Chapter 17
Chapter 17:
Victor noticed the injury on her head right away and urged her to rest at home for a few more days, returning only when she felt completely better. Kristine, however, was determined to start immediately. Her dedication to artifact restoration had nearly faded away because of Colton, and keeping up with the field meant she had to work twice as hard as everyone else, especially given how quickly things changed.
Victor watched her pour herself into her work and studies, and soon realized there was no changing her mind. In the end, he let her be.
That evening, after clocking out, Kristine received an unexpected call.
“Hello, is this Kristine Green? There’s a problem with one of your companies in Gridron, and your presence is required for an official investigation p>
Without hesitation, Kristine ended the call.
She knew she had only a single business left in Gridron — K&C Entertainment. Thanks to Vance, that company was thriving. There was no way anything could genuinely be wrong. Clearly, it was just another scam attempt — calls like this had come her way more than once.
Shaking it off, she strolled back to her apartment without concern.
Settling close to her workplace, Kristine had rented a compact one-bedroom apartment with a modest living area. The monthly rent climbed over ten thousand dollars, nearly consuming her entire paycheck. Her savings were the only thing keeping her afloat — without that financial cushion, holding onto the job would not have been possible.
Owning property in Peudon still felt out of reach. She had considered trying to reclaim her father’s house, but the paperwork left no loophole — everything had been transferred to Monica in writing.
𝖣𝗶ѕc𝘰𝗏er 𝘯𝘦w 𝘀𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪еs o𝗇
Arriving home, Kristine put together a quick plate of pasta for dinner and scrolled through property listings while she ate, hoping to find a larger space with enough room to house the antiques she had brought along. The suburban listings looked ideal — generous square footage, reasonable prices, and the kind of solid walls that suited storing valuable artifacts. Of course, the sheer volume of antiques made security and proper storage a genuine headache. Eventually, she would need to hire someone truly reliable to help keep everything safe.
Running a hand over her forehead, Kristine recognized just how many problems still needed sorting out. At least Monica had not caused any trouble since Asher managed to talk her into dropping the engagement. That was one less thing to worry about.
After browsing listings for a while, she checked the clock, decided it was late, and sank onto her bed.
She was seconds from drifting off when a call from Gridron lit up her phone. Colton’s name flashed through her mind for an instant — but as soon as she saw Vance’s number, she had to laugh at herself for jumping to conclusions. Colton could not have wanted her gone more. Now that she was out of his life, there was no chance he would try to pull her back in.
“Hi, Vance. Any updates on the equity division?” she said, assuming that had to be the only reason he would call so late.