Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 1709

Sylvia cried for a long time. She wept until the sky turned pitch black and the night wind began howling against the windowpanes. Only then did she finally stop.

Her eyes swollen like walnuts, she leaned heavily on her numb legs and stood up. After splashing cold water on her face, she forced herself to muster some energy, intending to head outside and clean up the disaster zone left by the excavators.

But the moment she pushed the door open, she froze.

A large crowd of people stood outside the wrought iron gates. The darkness obscured their faces, leaving only the imposing silhouettes of several tall, burly men waiting beyond the bars.

Her heart leaped into her throat. "Who are you?" she demanded loudly, her voice sharp with vigilance.

The man at the front rubbed his freezing hands together, squinting through the bars to see her. "Oh, Miss, you finally came out! We have been waiting out here for three hours. We are the workers Mr. Michell hired to help clean up your yard."

Sylvia stared at them, completely dumbfounded. She hadn't actually believed Steve when he said he called a crew for her. Looking at the men stamping their feet against the biting winter cold, she felt a wave of guilt.

"Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and it is freezing out here. You should all go home. You can come back and clean up after the holidays."

Sylvia initially wanted to help, but the extreme emotional whiplash of the afternoon had taken a massive toll on her body. By midnight, she could barely keep her eyes open and had no choice but to retreat to her room to sleep.

When she opened her eyes again, the sky outside her window was just beginning to turn gray. Checking her phone, she saw it was a little past six in the morning. Throwing on her winter coat, she hurried out of her room, only to be completely stunned by the sight before her.

The courtyard, which had looked like a war zone yesterday, was more than half cleared. And the crew hadn't rested for a single minute. They were still working tirelessly. Some were crouching on the ground, using small trowels to painstakingly scrape gravel out of the brick crevices. Others were working together to carry fallen tree trunks, stacking them neatly against the wall. Even the shattered roof tiles had been carefully sorted into small, organized piles.

Sylvia stood under the eaves, feeling an indescribable wave of shock wash over her. She never expected the workers Steve hired to be this reliable. Not only were they incredibly efficient, but they were working as if their lives depended on it. Steve must be paying them an absolute fortune, or else no one would voluntarily work overnight in this kind of weather.