Never Mistake a Queen for a Lapdog novel Chapter 296

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Noreen agreed without hesitation.

After she left, Hugh Summers turned to Castle. “Seems like Mr. Joyner is quite impressed with Ms. Gilmore.”

Castle didn’t bother to hide it. “She’s sharp and has vision—a rare talent in business. By the way, where did she work before?”

Hugh replied, “She was at Aurelion Group, but just as Seth’s assistant. A real waste of her abilities.”

Castle paused in surprise. “He just let someone that talented go?”

“Maybe Seth never realized what she was capable of,” Hugh speculated.

But Castle shook his head. “From what I know of Seth, there’s no way he’d overlook real talent. If he couldn’t spot that, Aurelion Group wouldn’t be what it is today.”

After a moment’s thought, Hugh decided to share a piece of gossip he’d heard. “I heard Noreen and Seth had a thing in the past, but she didn’t have much of a background. In the end, Seth chose Bianca. She’s Forrest’s daughter—Forrest just got promoted to deputy director last year.”

With that, Castle understood.

Sometimes, where you come from matters more than how hard you work.

Men tend to weigh their options.

…

On the drive home, Carman finally voiced a question that had been nagging at her all evening.

“At the dinner, Mr. Joyner from NaviTech seemed really impressed when he heard about Bianca’s education. But then suddenly his attitude cooled. What happened?”

He hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary, so it puzzled him.

Noreen explained, “Mr. Joyner, along with his father and grandfather, are all known for their patriotism. Earlier, Bianca brought up the Aeterna Industries port sale deal—that hit a nerve for him. I’m guessing he only kept his cool out of respect for Seth; otherwise, he might have shown her the door.”

“You have to understand, those ports Aeterna sold are crucial to our country. Castle would naturally be furious, so it’s no wonder his attitude changed.”

Noreen had learned about Castle’s background from Seth himself.

Back when Seth hit a wall investing in chip tech, he’d had to fly out to Harborview City to ask the Joyner family for help. That’s how he survived the crisis.