Wife You Discarded is a Billionaire's Crush novel Chapter 78

"Why are you asking so many questions?" Nina snapped, growing impatient. "Just take it and run it." She assumed Liliana was just being an ignorant newbie.

But Liliana smiled faintly and pressed on. "Could you please provide your boyfriend's full name? I'll need it for verification when I process the payment." She stood up, looking down at Sylvia. Her makeup was a little heavier today to hide her exhaustion, which only made her features seem more striking. In that moment, the power dynamic in the room shifted.

Liliana couldn't publicly acknowledge her relationship with Cedric. But could Sylvia? No, she couldn't either. Rumors were one thing; a public declaration was another. In their circle, no one took gossip as fact. But if the words came directly from Sylvia's mouth, it would be a different story.

Sylvia's smile slowly faded.

"If it's inconvenient for you to say, Miss Woods, perhaps you could use a different card," Liliana said, placing the card back on the table and pushing it toward her.

Her composure unnerved Sylvia. Nina, sensing the shift, quickly intervened. "Liliana, what are you doing? Miss Woods told you to use this card, so use it!" Verifying a client's name was standard procedure, but it wasn't strictly necessary to process a payment.

Liliana stood her ground. "Verifying client information is company policy."

"Miss Preston is certainly a woman of principle," Sylvia said with a tight smile, retrieving her card. "But rules are made to be broken. In the workplace, in social circles… even in marriage, rules are useless. They can't hold anyone back."

She produced another card, this one with her own name on the back. Annoyed with Liliana's stubbornness, Nina snatched the card and went to process the payment herself, leaving the two of them alone.

Sylvia had made her point. She suspected Liliana was working here because she and Cedric were on the rocks. It didn't matter that she couldn't use his card. She wouldn't rush to publicly link herself to him until he and Liliana were completely finished. That would be handing Liliana a weapon. For now, a little prodding was enough. This little rabbit was easy to bully. She could afford to be patient.

But her "little prodding" had already left Liliana emotionally exhausted.

Nina returned after processing the payment and walked Sylvia out. Alone in the room, Liliana's legs gave out, and she slumped against the wall. Just as she was about to slide to the floor, a strong hand grabbed her arm and helped her back into a chair.

She turned her head.