MasukThe next morning, Miranda handed Mia over to Felix and went straight to the lab.At noon, Sophie happened to be running errands nearby, so the two of them met up for lunch.After some girl talk, Sophie started complaining that her child had recently been sick. After several nights of staying up, her sleep schedule was completely wrecked.“Having a kid really takes everything out of you,” Sophie complained.Miranda understood that feeling all too well.Motherhood had a way of stretching even a single day apart into something unbearably long. One small sign of illness was enough to set every nerve on edge.“It’ll get better when they’re a little older,” Miranda comforted her.Sophie propped her chin on her hand and looked up at her.“I’m about to make a doctor’s appointment. My cycle has been all over the place lately. Staying up late has completely thrown it off.”At that, Miranda added, “I’ve been under a lot of pressure lately too. Mine is a week late, but I’m not planning to
Miranda pushed the door open and saw Mia treating Felix’s bed like a trampoline, bouncing up and down on it.Felix was leaning against the foot of the bed with an iPad in his hand, a fond, indulgent smile on his face.“Mia, come down. It’s late,” Miranda said helplessly as she walked in.“Mommy, Daddy’s bed is so big. Can we all sleep in Daddy’s room tonight?” Mia asked, her little face flushed from jumping.Miranda choked for a second, then reached out to her.“Come here. Mommy will carry you.”Felix set down the iPad and picked Mia up first.“All right. Mommy’s right. It’s time for bed. You have school tomorrow.”Mia pouted a little.“Okay.”Felix sat her down and helped her put on her slippers.“Daddy will walk you back.”Mia nodded and walked ahead holding Felix’s hand.Miranda gathered her hair to one side and followed behind them.Felix walked them all the way back to Miranda’s bedroom.Mia climbed obediently into bed and picked up a picture book to look at.Seein
Miranda felt a little awkward.“Wouldn’t that be inappropriate? Chairman Lowe and his family aren’t exactly close friends of mine.”“I want you to come with me,” Felix said, looking at her with serious expectation in his eyes. “Going alone would be boring.”Over the past three years, they had attended a few events together, but Miranda had always ignored him at those functions. So now, he found himself looking forward to appearing with her in public again.Just then, Miranda’s phone rang.She glanced at the screen. It was Coco calling.For some reason, Miranda suddenly had a feeling that this call had something to do with the invitation.She answered.“Hello, Coco.”“Miranda, I just picked up a package for you from the front desk. There’s an envelope inside. It looks like an invitation. Do you want me to bring it over?”“Open it and take a look for me,” Miranda said.After Coco opened it, she told her it was indeed an invitation to Chairman Lowe’s fiftieth wedding anniversar
If Felix remembered correctly, things between them had been especially tense around that time.She had even been trying to limit his time with Mia, so his mood had been terrible for almost the entire month. Naturally, his temper hadn’t been great either.“So you still keep tabs on me in your spare time,” Felix said with a faint smile.Miranda denied it at once.“I’m not that bored.”Felix’s smile deepened.“That’s fine. You can ask around about me all you want. And if you’d rather hear it from me directly, you can ask me anytime.”Miranda could not help laughing.“I’m really busy. I’m not interested in your gossip.”“Then do you want to know where the engineering team I fired ended up?”Miranda had been about to say no, but her curiosity was suddenly piqued.“Where?”“They went to one of my competitors and took the core design files with them,” Felix said honestly. “My legal team fought them in court for half a year.”Then he narrowed his eyes slightly, a teasing look in t
“Even though I don’t fully understand your research, can you tell me about the breakthrough your team made?” Felix asked, genuine curiosity in his eyes.Miranda’s eyes brightened too. She set down her glass and thought for a moment.“Our team recently got some promising breakthrough data from the animal models,” she said. “It supports the approach I proposed. If the next round of preclinical research and early clinical trials go smoothly, we may be able to see real therapeutic effects in patients.”Admiration flashed in Felix’s eyes.“Dr. Declan mentioned your theory to me,” he said with a smile. “He said it has the potential to change the early treatment of neurodegenerative diseases at the root. It might even have a shot at an Aurora Prize nomination.”At the mention of the Aurora Prize, Miranda pressed her lips together.Those words carried enough weight to move any scientist.They represented more than personal honor. They were the highest recognition a research breakthrough
Miranda turned her face away and stubbornly said, “No.”But Felix pressed again.“Were you worried about me?”His eyes were serious, with a trace of deep affection.Miranda took a deep breath, then turned back and glared at him in irritation. She wasn’t truly angry. She was only annoyed by his childish behavior.He was already thirty years old, yet he was still playing games like an eighteen-year-old.Felix couldn’t help laughing. His laughter was bright and pleased.Then he walked toward the engineers.“Mr. Gibson, how was it?” the chief engineer asked eagerly.Felix put away his smile and returned to his professional manner, commenting on the test drive in detail.Miranda listened from the side. Although she didn’t know much about cars, she could still feel the men’s excitement and the intensity of their discussion over the technical details.It was almost eleven thirty when Ben invited the engineers to lunch.Felix walked back over to Miranda.“Let’s go. I made a reserv
Felix knelt down to pet Gigi’s big head, and the beagle let out a happy whimper, clearly enjoying the attention from Felix.Dressed casually for once, Felix looked far less imposing than usual, yet still effortlessly handsome enough to turn heads.“Daddy!” Mia squealed, running into his arms.Fel
Felix’s sudden appearance brought a brief stillness to the balcony.Leo withdrew the words he had yet to finish and nodded politely to the older man beside Felix. “Mr. Zimmerman.”Mr. Zimmerman chuckled warmly. “Ah, so this is where all the young people are hiding.”Felix slipped one hand into hi
Mia stretched out her arms. “Mommy, sleep with me.”Thinking about how Leo was probably already handling the media situation, Miranda let herself relax. She climbed back into bed, wrapped her arms around Mia and drifted back to sleep.It was the weekend, and she wanted to take it easy. When they f
Miranda frowned and turned back to the lab to look through the data on the flash drive.Spring had arrived, and everything was beginning to bloom again. Over the weekend, Miranda bought supplies for a picnic, planning to take Mia out to relax at the park. She had decided on Thursday to spend Satu







