She Left She Thrived She’s Worth Billions novel Chapter 688

Melanie was deliberately taking all the heat.

As long as the R&D staff never made eye contact with Elara, they had total plausible deniability. They could honestly claim they had no idea Elara's team was locked inside.

As for why they ignored Elara's frantic phone calls? The excuse was already locked and loaded—Melanie had requested a strict "phones on silent" policy for the duration of their high-level meeting.

And so, for two and a half agonizing hours, Elara and her administrative staff were sealed inside a locked, unventilated room, roasting like rotisserie chickens.

Meanwhile, Melanie and the R&D team enjoyed a lovely two-and-a-half-hour afternoon tea.

That evening, Regina took Melanie out for dinner. They didn't go to some pretentious, upscale restaurant. When Regina had asked what she was in the mood for, Melanie had casually asked if she liked hitting up the Averin Night Market for Craft Beer & Street BBQ.

It had been a brutal, blistering day, but as night fell, the breeze finally carried a hint of cool relief. Sitting on plastic stools by the roadside, knocking back cold beers and eating grilled skewers, Melanie and Regina couldn't have been more relaxed.

"That was brilliant!" Regina cheered, downing half her beer in one gulp. She looked completely different from the stern, no-nonsense executive she was in the office.

Melanie’s eyes widened slightly. "I had no idea you were this hardcore, Regina."

"What? Did you think I was just some stiff corporate drone?"

"No, not at all... I just assumed someone in your position wouldn't want to eat street food."

"You should have seen her face when they finally got the door open. She looked like she wanted to murder someone," Regina laughed, doing a terrifyingly accurate impression of Elara’s furious scowl, sending Melanie into a fit of giggles.

After their terrace meeting wrapped up, Melanie had headed straight back to the Royce Group, skipping the return trip to the R&D floor. She had zero interest in being there when Elara finally broke out.

If Elara had seen her in the hallway, she would have absolutely tried to spin it into a massive corporate scandal. Melanie had, after all, been the one staring right at them while they baked. But since Melanie vanished, Elara had nobody to blame. With a team of 'clueless' R&D scientists and Regina playing dumb about an 'accidental' system glitch, Elara was left raging at a brick wall with no way to retaliate.

Regina fully understood that Melanie’s stunt hadn’t just humiliated Elara—it had completely shielded the R&D team from the fallout.

"You're a genius at science, absolutely gorgeous, and you've got a killer wicked streak," Regina noted, raising her glass. "No wonder Preston Whitmore chose you over Elara Bennett."