Chapter 243

The big pitch event was just two days away, and to make sure everything went smoothly, they had to run a rehearsal the day before. The next morning. Alice Sterling was up bright and early. She met with Dylan Palmer to go over the entire event schedule, and once everything checked out, she glanced at the time—already 10 a.m. She dialed Edward Hawthorne’s number. The phone rang a few times before he picked up. "Hello?" Hearing Edward’s hoarse voice, Alice smiled. "Time to get up. Got any plans today?" "Just wandering around the estate, giving myself a little break." That made Alice pause. "You're not coming to the event?" "You're the one running the show. You really need me there?" She couldn’t argue with that. Made sense. Just as she was about to respond, Dylan came hurrying over from the venue setup. "I’ve got to go. Don’t wait for me to eat lunch," she said quickly, hanging up and turning to Dylan. "What’s wrong?" "The spokesperson we booked got stuck abroad because of the storm. Her