He liked bringing Catalina to events like this. She made him look good.
“Wait… wasn’t there a grand piano here before?” Catalina asked, pointing toward the opulent center of the lobby. “When did it get replaced by that double keyboard?”
“It was still a grand piano last week when I came by,” Brayan replied. just as surprised.
There had always been a live pianist in the Royalpine Hotel lobby.
“Maybe the pianist got fired for being too awful?” Ronan jumped in, shifting his gaze to the new instrument. “Didn’t you once say, Brayan, the piano itself was great but the player–meh–not even one percent as good as your wife?”
He scratched the back of his head and mumbled, “Still, if the issue was the pianist, why not just get a better one? Why swap out the whole piano? Doesn’t add up…”
Brayan glanced down at his arm–more precisely, at the hand that was holding onto his.
“If only your hand hadn’t been injured…”
He reached over and gently took Catalina’s hand, his voice low, tinged with regret.
Catalina forced herself to stay composed.
“Sometimes setbacks turn out to be blessings in disguise. If I hadn’t
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hurt my hand, I probably wouldn’t have ended up in jewelry design.
“You’re right.” Brayan said, wrapping his warm palm around her cooler hand.
“Catalina actually ranked first in the intern evaluations!” Ally chimed in proudly.
“She’s got that natural spark,” Ronan added with a grin, giving her a thumbs–up. “Whatever she does, she’s top of the class.”
Brayan nodded. “Catalina’s talent speaks for itself.”
As the group strolled forward, they drew closer to the double. keyboard. Beside it stood a hotel staff member in a navy–blue cleaning uniform, hunched over and wiping smudges from the keys with a
tissue.
Bravan suddenly stopped walking.
Catalina paused too and glanced over, noticing his frown–and the way he was staring, unmoving, at the cleaner’s back.
Then the figure straightened up.
At that moment, both Brayan and Catalina said in unison, “Jennifer?”
Jennifer turned around. Of everyone in front of her, the first person she locked eyes with was Brayan.
Dressed in a sleek black suit, he didn’t need any special effort to look impressive. He had the height of a runway model and the face of a movie star.
But his expression was dark–and Jennifer could feel it. He was angry.
“Oh my god… are you working here as a janitor?” Ally blurted out in
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shock.
And with that, it all clicked.
Jennifer finally understood why Brayan looked so upset.
She looked down at what she was wearing.
Yeah… she really did look like a janitor.
“Just look at our Catalina.” Elise laughed, nearly doubling over. “Scored top marks from a design master in the piano–themed collection and is now officially a full–time employee at Velvet Rose Group. White- collar, big company, making hundreds of thousands a year. And then there’s someone else–went from housewife to janitor. I guess technically, that counts as career growth?”
“You seriously think she’s on Catalina’s level? That’s an insult to
full of disdain.
Catalina.” Ronan said, his gaze toward Jennife
Jennifer had never paid much attention to Ronan before. But ever since Catalina returned, she’d overheard two conversations between him and Brayan that left a very bad taste in her mouth.
“What, that got under your skin?” Ronan rolled his eyes, clearly picking up on her hostility.
He and Brayan had been close since high school. He’d practically watched Brayan and Catalina fall head over heels for each other back. in the day–everyone thought they were a perfect match.
So when Brayan ended up marrying Jennifer, Ronan figured she just got lucky.
If Brayan and Catalina hadn’t gone cold during her time abroad, he never would’ve pursued Jennifer. And the fact that she’d had the nerve. to actually marry into the LeBlanc family? In Ronan’s eyes, that was
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shameless.
Guys like him and like Brayan–admired women with real talent. They came from the upper crust, groomed to succeed. ‘What kind of man would want a woman whose biggest achievements are cooking and laundry? Ronan thought.
“Here.” Ronan said, holding out a design draft. “Let me show you what a real designer’s work looks like.”
He flashed a smug smile. “I know you probably won’t understand any of it, but at least you can admit you don’t measure up.
Jennifer said nothing.
She understood the concept perfectly–and she also recognized the score in the upper right corner.
She was the one who had graded it earlier that day.
“Oh, so you placed third in the VelvetRose Group intern evaluations,” she said, smiling mildly. “Congratulations.”
Catalina’s expression shifted instantly.
‘How did Jennifer know I’d only come in third?‘ she thought.
Seeing the flicker of panic in her eyes, Jennifer was genuinely confused. ‘Isn’t that a compliment? I meant it sincerely–why does Catalina look so rattled?‘ she wondered.
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Chapter33
