Never Mistake a Queen for a Lapdog novel Chapter 461

Noreen froze, caught off guard by the sudden question.

Seth's grip was still firm on her forearm. His usual easygoing tone was gone, replaced by a detached, commanding air. "The first night we slept together," he said, his voice cold, "I remember you telling me your heart belonged to someone else. You said I shouldn't feel obligated."

He paused, his voice growing even colder. "That man… it was Dylan Wilder, wasn't it?"

Noreen's expression stiffened. She couldn't believe he still remembered her words from that night.

Their first time together had been an accident.

Years ago, Noreen had made an advance on Seth out of gratitude, but he had turned her down. Back then, she'd naively believed he was different from other men—that he wasn't swayed by a pretty face or willing to take advantage of someone in a vulnerable position. That was why she'd willingly given up a scholarship to study abroad, choosing instead to stay and help him build his company from the ground up.

They worked shoulder-to-shoulder during that first year, a time of grueling work and gratifying success. Over the long days and late nights they spent together, Noreen found herself falling for him.

But she never confessed her feelings. She stayed strictly professional, keeping to her duties and never once crossing the line. She was prepared to keep her love a secret forever. Only in the solitude of the dead of night would she allow herself to examine her feelings, turning them over in the moonlight, tracing the impressions he had left on her heart. Then, before dawn, she would carefully lock them away again, deep inside.

But that quiet, solitary affection was shattered by the accident.

A year after its founding, Aurelion Group was on the cusp of a major breakthrough. To bolster the company's public image and social standing, Seth had sponsored a scholarship program for a group of gifted, underprivileged university students. The university, in turn, hosted a gala in his honor, a gesture of thanks from the scholarship recipients.

Noreen was supposed to accompany Seth to the gala that evening, but an urgent call from the hospital changed her plans. There was an issue with her mother's, Rosalind Gilmore's, latest test results, and she had to go there in person. So Seth went to the event alone.

She was too weak to answer, her body convulsing as darkness consumed her.

When she woke again, Seth was already fully dressed, his back to her as he stood by the window. The dim light of the room cast his silhouette in sharp, cold lines, making him seem distant and unapproachable.

Hearing her stir, Seth turned. His voice was still hoarse, but now it was utterly detached. "I'll take responsibility for this."

Noreen's heart sank. She knew he was only saying it out of a sense of duty, and that wasn't what she wanted at all. She had never intended to use what happened between them to get something from him.

So she quickly composed herself, forcing a calm she didn't feel into her voice as she prepared to answer him.