"What the hell!" Lottie was even more furious, itching to tear Wynn apart on the spot."She's just the daughter of a mistress—and a mistress herself! What the hell is she so smug about? Miss Popular? Pfft! She's nothing but trash!"Celeste poured her another glass of water and asked, "Miss Popular?""Wynn is just like what that friend of Jorge, Xavier, said earlier—those brainless second-generation rich kids are all bewitched by her for some reason."Now, everyone calls her 'Miss Popular,' like she's some kind of goddess that everyone loves!"Lottie kept grumbling, "Fine, let those idiots fawn over her—but even Trevor and Jorge?"She got a little too heated, then suddenly realized that Celeste might feel hurt hearing that. She immediately shut her mouth. "No, Cel, I didn't mean—"Celeste shook her head. "I'm fine."Ever since she was a child, Harvey, Lennox, and even her paternal grandmother, Erin, had sided with Wynn.Then, two years ago, Trevor fell for her at first sight, a
Just like the previous property deed, since these items were placed on her vanity table, it meant they were meant for her.Feeling puzzled, Celeste opened one of the round brocade boxes.The moment she lifted the lid and saw what was inside, she froze for a second. It was the set of emerald jewelry she had wanted to bid on at the auction a few days ago!The other box was a rectangular one that looked heavy. Could it be…She put down the round brocade box and opened the rectangular one. Inside, as expected, was a scroll.She picked up the scroll, placed it on the round table in the room, and slowly unrolled it. A stunningly lifelike embroidered painting, shimmering with brilliance, was revealed before her eyes.Looking at the two auction pieces she had wanted just days ago, now both in her hands, Celeste remained silent for a long time.She thought, if she wasn't mistaken, these two items had been bought by Trevor as birthday gifts for her grandma.One would be given in Martha's
"Lottie?""Sorry, Cel. I have to leave town tomorrow for something, so I won't be able to go with you to pick out a birthday gift for your grandma.""It's fine. I've already bought something."She had never been to this antique shop before. And she originally came just to try her luck, thinking that if she didn't find anything suitable, she could continue shopping with Lottie the next day.She didn't expect to find the perfect gift.Lottie was pleasantly surprised. "Really? That's great!"Celeste smiled. "Mm."Then, Lottie suddenly said, "Oh, right, Cel. A few days ago, you told me you saw the Locket family. I did some digging for you over the past couple of days. "It turns out they really are planning to settle in Baumond. Apparently, they've been house-hunting these past few days."Hearing the mention of the Locket family, Celeste's smile faded slightly. "Alright, I got it.""As for Wynn's mother's side of the family, I heard they've already picked out a house. They'll be
"Oh, it's Mr. Fletcher."Seeing Oscar approach, Harvey and Wynn politely shook hands with him and exchanged pleasantries. "Mr. Fletcher, are you here discussing business with Mr. Yoder?""Yes, Mr. Yoder's company has a few projects I'm quite interested in, so I came over to talk to him about them."Harvey paused when he noticed that Matthias and Celeste remained standing in place without coming over, but he didn't think much of it.Oscar, unaware of the underlying tensions, found Matthias' reaction a bit odd. After all, as a businessman, even if Matthias didn't know the Locket family personally, it wouldn't hurt to go over and greet them, maybe even make a new connection.While Wynn and Harvey chatted with Oscar, Erin greeted him briefly before walking toward Celeste and Matthias, accompanied by Lilian.Matthias glanced at Celeste.However, Celeste watched them approach but didn't move.Erin spoke kindly, "Cel, it's been a long time."Celeste said nothing.Seeing her stubborn
More than ten years had passed, yet Celeste still remembered everything clearly.She recalled that day—how she had gone to the restroom, heartbroken, and when she returned, she saw Erin holding two ice creams, one for her and one for Wynn.One of them had been slightly scraped when a waiter carrying a dirty tray accidentally brushed against it, leaving a bit of grease on it.Wynn immediately picked the untouched one.Erin had merely ruffled her hair with a smile. She didn't bother to replace the dirty one with a new one.When she returned, Erin handed her the damaged ice cream without saying a word about why a chunk was missing.At that time, given the Locket family's financial status, buying not just one but a thousand, even ten thousand ice creams, would have been no issue at all.Yet, she simply didn't replace it.It was at that moment that she became acutely aware—Erin's feelings for her had long since changed.She would also never forget the look on young Wynn's face as s
As they walked further away, Oscar asked, "Is there something going on between you both and the Lockets?"Matthias and Celeste exchanged a glance. Then, Celeste said, "No, there isn't."It wasn't a misunderstanding, after all.However, Oscar misunderstood her words, thinking that she truly had no conflicts with the Lockets. "Very well then." Oscar was optimistic about YodaVision's prospects. Hence, he remarked sincerely, "Considering how highly Trevor regards Ms. Locket, the Locket family is about to skyrocket in status. The Flemings, especially Trevor, are not people to mess with. Even if you don't want to get close to the Lockets, it's best not to provoke them."Celeste smiled, realizing what Oscar had said was quite ironic. Who else but her would ever be told to maintain a good relationship with her husband's mistress, all because her husband cared about his mistress too much?Matthias couldn't stand listening to that as well.He said, "We're not afraid of Trevor at all.
Basically, Trevor wasn't going to attend the celebration.Why did Celeste have to ask any further then?Thus, without adding anything, she ended the call.Celeste used to ask him every year to join her at the Rodriguez residence for Betty's birthday. However, Trevor didn't seem to realize that she hadn't asked him this year.After Celeste ended the call, he handed the phone back to Jordyn and said, "Mom will be fetching you to Granny's place tomorrow night. Make sure you listen to her on Saturday and don't go anywhere."Jordyn pursed her lips. "But…"Trevor remained silent, staring at her expressionlessly. Jordyn then realized that there was no room for discussion. Hence, she mumbled reluctantly, "Okay…"Trevor nodded. "Good girl." With a pout, Jordyn insisted, "But I want to go see Wynn on Sunday, and you have to come along.""Alright," Trevor replied with a faint smile.…On Friday night, Celeste went to the Fleming manor after work.She noticed Trevor right after she
Jordyn didn't notice the indifference in Celeste's tone. She breathed out a sigh of relief upon hearing what Celeste had just said. Ivan handed his gift to Betty, and Celeste followed afterward. The first gift she gave Betty was an embroidery painting. "Grandma had Trevor help prepare this painting for you."Betty took the painting, unfolded it, and examined it for a while. It was exactly what she wanted. Smiling with satisfaction, she said, "How considerate of her."Next, Celeste handed the emerald jewelry set to Betty. "This is from Trevor."The jewelry set was of exceptional quality. Betty liked it a lot. However, since it was a gift from Trevor, she closed the box and put it away right after she took a glance at it. She remarked in a neutral tone, "It looks lovely. Pass along my thanks to him for me."She never asked whether Trevor would come to celebrate her birthday.She didn't care enough to ask, nor did she want to. Celeste knew Betty wasn't fond of Trevor. She'd
Bryson, unaware of the grudge between Celeste and Wynn, followed up on Rodney's words and said, "Yes, we were just discussing some new developments in the industry."Ms. Locket also studied AI—more minds mean more ideas. It would be great if Ms. Locket joined the discussion."Wynn responded, "Oh, I see..."As she spoke, she glanced over at Celeste.After finishing the serious work discussions, Celeste had planned to leave. But unable to resist Rodney and Bryson's enthusiasm, she stayed and chatted with them for a while longer.Now with Wynn's arrival, she finally had an excuse to excuse herself.She stood up and said, "It's getting late, and I have something I need to attend to. Mr. Fleming, Professor Leonard, Professor Milford, let's chat again next time."Besides Celeste's recently published paper, a few other companies in the AI field had also made significant technical breakthroughs lately.When they were chatting earlier, Celeste had quickly grasped the core of those break
Celeste nodded and sat down on the sofa by the coffee table.Trevor then instructed, "Have someone bring us some coffee."Zeke replied, "Already taken care of."Just as he finished speaking, Naomi came in carrying coffee.When she saw Celeste, she froze for a moment. "Ms. Rodriguez?"Naomi had been the one to take over Celeste's job after she left Fleming Group. Since then, they had basically had no contact.Celeste nodded with a smile, "Long time no see.""Long time no see." Naomi smiled too. But given the situation, it wasn't really appropriate for her to chat too much.She placed the coffee carefully in front of both Celeste and Trevor, and was about to leave when she seemed to remember something and turned back to report on some work matters.After listening, Trevor said, "Got it. I'll have time this afternoon. Tell him to come by before three.""Okay." Naomi answered, then smiled and nodded politely at Celeste before hurrying out.Celeste watched her leave, slowly stirr
After they finished playing golf, Celeste and the others still had other plans.Trevor and Wynn had joined midway, and perhaps guessing that Celeste and the others had other arrangements that they might not be suited to join, Trevor took the initiative to say, "We have some other plans later, so we won't keep interrupting everyone's fun."Hearing this, Rowan and Theodore didn't insist on keeping them and said, "Is that so? That's fine. Let's meet up again next time when we're free."Trevor smiled and nodded before leaving with Wynn.Matthias had actually been a bit worried that Trevor and Wynn might tag along for their meal afterwards.Seeing Trevor leave on his own initiative, he felt a little relieved and whispered to Celeste, "At least he knows when to back off."Celeste smiled and hummed a response.…After they had walked a distance, Trevor finally asked, "Upset?"Having stumbled twice today, Wynn was indeed feeling down. Especially seeing how much Rowan and the others li
The group chatted while playing golf.However, it was obvious that Theodore and Rowan were far more interested in the topic they were discussing than in the game itself.At first, they talked about international affairs. As the conversation went on, Theodore and Rowan ended up simulating a battle arrangement right there on the spot.As they got more and more into it, Celeste and Matthias simply stood by and listened, along with Trevor and Wynn.Maybe not wanting the younger ones to just stand around, Rowan said, "Why don't you join in and share your thoughts?"After a moment, Celeste spoke up, "With strong enemies on all sides, it's not suitable to charge in alone. So for now, staying put would be a good choice."Hearing this, Wynn paused.She had to admit, it was a good idea. If Celeste hadn't said it first, she honestly wouldn't have thought of it herself.Just as that thought crossed her mind, she saw Rowan smiling and nodding in agreement.Matthias reacted quickly too. He
Rowan said to Trevor, "Since you're here, why don't you stay and join us for a while?"Trevor replied, "Sure."After exchanging a few pleasantries with Trevor, Rowan turned back to Harold, Matthias, and the others and asked, "Where were we just now?"Matthias answered, "We were discussing how we should appropriately handle the situation if we discover a foreign probe entering our controlled area."Hearing this, Wynn couldn't help but start thinking about it too.Rowan smiled and asked, "What do you think? Cel, do you have any thoughts?"Earlier, Matthias and Celeste hadn't had time to really think about it before Trevor and Wynn showed up.Now that Rowan asked again, Celeste and Matthias both paused briefly.When Wynn heard Rowan call Celeste by her nickname, she suddenly got distracted.Cel? Rowan was addressing Celeste so intimately.Moreover, she noticed that whenever Rowan looked at Celeste, his demeanor was very warm and kind—he genuinely seemed to admire her.She frown
After dinner, Jordyn followed Celeste back to the Rodriguez residence.That night, she received a call from Rowan, inviting her and Matthias to play golf the next morning.Celeste agreed. However, when she saw the address Rowan sent, she hesitated for a moment.The golf course happened to be a property owned by the Fleming family. She had been there before.Still, since she had already agreed, it wouldn't be appropriate to back out now.…Early Saturday morning, she drove out as planned.When she and Matthias arrived at the golf course, Rowan, Theodore, and Harold were already there.Seeing them, Rowan and the others greeted them with a smile, "You're here."Celeste nodded.Rowan asked, "Do you know how to play golf?"Celeste nodded again. "I've learned a bit."After some polite small talk, they began playing golf while chatting casually.Not long after, just as Celeste was putting away her club, she saw two people walking toward them from a distance.It was Trevor and Wy
Although Celeste and Matthias had already asked Candice to politely decline Cayden's request for a meeting, he still showed up uninvited two days later.Since he had come in person, Celeste and Matthias couldn't completely refuse to see him.They gave him a brief, symbolic reception, but after chatting for just over ten minutes, they politely sent him off.After that, whenever Cayden tried to arrange another meeting, they simply ignored him.With Celeste and Matthias maintaining a firm stance, and unable to meet with them, Cayden invited Wynn out for a meal the next day instead.During the meal, Cayden chatted with her about the developments in the industry for a while before saying, "If you had joined YodaVision last year, you would've grown so much by now. What a shame."At their last meeting, Cayden had asked about her current situation. After hearing she hadn't gotten into YodaVision, he didn't comment much.But now, recalling the matter, he couldn't help expressing his regr
Celeste didn't care how Trevor thought of her or looked at her, nor was she interested.After leaving the restaurant, Celeste and Matthias' group headed back to Fleming Tech for a meeting.This time, Lilian and Linda didn't follow. But Wynn did.Seeing Wynn come along again, Matthias secretly rolled his eyes and said, "Mr. Fleming, about Ms. Locket—"Trevor seemed to know what he wanted to say.Before Matthias could finish, Trevor spoke up, "If you're concerned about confidentiality, you don't have to worry. If anything does happen, I'll take full responsibility."Matthias had expected him to say that. After all, when they first started working with InnovaTech, Trevor had said exactly the same thing.Even so, Matthias still needed clear assurance.Hearing Trevor's words, Matthias put on a half-hearted smile and said, "I feel better with your assurance."During the meeting in the morning, the seat at the center of the table was occupied by Trevor alone. Now that Wynn was here,
Before Trevor could respond, his phone rang.He stepped outside to take the call, and by the time he returned, the food was being served.Miles' question was left hanging—brushed aside just like that.Right now, the author of the paper that engineers in the country and abroad were scrambling to read was sitting right in front of them.As the meal progressed, Rodney and his students couldn't help but ask Celeste questions as they skimmed through the paper's core content and experimental data.Whether they asked about specific parts of the paper or about broader problems that had puzzled them in their own research, Celeste responded to everything fluently and confidently.Wynn watched in silence. Her heart was calm.Watching Celeste speak so assuredly with Rodney and the others actually seemed like she did know what she was talking about.But was that really possible?Given Matthias' capabilities, if he was willing to credit Celeste as first author, then he must have ensured she