Once a Doormat Now Untouchable (Caleb and Sydney) novel Chapter 163

Chapter 163

Julian glanced at the silver gleam of his watch. “They’re still finalizing the paperwork. By the time you finish. breakfast, you can take her home.”

“Today? I can bring her home today?” Sydney’s eyes lit up, erasing the shadow of last night’s despair. She had expected Julian to handle it eventually, but not this quickly.

He pulled out a chair, set a bowl of soup in front of her, and tapped the table lightly.

“Eat first.” His tone offered neither denial nor confirmation.

“Alright.” She sat beside him, spoon in hand. The soup was warm, while the omelet was soft and rich with cheese.

Eight years apart, under different roofs, had changed them both. Julian cooking breakfast? She never would have imagined it.

After eating, Sydney headed straight to the police station to bring Tiffany home. Julian had already arranged everything.

By the time Sydney arrived, Sterling Corp.’s chief attorney had just completed the formalities. Within minutes, the police released her.

When Tiffany emerged, she looked unusually disheveled. Since starting work, she had always been immaculate, every inch the poised lawyer. Now her makeup was streaked, and her glossy waves tangled.

Sydney’s eyes blurred red. She rushed forward, hugging her tightly and murmuring, “Tiff! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, what are you doing? I’m fine.” Tiffany eased her away and laced their hands together with a grin. “Let’s go home. God, I need a shower.”

The more Tiffany brushed it off, the heavier Sydney’s guilt grew.

On the drive back, Tiffany noticed immediately. “If you feel that guilty, why don’t you transfer me 100,000 or 200,000 dollars?”

“Alright.” At the next red light, Sydney reached for her phone, ready to make the transfer.

Tiffany laughed and snatched it away. “Babe, remember the first time we met?”

Sydney blinked and eased the accelerator as the light turned green. “I do.”

“Then if we’re keeping score, shouldn’t I be the one transferring you 200,000 or 300,000 dollars?”

That memory had never left her. Time had only sharpened it.

Back then…

Tiffany had grown up in Jouleston, in a cramped 320–square–foot house on the outskirts, four people waiting on

1/2

demolition money.

She studied until dawn and burned herself out for scholarships to claw her way into Jouleston’s elite high school, a place swarming with prodigies and the wealthy.

She was pretty, well–developed, but embarrassingly poor. Her faded uniform smelled of detergent, her white canvas shoes had yellowed at the seams, and her bangs were unevenly cut by her own scissors.

The boys barely glanced at her, while the girls sharpened their tongues, mocking her relentlessly.

The day she met Sydney, Tiffany was in the girls‘ bathroom, cornered and hurling curses back at her tormentors. -spoiled rich girls.

One grabbed the janitor’s mop bucket, ready to dump filthy water on her. That’s when Sydney stepped out of a locked stall and “accidentally” tripped the girl. The bucket tipped and soaked the ringleader. The group, furious, turned on both of them.

It was not Tiffany’s first beating, nor Sydney’s. But it was the first time someone was beaten with her.

Sydney smirked faintly at the memory. They shared a quiet smile. “Fine. We’ll call it even.”

“I saw that lawyer earlier. He was from Sterling Corp.” Tiffany recognized most of the big names in the legal world. Her eyes narrowed. “You asked Julian for help?”

Sydney’s grip tightened on the wheel, but she forced herself to nod. “Yeah.”

“Why are you so nervous?” Tiffany noticed the change immediately, suspicion edging her tone. “You didn’t do anything weird for me, did you?”

“No!”

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