Chapter 68 Reced

After work, Kaia stopped by a home décor store at the mall. She’d decided it was time to rece the curtains at Lucien’s vi -something lighter, softer.

While Lucien was on his way to dinner, her message popped up on his phone: [Do you think this sheer curtain goes well with the beige color?]

He nced at the photo. The fabric was delicate and airy-very different from his usual taste. Most of his ce was decorated in dark greys and cks. Sleek, cold… impersonal.

Maybe too cold for someone like her.

He replied right away: [Looks great. You’re in charge of the home decor, my dear.]

Kaia felt a warm flush rise to her cheeks. Thatst part-my dear-caught her off guard.

Still, she quickly typed back: [Alright, I’ll handle all the arrangements then.]

And she did.

Curtains, carpets, throw pillows, a tablecloth, bedding for the master bedroom—she picked out everything with care. Nothing

too frilly, but just enough to soften the sharp edges of his space.

Later that evening, she sent him another message: [The workers will be there tomorrow for instation. Here’s the contact

number. Could you let the staff know?]

Lucien responded almost immediately, sending her the front door password and a list of numbers.

[From now on, you can speak to the butler directly. He’ll handle anything you need-big or small.]

Kaia stared at the message for a moment, then quietly replied: [Okay.]

*****

The next day, Warren had a scheduling conflict, so Kaia headed to Ease Electronics on her own.

During their previous review, she and Warren had uncovered a major issue: thepany was currently entangled in a pendingwsuit. They still owed a supplier $20 million for a shipment of goods.

The first trial had already wrapped up, but the verdict had yet to be announced.

Ease Electronics imed the products didn’t meet their quality

expectations, so they refused to pay. Meanwhile, the supplier insisted everything had been delivered exactly as agreed.

With neither side backing down, the case had gone to court.

If the Graves Group acquired Ease Electronics, including its assets and liabilities, once the pendingwsuit ruled that Ease Electronics had to pay, the paying party would be the parentpany, the Graves Group.

Given this level of legal risk, Kaia had to find out the probability of Ease Electronics winning thewsuit. Ideally, she should wait for the verdict before analyzing the feasibility of the investment and acquisition.

This time, Kaia was going to meet Megan Reeves, the manager in charge of thiswsuit.

The assistant informed Megan, “Ms. Reeves, Ms. Domont from Vanguard Law Firm is waiting in the reception room.”

Megan didn’t even nce up from her work. “Tell her to wait.”

Kaia sat there from nine to ten o’clock. Finally, unable to hold back any longer, she walked to the assistant’s desk. “Excuse me, is Ms. Reeves still in a meeting?”

The assistant smiled politely. “Sorry, I’ll let you know as soon as the meeting is over.”

Kaia frowned. “But we have an appointment.”

The assistant’s smile remained unwavering. “Oh, Ms. Domont, you have to understand. Our Ms. Reeves is very busy.”

Kaia sat back down, crossing her arms. She decided to wait another half hour. If there was still no response after that, she’d walk away.

Thirty minutester, Megan finally showed up.

Kaia looked at the well-dressed Megan and gave a small, polite nod. “Ms. Reeves, hello. I’m Kaia Domont, thewyer handling the Graves Group’s acquisition investment.”

“Ms. Domont, hello. Apologies for the dy. I’ve been swamped this morning.”

Kaia didn’t bothermenting on the fact that she’d been kept waiting for an hour and a half. Instead, she got straight to the point.

“Ms. Reeves, can you tell me when the ruling for this pendingwsuit will be made, and what the likelihood of Ease Electronics winning is, ording to yourpany’swyer?”

Megan shed a smile. “Ms. Domont, youwyers are known for keeping secrets. How would we know the oue? But from

our perspective, we’re confident we’ll win thiswsuit.”

Kaia asked again, “Ms. Reeves, the first-instance trial of this case ended two months ago. Has the judge told you when the case will be closed?”

Megan replied, “Come on, how can we rush the judge?”

Sometimes, ifwyers were on good terms with judges, they could get some inside information before the verdict.

But obviously, Megan wasn’t willing to share anything.

Megan smiled, saying, “Ms. Domont, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you. But I saw the list ofwyers provided by the Graves Group to our legal team today, and your name wasn’t on it.”

Kaia frowned. “How is that possible?”

She checked her phone. There was no notice of being removed from the group, and Jude hadn’t said anything. How could this happen?

“Then I don’t know about the personnel changes in yourw firm. Maybe you should ask your colleagues back at the firm.”

Kaia took a deep breath and smiled. “Okay. Sorry to bother you.”

As soon as she got in the car, Kaia called Jude, but he didn’t

answer.

With a troubled mind, she drove back to thew firm.