Swapping a Broken Heart for a New Start novel Chapter 1225

Audrey didn’t let herself slow down for a second. She texted her brother, Dennis, to fill him in on how things were going on her end.

Dennis replied quickly, giving her a bit of well-deserved praise. “You’re doing great. Just let Walter handle things from here. Seriously, you don’t need to do everything yourself.”

“I know, I know. Walter said the same thing. He’s already got his team handling it,” Audrey wrote back, being totally upfront.

After hashing out the work stuff, Dennis shifted gears and checked in about her health. “You feeling alright? Anything off lately?”

“Not at all. I’m fine, really. You don’t have to worry about me. I should be asking about Lillian. How is she doing?” With everything happening, Audrey realized she hadn’t checked in about Lillian for a while.

Dennis didn’t hold anything back. “No big issues right now. She caught a cold a few days ago and lost a bit more weight. She’s been at home with her parents, resting, and she’s recovering a little. There’s still no progress with the antidote, though.”

His tone got heavier as he spoke.

Audrey understood how he felt, but all she could do was try to comfort him. “Don’t stress too much. Lillian’s tough. She’ll get through this.”

“Yeah.” Dennis wasn’t the type to let his emotions show for long. All they could do was wait and hope for better news from the research team.

***

The next few days, whenever Audrey had a free moment, she’d head over to campus to check on the cultural exhibition. She also met up with the leaders of a few student clubs to talk through the plans for the performances.

All the club presidents were third-years, and honestly, every one of them was impressive. With Audrey’s knack for organizing, they locked in the details for the show in no time.

The best part? Most of the performances were already set since the clubs practiced regularly. Once everything was decided, it was just a matter of practicing together and getting the timing right.

After all the details were sorted out, Audrey watched a rehearsal and couldn’t help but feel proud. Everyone nailed it.

When rehearsal wrapped up, she walked over, clapping for everyone. “That was perfect! Seriously, you all crushed it. Thanks for working so hard these last few days. If you’re up for it, dinner’s on me tonight. It’s the least I can do to thank you all for your effort. And I’ll still be counting on you for the big performance!”

He came from a good family too, and everyone knew he was one of the most popular guys on campus. Plenty of girls had crushes on him, but he never seemed interested.

This time, though, he was acting different. He usually skipped these kinds of events, but now he was here every day. He claimed it was for the extra credit, but everyone knew he didn’t need it. And the way he acted around Audrey made it pretty obvious he was interested. People had been whispering about it for days, and now he was inviting her in front of everyone.

It was clear to anyone paying attention.

Of course, Audrey was beautiful, smart, and capable. She was easy to get along with, and her energy was kind of contagious. It wasn’t just Pearson—some of the other girls in the clubs liked her too.

But Audrey just smiled and turned Pearson down, as politely as she could. “Thanks, but that’s okay. If you have extra seats, take someone else. I’ll go with my partner.”

When she said that, a few of the other girls got curious. “Partner? You mean the one who helped you organize this?”

“Yeah.” Audrey nodded, keeping it vague. She didn’t go into details about her relationship with Walter, just called him her partner. She smiled and said, “Of course. Wouldn’t be right to have dinner without him.”