Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 218

By the time they returned to the Cloudwater Estate, the staff had already prepared dinner.

After eating her fill, Nora headed straight upstairs. The moment she stepped out of the shower, her phone buzzed.

It was a text from Grant.

[Did you get the package?]

Nora suddenly remembered she had left her bag downstairs. She hurried down to grab it, deeply curious about what Grant could have possibly sent her.

Before she could even untie the ribbon on the box, another text pinged on her screen.

[How about this? If you pull this off, I'll let Marcus Reed in on my next project. I'll make sure he gets a cut of the profits. Deal?]

A spark of hope flashed in Nora's eyes.

Her father's company was genuinely struggling. He had been banking on Silas Lancaster's Westside project to keep them afloat, but after Silas's downfall, that project had completely collapsed.

If Grant was willing to throw the Reed family a lifeline...

[Okay, I'll try.]

Grant replied instantly: [Perfect! I knew you were loyal! Hurry up and go act cute for him. Use the trick I taught you. Once he falls for the honey trap, he'll definitely say yes!]

Staring at the words "honey trap," Nora's ears began to burn.

She practically sprinted down to the kitchen, warmed up a glass of milk, and carefully carried it to Hudson's study.

Hudson was deep into his paperwork. Hearing the door, he looked up and saw Nora walking in with the glass.

"Feeling domestic tonight?"

Nora's cheeks flushed pink as she set the glass on his desk. "Um... drink it while it's warm."

"Thank you, honey."

Hudson assumed she would leave after delivering the milk, but after a few moments, he noticed she was still standing rigidly in place.

"Do you need something?"

"Well, um..."

Hudson looked up at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Hmm?"

Nora bit her lip nervously. "That hunting ground Grant mentioned... it's in Northampton, right?"

Hudson's hand paused on the glass. A slow, knowing smile curved his lips.

"Yes, it's in Northampton."

"I heard the scenery there is beautiful."

Fine.

The moment she left the study, Nora marched straight back to her bedroom and grabbed Grant's package.

Her instincts told her whatever was meant to "seduce" Hudson was not going to be appropriate. Very self-aware, she locked herself in the walk-in closet.

The box was small, roughly the size of a palm, wrapped in high-quality red velvet. It felt luxurious to the touch.

She pulled the ribbon and popped the lid off.

Inside lay a tangled mess of black...

Nora's fingers froze mid-air.

It was lingerie.

More accurately, it was a few thin black strings tied together. The strappy design was complicated and wildly revealing, featuring tiny patches of sheer mesh that left absolutely nothing to the imagination.

Nora lifted it by one strap. The front was entirely cut out, and the back consisted of a single, ridiculously thin string. The total amount of fabric wouldn't even cover half a normal pair of underwear.

"..."

Taking a deep breath, Nora was just about to aggressively shove the stringy nightmare back into the box when a low voice echoed from the doorway.

"What are you looking at?"