?" he asked with growing intensity.

His eyes took on a reddish tinge as he lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. "Throughout all these passing years, have you ever experienced a single moment of genuine regret?"