Tara stared wide-eyed at Soren as he stepped out from the corner. But the moment she heard Lance's voice behind her, a jolt ran through her. She turned around, eyes filled with disbelief.
Lance approached with slow, measured steps. His eyes locked onto Tara for a long moment before finally casting a glance at the equally stunned Stella.
Tara's mind went blank. She hadn't expected them to find out about the memory deletion under such circumstances.
She felt the warmth of a tall figure press against her left side, so she turned to look.
Soren was standing next to her with his arm placed around her waist like he always did.
He looked down at her and asked quietly, "What's going on?"
Tara didn't know how to explain. Even if they found out, they had no memory of the matter. How could she possibly explain something that went beyond the bounds of their understanding?
Stella clearly hadn't expected them to overhear either. The moment she saw Lance appear, her expression turned downright grim.
"Tara and I were just talking about a dream," she quickly explained. "Mr. Swain, there's no need to take it seriously."
But neither Lance nor Soren was the type to be easily fooled. It was obvious Tara and Stella had been talking about a real matter just now.
"You stole me from Ms. Thayer's hands." After saying that, Lance turned to Tara. "How come I don't remember ever being in a relationship with you?"
Tara didn't dare meet his gaze. "Because it was all just made-up nonsense between me and Stella. It wasn't real."
Lance fell silent. He simply looked at her, his thoughts returning to the building he had bought. Somehow, she had ended up living on the 28th floor, and he had no memory of how that happened.
He had looked into it. The woman before him was indeed listed as the owner of the entire 28th floor. There was a transfer record and his own signature, but no trace of any memory.
So, the conversation between Tara and Stella earlier was likely true. That would explain the inconsistency.
"Was I the one who gave you the entire 28th floor?" he asked Tara.
Tara was stunned by the question. She had never even opened the property deed. When he gave it to her, it was sealed in an envelope, and she never bothered to check. Thus, she had no idea he had given her the entire floor, which measured over 10,000 square feet, in such a prime area.
Her first instinct was to blurt out, "You gave me the entire floor?" Luckily, she managed to catch herself in time and swallowed back the words. But now she had no idea how to respond to his question.
Tara knew he must have investigated the matter, and that was why he asked.
"I…"
Seeing her flustered and unsure, Soren pulled her in closer, letting her lean into his chest.
"If that's true, I'll give you the money for the apartment," he said to Lance.
Now that he knew about it, there was no way he was going to let his girlfriend keep a place her ex had given her.
Lance's gaze fell on the arm wrapped around Tara's waist for a brief moment before slowly shifting away. His tone was cool as he said, "That won't be necessary. Let's talk upstairs first."
Soren agreed and kept his arm around Tara as they headed upstairs. Noticing her unease, he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her temple.
"Don't worry, I'm here," he said soothingly in a low voice.
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