Never Mistake a Queen for a Lapdog novel Chapter 699

Three years later.

Late one night at Northcrest Capital, Sophia Cole picked up Noreen Gilmore.

In the car on the way to the hotel, Sophia handed Noreen a prepared itinerary and briefed her on the key points of the upcoming Northcrest Venture Capital Conference, along with the latest instructions from her superiors.

Noreen noted several promising projects.

She circled them with a red pen and asked Sophia to run background checks.

Sophia glanced at the list and saw they were in pharmaceuticals, commercial aerospace, and new materials.

She was once again deeply impressed by Noreen's sharp business acumen.

After arriving at the hotel, Noreen took a shower.

She was still jet-lagged and couldn't sleep.

A message came in from Henry Brooke, asking if she had arrived safely.

Noreen replied that she had.

Relieved, Henry gave her a quick update on Rosalind Gilmore's day.

Truthfully, Noreen already knew, even without him saying anything.

After all, she had hired four professional caregivers to look after Rosalind's every need.

Just as Noreen was about to thank Henry, there was a knock on her door.

She assumed it was Sophia.

But when she opened it, she was met by a group of unfamiliar men.

"Ms. Gilmore, hello. I'm the head of Cypress Analytics. This is our project proposal. I hope you'll take a look."

"Ms. Gilmore, please look at my proposal, too. I'm the founder of Lumen Creative Group."

"And mine, Ms. Gilmore."

"Mine, too..."

Seven or eight men showing up at her hotel door in the middle of the night was, frankly, terrifying.

Fortunately, hotel security heard the commotion and hurried over, blocking the men from getting any closer.

"Please leave immediately! You are severely disturbing our guest!"

"Noreen?"

His voice, filled with delighted surprise, cut through the silence of the late-night hotel lobby.

Before she could react, he had already hurried to her side. "It really is you! I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me!"

"When did you get back?"

"Are you done with your studies abroad?"

Healy fired off a series of questions. Noreen selectively answered one, "I'm just back for the Venture Capital Conference."

The implication was clear: her studies weren't finished, and she would be leaving again.

Though a little disappointed, Healy was still thrilled to see her.

He hadn't seen Noreen once in the past three years.

He knew where she was, but he had no standing to go and find her.

That made this chance encounter all the more precious and surprising.

"I'm here for the conference too. I can't believe we ran into each other. What a coincidence," Healy said, the words tumbling out of him. "Are you staying at this hotel? Me too! What are the odds?"