?Chapter 525:

    “You didn’t talk about anything else?” Sharon pressed.

    “Was there something else we should’ve talked about?” Ste looked genuinely confused.

    Sharon waspletely stumped. She opened her mouth but had noeback. What could she say? These two were so hopeless when it came to romance, it was almost impressive. All she could do was sigh quietly to herself.

    Ste took a small sip of her red wine, the taste rich but mellow.

    Next to her, William suddenly stood up and said casually, “I just saw an old business partner. I’ll go say hello.”

    With that, he turned and walked off at a calm, unhurried pace.

    Sharon watched his back as he disappeared into the crowd—and realized her brilliant matchmaking n had just gone up in mes.

    She quickly grabbed Ste’s wrist. “Wait, Stel—was William really just talking about work with you the whole time?”

    She couldn’t believe it. Seriously? That man was so dense.

    Meanwhile, Ste was actually in a great mood.

    “Sharon, I should thank you. If you hadn’t dragged me here today, I wouldn’t have heard about the institute’s new project. I already signed up to join! You’re my lucky charm!”

    She pulled Sharon in for a hug, grinning wide.

    But Sharon just stood there, stiff as a board. She wanted to matchmake—not hand out project applications!

    Sharon downed the rest of her wine in one gulp and gave William another re from across the room. Nope. She wasn’t giving up. Not tonight. If she didn’t pull this off, she wasn’t worthy of being Ste’s best friend.

    “Hey Stel,” Sharon said, switching tactics, “this event’s not bad, right? There’s going to be a dance soon. I bet someone’s going to ask you for the first dance.” Sharon’s n was simple: get William and Ste on the dance floor, close enough to catch feelings. The music might even help them open up.

    Ste raised a brow. “Dancing? I don’t know… I’m not really in the mood.”

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    “Oh,e on. It’s not every day you get invited to something like this. Just try it. If you’re nervous, you can dance with me first!”

    Sharon’s enthusiasm was contagious. Ste hesitated, then gave in with a soft nod.

    As the music started ying and couples began to pair off, Sharon suddenly clutched her stomach. She hurried off with the excuse of going to the restroom.

    In truth, she was going to find William.

    “Mr. Briggs,” she called, catching up to him. “Got a minute?”

    William gave her a curious look. “What is it, Ms. Mitchell?”

    Sharon looked unusually serious. “Ste wants to dance, but I’m not feeling well, and she’s notfortable dancing with strangers. Can you do me a favor and be her partner for the first dance?”

    William blinked. “She wants to dance?” That caught him off guard. Ste never seemed like the dancing type.

    Sharon nodded with extra emphasis. “Yup. She suddenly felt like it today. So, are you going or not?”

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