Chapter 934: Chapter 934



“Please, have a seat,” he said.

Addie’s parents sat down, their smiles polite but guarded.

“Dunn, is there something specific you’d like to discuss?”

Dunn glanced down, the rich aroma of wine already saturating the room. “I don’t want to take up too much of your time, but Aurora has practically grown up under my care. Over the years, your daughter has caused her a great deal of trouble. I’d like to know—how do you usually discipline her?”

Addie’s parents exchanged uneasy looks, unsure of how to respond.

From what they could gather, Dunn was here to defend Aurora.

“Dunn, the Finch family hasn’t interacted with the Millers for a long time. If there’s been some kind of conflict between Aurora and Addie, surely, it’s not worth you getting so involved?”

Dunn looked up. “My great-grandfather left strict instructions for our family to cut ties with the Millers, and we’ve honored that. But if his rules were enough to keep things running smoothly, I wouldn’t have had to step in as CEO when I was sixteen.”

The statement left Addie’s parents stunned. They struggled to find the right words, unsure if this was defiance or simply fact.

Dunn remained polite, emptying his glass before standing to leave.

Addie’s parents vowed to personally bring her to make an apology. Before parting ways, Dunn also requested the contact details of Addie’s boyfriend.

After the meeting, Dunn headed to the park to meet Aurora, carrying a box of fortune cookies she’d been wanting to try.

“How did you get your hands on these cookies?”

“I know a few people who can make them,” Dunn replied. “They baked ten boxes overnight. The rest are already at your house so your siblings can try them too.”

Aurora blinked, momentarily at a loss for words.

Dunn had thought ahead to include her siblings in his plans.

“Thank you,” Aurora said.

“It’s really not a big deal.”

Aurora’s cheeks flushed a deep red. She genuinely appreciated that Dunn had taken her offhand remark to heart.

As they ate the fortune cookies, Aurora finally asked the question that had been on her mind.

“You left so suddenly last time. Was something wrong?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell me what happened?”

Dunn fell quiet for a moment, his gaze fixed on the horizon where the sky was slowly transitioning into dusk. In this fleeting twilight hour, the world seemed to blur, leaving a strange sense of disorientation in its wake.

It was as if the whole world were sinking into an endless fog.

“Actually, I’m wiped out,” he muttered, his eyes distant. “Our project for the competition hit a snag. All of our research is gone, wiped out completely, and now we have to rebuild from scratch.”

Aurora’s heart tightened with empathy.

Despite the steadiness of Dunn’s voice, there was an underlying weight to his words.

“You put in all that effort, and for what? Sometimes it feels like life doesn’t care about the work you put into it. Things just happen, and the outcome rarely matches the sweat and tears you invest.”

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