Self

Chapter 66

Well, Yale was stuck in a bind.

After Yale’s tornado of a visit, Yara’s place looked like a disaster zone.

Once he was gone, Yara went on a cleaning rampage, scrubbing the house from top to bottom. Realizing it was getting late, she ditched the library plans and tackled two sets of practice questions at home, wrapping up her study session for the day.

She whipped up a couple of seaweed rice rolls for dinner but barely made a dent in them, leaving plenty untouched.

When she finished cleaning up the kitchen and plopped down, it was already eight at night.

She was gearing up to dive into another set of exam questions before bed when her phone buzzed with a new notification.

Picking it up, she saw a friend request from Shane.

Yara blinked in surprise. Why on earth would Shane want to add her?

Sure, he was Yale’s friend, but they hardly knew each other.

They had eaten together loads of times, but actual conversations? Those were rare.

After a brief hesitation, Yara figured he might have a legitimate reason, so she accepted the request.

Thirty minutes ticked by with no peep from him..

It looked like it was a friend request sent by mistake.

Yara shrugged it off as one of those weird, unexplainable things and set her phone aside to get back to her questions.

At the bar, Shane pocketed his phone and glanced up at Zachary, who had just made a round trip from dropping someone off. His gaze was heavy. “He’s home safe?”

Zachary nodded, downing a gulp of his drink. “Close call. I left before Jean could catch me and start her.

rant.”

Jean had been hanging around the villa a lot lately, and if he were unlucky enough to get caught by her, he would surely be grilled.

“Hey, you’ve been dodging my calls, saying you’re swamped. What’s up with you being free all of a sudden?

Shane’s eyes lingered on his glass of brandy, and he smiled slightly. “I’ve taken care of everything I needed to.”

“Whoa, I just remembered something!” Zachary quickly set down his glass.

“What’s up?”

“Didn’t Yara just finish her big exams?”

Shane replied, “Yeah, two days ago.”

“Really?”

“Yes, all done with that.”

Chapter 66

Zachary grinned. “You’re on top of things, huh?”

Shane smirked. “When am I not?”

“True, you finance guys are all about the details.”

Shane said, “Appreciate the praise.”

“You’re not one to be humble, are you? And can you believe it’s been half a year, and Yale and Yara still haven’t patched things up? It’s wild!”

Shane just said, “Oh.”

“You’re not shocked?”

“Shocked about what?” Shane’s voice went flat. “It was bound to happen.”

“Yeah, they’re totally going to get back together.” Zachary read between the lines.

Shane just gave a noncommittal shrug.

“Hey, you’re pretty tight with Yara, right?”

Zachary puffed out his chest proudly. “Totally! I’ve had her famous mushroom soup. We’re not just pretty tight; we’re best buddies!”

Shane’s gaze turned a shade darker. “Well, since she’s done with her exams, you should do something, throw a little celebration for her.”

“Celebrate? How?”

“Maybe take her out to eat? You might even play Cupid for those two.”

Zachary’s eyes sparkled at the thought. “That’s brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that? Yara might snub Yale, but she would come out for me. I’ll set it up, say it’s to celebrate her finishing exams, and then I can. sneakily set the stage for those two.”

“Look at you, the mastermind.” Shane nodded, lifting his glass to his lips, concealing a knowing smile.