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Chapter 299

Author: Warm Cocoa
On the other end—

After persuading the investors, Joy had just returned to the base when someone came running over excitedly to tell her that Christopher had arrived.

She lit up at the news and walked into the office area, where she immediately spotted the elite-looking man surrounded by people.

She smiled and walked up to him. “Chris, you’re finally here.”

Everyone quickly stepped aside to make way for her.

Christopher greeted her with a warm smile. “Joy, it’s been a while. You’re getting prettier every time I see you. I heard from our mentor that you’ve hit a bit of a roadblock?”

“It’s just some trouble with the aircraft modification,” Joy replied with a smile. “But with someone like you, a world-class talent, any technical problem is nothing.”

Her string of compliments filled Christopher with confidence.

He patted his chest and said, “So it’s a technical issue? I should be able to fix it. Come on, show me what we’ve got!”

The engineers watching were instantly thrilled, their faces
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    "Thank you, Professor."The meeting ended smoothly, and as Stellar stepped out of the research institute, several students spotted her and lit up with excitement."Whoa, it's Stellar! My idol actually came back to campus!""I can't believe I get to see her again. I’m so lucky.""She's a legend in our field."A group of admiring students couldn’t hold back their amazement."A legend? You mean the one who got kicked out of SA Aerospace Base?" a cold, mocking voice cut through the chatter.The crowd instantly fell silent.Stellar heard the comment too. Her gaze followed the voice, and she froze for a second when she saw who it was— Vivian, of all people.Stellar hadn’t seen her since she exposed Vivian’s scheme and forced her out of the research group. She had nearly forgotten this woman even existed."What? You guys seriously don’t know?" Vivian crossed her arms and stepped forward, her voice dripping with spite. "That amazing, untouchable Stellar you’re all gushing over? She was fire

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    “She’s asking for the moon!”“I know who Miss Shaw is—she’s the daughter of the institute director and a senior engineer at SA! Expecting her to follow instructions from someone just starting out? How ridiculous.”More and more people began to speak up on Joy’s behalf.“Stellar’s getting way too full of herself. There’s no way Miss Shaw’s going to agree to that.”Vivian quickly caught on, lifting her chin with a smug look, clearly waiting to watch Stellar embarrass herself.But to everyone’s shock, after a long silence, Joy gritted her teeth and said, “Fine. I agree to all your terms.”She had to swallow every ounce of her pride to say it.The room was stunned.Stellar, on the other hand, smiled in satisfaction.She could feel just how unwilling Joy was.Even now, she still didn’t understand where Joy’s hostility came from, but it didn’t matter anymore.“In that case, let’s go, Miss Shaw.” Folding her arms, Stellar turned and walked out first.Joy quickly followed, leading her back to

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    A glint of calculated coldness flashed through her eyes.…In the days that followed, after witnessing Stellar’s capabilities firsthand, the team began to fall in line, each person quietly carrying out their assigned tasks under her lead.Everything progressed smoothly.During that time, Stellar received a call from Lilian.“Stellar, you really went back to SA Base to help Joy Shaw fix that aircraft? That woman is clearly up to no good—you better watch your back!”It was obvious she’d heard about the incident at school earlier that day, and her tone was thick with concern.“I’ve been involved in this aircraft modification from the beginning,” Stellar replied. “I’ve already poured over a month of work into it. I don’t want to see it go to waste. Let’s just say I’m doing it for the good of the aerospace program.”At first, her voice was generous and noble. But a glimmer of mischief flickered in her eyes, and her tone shifted into something more layered. “Besides, it’s still too early t

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    He looked a little surprised. “No one else home tonight?”Stellar explained, “Mary had to head back to Southport for something, and my uncles are tied up too…”“You haven’t had dinner yet, have you?” Stephen asked, his voice laced with concern.She nodded, just about to say she could whip something up herself.But Stephen cleared his throat and, almost casually, said, “How about I cook for you tonight?”“Sure! Let’s go to my place. I’ve got food ready in the fridge.”A smile tugged deeper at his lips.The two of them walked inside, shoulder to shoulder.Once in the kitchen, Stellar started to roll up her sleeves to help, but Stephen stopped her.“Leave it to me tonight. You just focus on eating.”His tone left no room for argument.Stellar couldn’t help but laugh, then a playful glint flickered in her eyes as an idea came to her.“Hang on.”She darted out of the room, and a moment later returned, hands tucked behind her back.“Since you're cooking in the kitchen, and it can get a littl

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    "Mr. Sinclair? What are you doing here?" Stellar looked genuinely surprised.The moment her gaze landed on him, Keith’s face lit up with that signature devilish grin. “Stellar, I heard your housekeeper went back to Southport. I figured you might not have anything to eat, so I personally cooked and brought you something delicious.”He raised the two large bags in his hands with a flourish.“That won’t be necessary,” Stephen said coolly, arms folded as he leaned against the doorframe with the air of someone who lived there. “I’m already making dinner for her. You can go.”Keith’s smile twitched, his expression turning sharp. “This is Stellar’s house. But here you are, shamelessly playing house like you belong—wearing a pink apron no less. What is that? Some sort of performance?”Unbothered, Stephen replied calmly, “She put it on me herself.”One simple sentence, and Keith's face turned an impressive shade of green.Stellar sighed and pressed a hand to her forehead, expertly cutting i

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    Keith’s forehead throbbed with fury, veins bulging as he lunged forward and grabbed Stephen by the collar.“You bastard! It was you, wasn’t it? You tampered with the food on purpose and made me double over in pain!”This fireworks show was supposed to be a surprise he’d planned especially for Stellar Rivers. Instead, it ended up benefiting someone else.Stephen calmly pulled his collar free from Keith’s grip, gave it a light pat, and said coolly, “Mr. Sinclair, you need proof when you make accusations. You brought the food. We all ate it and no one else had an issue. How is that my fault?”“You…”Keith choked on his words.For the moment, he really couldn’t find any solid evidence.Stephen patted him on the shoulder, looking “concerned” as he offered, “It’s nothing to be ashamed of if your body’s weak. Go home and rest up. You wouldn’t want rumors flying about how you’re already burning out so young, right?”Keith’s eyes turned bloodshot, his voice filled with rage. “Stephen… Ward!”

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    Stephen knew he was in the wrong and couldn’t argue back. He even braced himself for some harsh words or a difficult time.But it was Stellar who couldn’t bear the tension any longer and stepped in to change the subject. “Uncle Claude, what brings you here at just the right time? It must’ve been exhausting coming all this way. Do you want to go upstairs and rest for a bit?”The moment he heard his niece’s concern, Claude’s expression softened. “I’m fine. I was planning to come over anyway to discuss a patent on artificial intelligence…”“Are you talking about the patent for the Stellar AI robot?” Stephen cut in.Claude paused in surprise. “You know about it?”“Yes. The software is actually developed under our company, Brighton Group.”Stephen regained his calm, collected look. “If you’re interested, Mr. Rivers, we could sit down and talk in detail.”“Sounds good. So, you’re the president of Brighton? You really know how to keep a low profile!”Claude was clearly intrigued now. He sa

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