Chapter 7 The Husbandless Woman

• From the look on Logan's face, it was obvious he knew the land would be a goldmine. Instead of buying it, he gave it to Mr. Stephen as a favor—classic Logan.
• " was just trying to compliment him. Don't overthink it," Layla replied
• Logan frowned, trying to figure out if Layla was genuine. He thought, Hmm... There's no way she could have predicted the land's value with her limited knowledge. I must be reading too much into it.
• Snapping back to reality, he simply replied, "You better be."
• Logan ushered Harper to meet other people. As Harper walked away, she gave Layla a subtle apologetic glance. Though it was faint, Layla could sense a bit of smugness in her eyes.
• Layla quickly downed her glass of champagne, musing, To everyone else, I'm just the woman who couldn't hold onto her husband. He ditches me, his new wife, to hang with another woman and even brings her into his business chats. Could this whole thing get any more ridiculous?
• Feeling a bit down, Layla mulled over, I thought I could use this event to network with some big shots. With Logan gone, mingling with them naturally would be much tougher. How can I connect with these businessmen without coming off too strong?
• Scanning the room, Layla's eyes landed on a nearby piano. A little smile played on her lips as she thought, Ah, that's the ticket!
• With graceful steps, Layla headed over to the piano and had a quick chat with the pianist before taking a seat.
• Thanks to her Kennedy training, skills that seemed pointless in her past life were now turning out to be pretty handy.
• Even though it had been some time since Layla last played, her fingers remembered the moves like they were yesterday.
• Soon, the piano keys responded to Layla's touch, filling the banquet hall with fitting music. Her spur-of-the-moment performance totally hooked the crowd.
• A bunch of heads turned her way, and applause filled the room when she wrapped up the piece.
• Watching Logan and the businessman's attention shift towards Layla, Harper chimed in, "Mrs. Robinson is really talented. She plays the piano wonderfully."
• "Yeah, she aced the tenth-grade piano exam," Logan mentioned indifferently.
• Many guests were skilled pianists, and achieving proficiency up to the tenth-grade level was common. Given their musical prowess, the enthusiastic applause underscored Layla's musical talent.
• As Logan casually mentioned the piano exam, Harper couldn't ignore it. It was then that she grasped the considerable gap between herself and Layla.
• Initially, Harper had pegged Layla as just lucky and pretty, but now she saw she had misjudged her. Layla's skills went way beyond what she had assumed.
• After her piano performance, Layla was approached by several well-off women from prestigious families for a chat. Even though she couldn't talk directly with the big-shot businessmen, establishing connections with their wives was a way in.
• "I never knew Miss Kennedy was so good at piano," Fedrick complimented, leaning against the corridor railing.
• Zane agreed, "Yeah."
• "Do you even know anything about music? You're a tone-deaf," Fedrick teased.
• "Not really, but I do enjoy it," Zane replied. He might not get music, but the fact that Layla was the one playing made it more interesting.
• Midway through the chat, Layla excused herself to use the toilet. Just as she rounded the corner, a hand seized her and dragged her into a secluded alcove. Instinctively, she tried to cry out for assistance, but the man behind her swiftly silenced her by covering her mouth.
• "Shh, stay quiet," the man whispered urgently.
• Sensing his warmth against her back, Layla controlled her breathing and then clamped down on his hand.
• "Ouch! That really hurt," the man winced, shaking his hand.
• He released Layla, who quickly distanced herself, eyeing him in surprise. "Zane?"
• "Who else did you expect?" Zane retorted with a smirk.
• Layla asked, "What's with all the sneaking around?"
• "Just trying to slip in unnoticed, didn't want to be seen," he explained.
• "What's with the secrecy? Flynn Thomson is your..." Before Layla could finish, she shut her mouth abruptly.
• Puzzled, Zane asked, "Hmm? What were you about to say?"
• Seeing his expression, Layla guiltily averted her gaze.
• In her past life, all of Flynn's fortune went to Zane after he passed away. Layla later discovered that Zane inherited all of his fortune. Presently, nobody knew that Zane was Flynn's grandson.
• Layla explained, "Old Mr. Thomson is a good , and you're a big shot in overseas business. Even if you sneak in, nobody's going to say anything."
• "Maybe, but I like to play it safe," Zane replied.
• "Don't tell me you snuck in here just for this," Layla remarked, sounding slightly disappointed. She hadn't expected Zane to be so dull.
• "For you," Zane responded, handing Layla a contract.
• Layla glanced down and saw that it was a contract for her to borrow eight billion.
• "Just for this?" Layla asked incredulously.
• Zane nodded.
• "Lame," Layla commented, signing the contract and tossing it back to Zane. Inwardly, she remarked, Coming all this way just for me to sign a contract, and it's right outside the entrance of the women's toilet!
• "Mind if I ask you something as your creditor?" Zane inquired.
• "Go ahead," Layla replied.
• "Why drop ten billion on Moontown in Hastin?" Zane's voice was deep, lacing a hint of temptation that drew people to answer his questions.
• Layla hesitated, then replied, "I can't tell you now."
• "What if I really need to know?" Zane pressed, sensing Layla had ulterior motives for buying the land.
• Though he couldn't see what made the land worth ten billion, Layla seemed convinced it held significant value.
• Layla asked, "If I told you this land would skyrocket in value in six months, would you believe me?"
• "No," Zane replied skeptically. For now, he couldn't see any signs of it.
• "What if I told you luxury condominiums are about to be constructed around that wasteland?" Layla countered.
• "What luxury condominiums?" Zane furrowed his brows, puzzled, and wondered, How did I miss that?
• "You'll figure it out soon enough," Layla responded with a smile before walking past Zane into the toilet.
• Zane made his way to the lobby, his expression etched with a frown. As he approached, Fedrick intercepted him. "Did she sign the contract?"
• "Yes," Zane confirmed.
• Fedrick asked, "Then why the grim look?"
• Zane wasted no time in asking, "Are there any luxury condominiums around that piece of land Layla bought?"
• "Nope, none," Fedrick responded.
• Zane instructed, "Check out who owns the land around there. The sooner, the better."
• "Trust me, it's just a sewage zone. There's no point in checking. Even if it were just a basketball court, no one would bother building there, let alone luxury condominiums," Fedrick explained.
• "A sewage zone?"