Chapter 106 You Have Interest
Erica sent him a screenshot of her updated nickname for him. Maddox replied with five firework emojis.
Those fireworks paired with Wesley's profile pic? Erica couldn't be happier.
Erica: [Eye candy. Seeing you just makes my day.]
Maddox didn't mind the nickname change one bit. He actually found it pretty amusing.
They'd rambled about random stuff before, and he'd mentioned his parents nagging him about marriage. Maddox claimed he just hadn't met the right person yet. But in Erica's eyes, he was just a serial player who had zero interest in settling down.
Irresponsible men stayed perpetually adolescent, no matter their age.
Erica decided to mess with him a little.
Erica: [With that profile pic, you'll have girls sliding into your DMs left and right. Go get them, tiger. Maybe you can finally get hitched this year.]
Fishing for intel about his love life? Maddox saw this as progress.
Maddox: [I'm pretty zen about it.]
The subtext was that it's okay to have it, and it didn't matter if you didn't.
Erica saw right through his probing. Players like him thrived on push-pull dynamics—the more you played hard to get, the more interested they became.
Didn't take his bait. Letting him control the conversation was a one-way ticket to getting played.
Erica quickly pivoted back to the paragliding invitational.
Erica: [You thinking about the paragliding competition?]
Maddox: [You interested?]
Her response came lightning-fast: [I'm competing.]
Maddox: ['m in too.]
No way was Maddox passing up this opportunity.
Maddox: [How about we celebrate if I place top three?]
Erica: [Wow, confident much? It's a national invitational. What makes you so sure you'll crack the top three?]
Maddox: [Don't believe me? Want to make it interesting?]
Erica was curious to see how he'd actually perform. Last time they flew together, their skills were pretty evenly matched.
Erica: [What's the wager?]
Maddox's lips curved into a smile. He thought she'd taken the bait.
Erica braced herself for some inappropriate, crass bet. If he dared suggest anything sleazy, she was ready to tear him apart.
Instead, Maddox's proposal caught her off guard: when students went on summer break, he was planning to volunteer at a rural elementary school to repaint their walls. He wanted her to help out as his assistant.
Something actually meaningful? Color her impressed.
Erica: [Deal!]
That night, they both registered online, filled out their competitor information, and waited for the invitational to kick off.
Competition date: [June 20th. Location: Skybird Paragliding Base in Seaside City.]
After Memorial Day weekend, Leopold returned to Solstice Mountain. Caroline stayed busy with wedding planning while Quinlan wanted to help but was self-aware enough about her... complicated situation. Seaside City wasn't that big—plenty of people knew her history. If she dragged Caroline around town, handling wedding errands, appearing in public together, it would probably cause headaches for Caroline and her family.
Since she couldn't offer labor, money would have to do.
Quinlan had been saving up for Leopold for years. When Caroline received the express package, Quinlan's call came through right on cue.
"Caroline, it's me. You recognize my voice, right?" Quinlan's question betrayed her uncertainty.
"I do, Mom. What's up?" Caroline's warmth held zero awkwardness or disdain.
Relief flooded through Quinlan, though she kept her voice steady. "You got the package I sent, right?"
Caroline was mid-unwrap, seeing the return address. "Just got it."
Quinlan continued, "I'm heading out of town with some friends for a bit. Leopold mentioned you need to buy a bunch of stuff. I won't have time to help you run around, so keep this bank card—keep it. Use the money for whatever you need. PIN is the last six digits of this phone number."
Caroline pulled out the bank card. "Leopold already gave me enough money, Mom. I can't accept this."
Quinlan stood firm. "This is my way of showing I care about my daughter-in-law. If you refuse, you're basically saying you don't accept me as your mother-in-law."
Masterful manipulation—she'd left zero room for refusal.
Caroline had no choice. "Thank you, Mom."
"That's more like it." Quinlan swept her long hair over her shoulder, her regal expression returning. "That's all. You go do your thing. I'm hanging up."
"Okay, Mom."
Quinlan ended the call first.
In everyone else's eyes, Quinlan had always been the homewrecker who'd traded morals for money, becoming someone's mistress. She carried that psychological burden in social situations, terrified of being looked down on. So she overcompensated with money, surrounding herself with yes-men and sycophants who praised her generous spending.
But Caroline's family didn't lack money. They didn't care about any of that.
Caroline selected a photography studio, booked their package with wardrobe and services included, then messaged Leopold on WhatsApp asking when he'd be back in Seaside City.
Post-Memorial Day, Leopold had flown overseas. Now they battled not just time zones but crushing workloads. He barely had time to check his phone. When he did squeeze in a message, it was brutally brief:
Swamped. What's up?
Caroline shook her head ruefully. See that? Real CEOs weren't like the ones in TV shows or novels—constantly chasing ex-wives or tormenting current ones. They had zero time for phones or romantic getaways.
So those CEOs who neglected their empires to focus on romance 24/7? Total fiction. Companies would've crashed and burned already.
Leopold didn't return to Seaside City until a week later. They carved out one day for engagement photos and tried on wedding attire. Elysia had someone select an auspicious date—the official wedding was set for June 28th. Caroline's side needed ten tables of guests. Leopold did quick math: five tables would cover close relatives and friends. But when Preston caught wind of it, he insisted on going bigger. After calculating his social and business network, he settled on twenty tables.
Gemma was livid when she learned Preston was going all out.
Previously, Preston acknowledging his father-son relationship with Leopold had been internal company business. But after this wedding banquet, Leopold would officially enter the public eye as Xiomara's primary heir apparent. The hotel's future ownership would become uncertain—or rather, Preston's move clearly positioned Leopold as successor.
This was Gemma's worst nightmare.
She tried multiple times to talk to Preston, but he kept dodging, deliberately changing subjects. With the wedding approaching and no other options, Gemma convened Xiomara and Bodhi at home. The three of them cornered Preston together to discuss the wedding.
Their agenda was crystal clear: they could attend the wedding, but Preston couldn't appear as Leopold's father. He could only participate as a corporate representative serving as a witness.
Preston knew exactly what they were thinking. But he couldn't burn bridges with Gemma yet—he still needed her connections and social capital.