The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

Casper knew Zane always had a purpose behind his actions, so he took the

phone and played the recording. By the time he finished listening, his expression had darkened. "How could he do this?"

Zane explained, "He tried to go through me and failed, so I'm guessing he'll come up with another plan. You'll need to be careful from now on. I'm sure they'll try something else."

"Okay," Casper replied.

Gary stared at his phone, unable to muster a response.

Julia asked, "He didn't agree?"

"No," Gary replied, rubbing his temples. "As long as Zane doesn't fire Casper, he'll have a job and a salary. There's no way he'll come back."

Upon hearing this, Julia suddenly had an idea. She smiled. "Casper's working for Zane because of the salary,

right?"

Gary didn't understand why she was fixating on such trivial details at this point, but he humored her.

He nodded. "Yes."

"Then think about it. We can tell Casper that his skills are worth far more than a few thousand dollars a month. Zane's been shortchanging him. If he comes back, we'll double whatever Zane's paying him!"

Gary thought it was a decent idea but quickly spotted the flaw. "What if he asks us why we never paid him before? How do we explain that?"

Pet

"Simple," Julia said, lifting her chin proudly. "We'll tell him we used to think it was necessary to pay him since we're family. But now we've realized that even family needs to keep things clear. And once be comes back, we'll pay him everything we owe!"

She smirked. "But once he's back, what happens next will be up to us, won't it?"

Gary nodded in satisfaction. "Why didn't I think of this before? I'll call him right now!"

With a new plan in place, his mood visibly improved. His tone became unusually warm and fatherly as he quickly dialed Casper for a video call. "Casper!"

Casper was busy with work and casually set his phone aside. "What is it?"

"How much is Zane paying you these days?" Gary asked. His tone was uncharacteristically gentle, a stark contrast to his usual condescension.

Casper recalled the recording Zane had played for him earlier, paused his work, and looked at the screen. Even from a distance, he could feel Gary's malice.

He had expected Gary to take longer before trying another tactic, but the speed of this new approach still caught him off guard.

Casper stayed silent for a moment before asking, "Why are you suddenly asking about this?"

Gary let out a long sigh. "I just don't want you to be taken advantage of without realizing it."

Casper replied patiently, "My salary is not that low. I receive several thousand dollars a month."

Of course, the salary wasn't thenoveldrama

main thing. The real motivation was the substantial bonuses he'd receive once the project launched. But Casper had no intention of telling his parents about that. He was worried they'd try to get their hands on that money.

Gary retorted, "But the profits you generate for the company every month are far more than just a few thousand dollars! I just called Zane, and he made it clear how much he values you. He doesn't want you to come home. But is he really looking out for your best interests?"