?Chapter 161:


    “Dani?” she whispered.


    “How long has this been happening?” Dani asked, without looking away from Cedric.


    Lillian hesitated, aware there was no way to hide it anymore.


    Before Lillian could speak, Dani stated, “So Cedric is the one backing Tyler’spany.”


    It wasn’t a question, but a statement.


    Lillian shifted uneasily and rubbed her hands together.


    “Yeah,” she confessed.


    Dani’s hand, resting at her side, clenched into a fist.


    She remained still for a while. But just before Cedric could turn and see her, she turned and slid back into the car.


    “You should’ve told me earlier,” she said, gripping the steering wheel tightly.


    “Cedric didn’t want us to tell you. He didn’t want to be a burden.”


    “Honestly, he wasn’t wrong,” Dani replied with a sigh.


    “It does feel like a burden.” She really hated being in a position where she owed someone a favor—especially when she wasn’t sure if she could ever return the kindness.


    The very idea unsettled her. Dani had been burned before, her heart broken by love.


    She knew better than anyone how deeply disappointment could wound a person, how it could tear them apart. She didn’t want Cedric to go through that same kind of pain.


    gα ? ησ ν?? ??s has it all


    Back at the office, Dani asked Ryan for the budget report.


    Numbers were her forte. It didn’t take her long—just over an hour—and she had gone through the numbers, recalcting everything. By the time Cedric rushed into the office, she had already set her pen down.


    He was still in the same dirt-streaked clothes from earlier, panting as if he’d sprinted all the way there.


    The office was dimly lit, with only the deskmp casting a soft glow. Dani lifted her eyes to find Cedric standing in the doorway, his shadow stretching long across the floor from the hallway lights behind him.


    He stepped inside, quickly rolling down the sleeves he’d pushed up earlier, clearly trying to gather himself. He paused in front of her desk, his voice steady but urgent.


    “I can exin.”


    As he spoke, Cedric’s gaze drifted to the scattered papers on her desk, each one covered with columns of handwritten numbers.


    His eyes narrowed as he recognized them immediately—the actual figures from the project’s ounts.


    They were nothing like the ones Ryan had handed in earlier.


    “Listen, as for the building materials, most of theme from Phillips Group. Since we’re old ssmates, I’ve been giving you factory rates. I’m still making a profit, so it’s fair,” Cedric stated, adjusting his posture just a bit. Despite his reputation as a tough, no-nonsense business tycoon, he suddenly seemed uncertain, almost regretful.


    Dani didn’t respond. She didn’t even bother taking off the anti-fatigue sses resting on her nose. Her quiet, steady gaze seemed to weigh heavily on him, and he shifted ufortably under it.


    “Construction can be tricky,” he quickly added, his voice now a bit more shaky.


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