Wife You Discarded is a Billionaire's Crush novel Chapter 125

Liliana instinctively cleaned her hands on her apron and hurried over to grab the phone.

She pressed a finger to her lips, signaling for Juniper to be quiet, before stepping out onto the balcony to answer.

"Where are you?" Cedric's voice, lazy and nonchalant, carried an undercurrent of control.

Liliana twisted a lock of hair around her finger, her heart pounding. "Working late."

A noncommittal "Mm" was his only response.

The silence that followed was so complete that Liliana thought he had hung up. She glanced at the screen and saw the call was still connected. "If there's nothing else, I'm going to hang up."

"What time will you be done?" he asked suddenly. "I'll come pick you up."

*Pick me up?* The thought was so unfamiliar, a privilege that had never even crossed her mind.

"What?" she asked, caught off guard.

"Be downstairs in half an hour," Cedric said, his tone laced with impatience.

"No need for that." It was the first time he had ever offered, and the first time she had ever refused.

"No need for that?" he repeated, a note of disbelief in his voice, followed by a soft, mocking laugh. "Fine. Find your own way back."

He hung up. A flash of annoyance went through him. He'd heard from Erma that she was working late and had felt a sudden, unexpected urge to go get her. For her to refuse… his annoyance curdled into a sneer. Was she playing hard to get? Trying to see if he would beg? Well, he wouldn't give her the satisfaction. She was probably regretting it already.

Juniper was already seated, her legs crossed, watching them work while she contributed nothing but chatter. "Did that jerk Forrest pressure you to come home?"

Liliana set two bowls of soup on the table and shook her head. "He offered to pick me up, but I refused." She couldn't shake the feeling that her lie had somehow been exposed. But then she reasoned that if Cedric knew, he wouldn't have been so calm on the phone.

"Let's eat," Douglas said, taking his seat and distributing the silverware. He then looked at Liliana. "About that competition I mentioned earlier—you can enter as an individual."

Liliana had looked up the rules after Tillie mentioned it. Designers from major firms were fast-tracked to the national finals. Independent designers, however, had to go through multiple qualifying rounds. She hadn't considered entering on her own. "I have to focus on work, and I need to visit Hale when I have free time. I don't have the energy for a competition."

"The first-place prize for the national round is one hundred thousand dollars, and it all wraps up within three months." Douglas lowered his gaze, hiding the sympathy in his eyes. He had to be blunt. "The submissions are all online. It might be tough, but I think this is a great opportunity for you."

He had shown her design sketches to several renowned designers, and they had all praised her talent.