Ike watched the scene unfold, completely stunned.

Was this the same Skyler Cumming he knew?

Just a second ago, he was swearing he'd never play second fiddle to a dog. The next, he was chasing after it, calling it 'brother.'

By the time the two got in the car, Ike was still trying to process what he'd seen. He turned to Skyler. "Skyler, what was that all about? Whose dog is that?"

"It belongs to the boss, Caitlin," Skyler said. "You know, Miss Gonzales. The one who's been making waves lately."

"Her!" Ike's eyes lit up. "But why would Master Ninth be walking a dog for Miss Gonzales? Do you think... he's dating the heiress?"

"Her father and my uncle are friends. It's perfectly normal for him to help walk the dog," Skyler shot down the idea immediately. "Stop overthinking it. If anything were going to happen between them, it wouldn't have waited until now."

Ike rubbed his chin, still puzzled. "But I swear I saw Master Ninth holding hands with a young woman while they crossed the street."

"If you've had that much to drink, you should just close your eyes and sleep it off. Any longer and you'll start seeing aliens."

Ike fell silent.

Only after Skyler's car had completely disappeared from view did Caitlin dare to step out from the side, patting her chest in relief. "Thank goodness he didn't see me!"

That was way too close.

Gordon Sylvester naturally took her hand. "Yeah, thank goodness."

*So close!* he thought, fuming. *Skyler was just one step away from discovering Caitlin.*

*Damn it!*

If Skyler had seen them, he could have finally made their relationship public.

Gordon had never realized how dense his own nephew could be. It had taken him less than three sentences to throw Skyler completely off their trail.

An idiot. A complete and utter idiot.

No wonder he was still single at his age. His stupidity was practically a physical trait.

The next day, Caitlin arrived at the Gonzales Holdings laboratory.

She had her own private lab within the larger facility; once the door was closed, it

was nearly impossible to see inside. Since Gonzales Holdings specialized in skincare, the new product she was developing was a Jade Glow Balm.

e'

The balm's primary functions were scar reduction and skin brightening. In today's society, many people, regardless of gender, had scars on their faces-from acne, burns, cosmetic procedures, mole removals, and more. This meant the Jade Glow Balm had a broad target audience that included not just women, but men as well.

While the market was flooded with various scar creams, their effects were

generally mediocre, bordering on nonexistent.

Currently, the product had reached the final review and testing phase. It would be ready for market launch in just a few days.

With her work done for the moment, all that was left was to wait for the test results. Feeling a bit bored, Caitlin leaned back in her chair to take a short nap.

She had only been dozing for a few minutes when her assistant rushed over. "Ms. Gonzales, something about this data seems off. Could you come take a look?" "Of course." Caitlin opened her eyes and followed the assistant.

As they left, other employees in the lab started whispering among themselves.

"Do you really think our Ms. Gonzales can pull it off? A scar-removing Jade Glow Balm?"

One of them shook his head. "Seems like a long shot."

Another agreed. "I think so too. There's a big gap between skincare and medicine. If she could really invent something like that, she wouldn't be napping in the lab every day."

Caitlin always seemed to have a

relaxed schedule. For every five hours of work, she seemed to take a thirty-minute break. Real

BUT

researchers were always swamped task one

rushing from the next

You never got that sense of urgency

from her. That's why most of them believed she couldn't possibly

develop an effective scar-removing balm.

FindNovel.net

"Even if she doesn't succeed with the balm, she's still incredible! Think about the

Smith incident. She saved so many people in Eldermere!"

"Exactly! One of my relatives has

epilepsy. When he couldn't get the medicine at first, he spewed vitriolat Ms. Gonzales, calling her a parasite who should be kicked out of

vei

Eldermere. But then, after the truth about the Smith pills came out and people in The Capital died from taking them, he started calling her a living saint."

"Whatever happens, she's a hero in my book."

"Hey, have you guys heard about something else?"