Catherine glanced expressionlessly at Marshall. "Professor Hartley, just tell me what you need."Marshall turned and handed a document to Catherine. "The Bide Cup, held every four years in Alton, is about to begin. As the highest institution in Eskana, Styre University naturally needs to participate. Due to the last project leak, our reputation was damaged. This competition is important for the school, and the higher-ups also attach great importance to it. Mr. Farrell is under a lot of pressure."Originally, Marshall wasn't one to care about competition rankings. He valued experimental research projects. However, this competition held considerable weight in the industry. If the ranking in the competition is too low, it could affect Styre University's global standing.Ultan approached him to come up with a solution. As a teacher at Styre University, he didn't want the school to lose face. And it was a fact that their team's leak incident had brought a lot of negative publicity to Sty
Zobber and the others were very excited to see Catherine, who frowned as she looked at them, asking, "Are you all going?"Zobber smiled brightly and slowly approached Catherine. She originally planned to hug Catherine to brush off the matter. But as she was about to reach out, she lifted her head and met Branden's calm yet icy cold gaze that sent shivers down her spine.Zobber, who was never afraid of anything, suddenly felt timid at this moment and quietly withdrew her outstretched hand. "Catherine, we also want to go. Please!"Even though everyone had packed their bags, at a single glance from Catherine, they would immediately have to leave, as no one dared to oppose her orders.Seeing their earnest and hopeful gazes, Catherine finally relented. "I'll go with Professor Hartley. You can take the plane yourselves."Hearing that Catherine had finally agreed, the group of people, who had acted without permission, suppressed their joy and nodded at Catherine.Ronin stepped up to ass
The plane flew for a whole 12 hours and safely landed early the next morning. Although the school authorities had arranged the best business class for this trip, the long hours of sitting had left them with severe backaches and sore waists.Catherine descended from the plane with an air of elegance, her hands empty and tucked into her pockets.Marshall teased, "Catherine, I've already minimized my luggage to a single box. How come you brought nothing with you? The hotel doesn't have everything you need, you know."Fergus chuckled and interjected, "Young people are different from us old folks who have to bring everything. They can solve everything with money. Why burden themselves with a heap of luggage?"Marshall shook his head, unyielding. "This is Alton, not our home. There are things that money can't buy, aren't there?"Amelia, who had come along with the group, raised her suitcase in front of Marshall. "Professor Hartley, I share a dorm with Catherine, and all her essentials a
Catherine had just finished her meal when she received a call from Marshall, asking them to gather in the hotel's second-floor meeting room in ten minutes to discuss the details of the upcoming competition."Shall we go?" Catherine looked up at Amelia.After taking the last bite of the pizza, Amelia mumbled, "Sure, coming right up!" She was too full from eating but could not waste the delicious food. Having such perks while sharing a dorm with Catherine was fantastic.After getting ready, Catherine and Amelia headed towards the meeting room. The third floor of the hotel was a conference hall with various meeting rooms.This hotel was the closest to the competition venue. Since the competition hadn't started yet, the early-arriving teams had to rest in nearby hotels. Several teams from seven or eight countries were staying in this hotel.Catherine and Amelia made their way through the crowd towards their meeting room. Catherine's beautiful face immediately drew the attention of man
The Bide Cup was famous for its strict rules during the competition.During the Bide Cup, participants were not allowed to get involved in negative news, and in serious cases, their qualifications would be directly revoked.If the conflict were to escalate today, it would likely result in the committee kicking them out of the competition. The professors understood the seriousness of the situation and did their best to restrain the impulsive young researchers.Eamon grabbed Marshall's sleeve, his voice filled with anger as he said, "Professor Hartley, they are deliberately humiliating us."Marshall, with a stern face, looked extremely displeased. "Do you think I'm deaf?"After being scolded by Marshall, Eamon fell silent.Then, Marshall said earnestly, "I know you're feeling angry, but if you really resort to violence, you'll be falling into their trap! These foreigners look like a bunch of fools, but in fact, they are quite cunning. They are deliberately provoking you!"Eamon fo
Inside the office were the judges of the organizing committee and the chairman of the committee, Richard Goodman. Everyone held their breath as they watched Richard, known for his sternness, slowly emerge. It was well known that he didn't like any trouble, especially during competitions.Styre University had violated Richard's taboos this time, and people didn't know what kind of punishment Styre University would face. Some secretly gloated at the thought of Styre University being expelled from the competition, while others felt sorry for them. Missing out on such a major competition would be a huge loss for Styre University."Who's causing trouble?" Richard asked in a cold voice. His deep voice echoed throughout the meeting room, making everyone tense and hold their breath.Members of the Johnville Team couldn't wait to speak up as soon as Richard appeared. Although Richard was from Alton, he had Theisian heritage, and they were confident he would support the Theisian team."Mr. G
The hotel's third floor housed the conference hall, while the second floor was an open coffee bar.When Catherine arrived, Richard was already seated in a corner, gazing at the beautiful scenery through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Catherine walked directly to the opposite side of Richard, ready to out a chair to sit down. Upon hearing the sound, Richard stood up and pulled a chair for her. "Long time no see, Catherine. Your taste hasn't changed, has it?""No."Hearing this, Richard called over a server and ordered an Americano with no milk or sugar. It was a flavor he remembered Catherine liked. Despite her sweet looks, she enjoyed such a bitter taste. Due to its uniqueness, Richard remembered her taste all at once and had done so for many years."Catherine, the conference room was crowded just now, and I didn't have the chance to talk to you. Luckily, you haven't forgotten our code, or else I would have had to come find you personally."When the two of them left the conference
After staying at the hotel for three days, the Bide Cup officially began. Styre University sent out two teams, led by Marshall for the EIE Team and Fergus for the Biology Team. Having two teams at once already made Styre University a strong contender among the nations.The competition started, and the opponents for the first round were decided through a draw. Fergus's team was the first to go up for the draw, and they ended up drawing the Isaranian Team.The Isaranian Team wasn't considered very strong, so winning against it in the first round wasn't too difficult. The university leaders immediately sought Fergus's opinion, asking about his team's chance of winning. He gave a modest smile and gestured a number—sixty percent.It was well known that Fergus was always cautious and liked to keep a card up his sleeve. When he said sixty percent, it probably meant at least eighty percent. Upon hearing this result, the university leaders felt reassured. If there was an eighty percent chanc
In the end, Branden couldn't stand it anymore. He took the initiative to snatch Catherine back, only then did the scene come under control.Now, no one dared to continue touching Catherine's belly.Once he snatched Catherine back, he held her tightly in his arms and prevented anyone from touching her. He thought in his mind, "Since these people like this brat so much, I'll just give the brat to them when Catherine gives birth. Saves one more person from sharing my wife with me."Triston smiled and watched the crowd as the birthday party began exactly as it should.The big screen began to show all the images of Audrey from her debut until now that were outstanding or worthy of recording. Some of the images weren't even in Audrey's possession, but Triston had found them and made a video of them.As the images flashed by, Audrey's tears couldn't help but fall from her face. She cried not only because she remembered the hardships she had endured in showbiz for many years, but also bec
Since Triston brought Audrey to meet his family, he had worked non-stop to put their marriage on the agenda.Audrey was a popular actress, and to not affect her career, Triston chose to propose in a low-key manner.Triston arranged a party on Audrey's birthday and invited many of Audrey's friends.Audrey originally thought Triston was too high-profile, but Triston insisted. "I didn't participate in so many of your past birthdays. I finally have a chance to participate this time."He persuaded Audrey repeatedly. Audrey couldn't resist him and could only agree to let him arrange the party.Luckily, he only invited Audrey's close friends and did not send out invitations widely, so she could take this opportunity to have a gathering of friends.Audrey was surprised to see Catherine when she arrived.Catherine was now eight months pregnant. Normally, she would be rejected by Branden if she wanted to visit Catherine.Branden was now very careful with Catherine every day, and Audrey w
Sure enough, only after Audrey said those words, Willa's face completely darkened.Seeing that Willa was about to explode, suddenly...Triston applauded happily, which instantly attracted the crowd's attention.Triston calmly met everyone's gaze and looked at Audrey gently. "Good. You're worthy of being the woman I love. I'm most annoyed with those women who stay at home day in and day out and like to gossip when they have nothing else to do. You have your own career and I'm very supportive of that."Triston said this with a proud look on his face and raised his eyebrows at Audrey, full of smugness.Willa's face instantly turned gloomy.Her son had demeaned her by calling her a gossipy woman just to please another woman, and it made her furious.Egbert kind of realized that his son was totally in love with Audrey. He thought it was good because Triston used to be a playboy and was always surrounded by messy women. At that time, he was really worried that Triston would marry an u
Although Audrey was born into a wealthy family, Triston's mother, Willa Lambert, had always been prejudiced against showbiz and therefore did not approve of Triston's pursuit of Audrey.In Willa's opinion, female celebrities in the showbiz industry had always appeared in public, which was not like the demeanor of a lady from a wealthy family.It was only after learning that Audrey and Triston might be together that she eagerly introduced Triston to girls in the first place. She didn't realize that after all this time, her son still hadn't given up on Audrey, and this was the first time she'd seen her son so attached to a girl.If it weren't for that, she wouldn't agree to appear at today's dinner party now.Triston led Audrey into the door, and everyone from the Lamberts had already arrived.The scene of everyone sitting in the private room made Audrey feel a bit guilty. She looked guiltily at the crowd and whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm late."Triston's father, Egbert Lambert, had a
Audrey never expected to be so suddenly arranged to meet Triston's family.She couldn't react when Triston talked to her about it. Looking at Triston with disbelief in her eyes, she said, "Pardon me?"Triston's handsome face carried a gentle smile. "I've inquired with Kim. You don't have any work arrangements since this afternoon, and you can also take a day off tomorrow. It's just right for us to have dinner together in the evening."Audrey frowned and asked inwardly, "Is that what I care about?"What she cared about was who Triston had just said she would have dinner with tonight. "Why are you suddenly asking your family to have dinner with me?"The Swanns and the Lamberts were both in Casier and they were also considered to be friends. For Triston's family, although Audrey was not familiar with them, she had seen them at major parties.But in the past, they used to meet as ordinary friends.Now that she and Triston were in a relationship, his sudden proposal to take her to di
Audrey hesitated for a moment but still answered the phone with a nervous heart.She believed that Catherine definitely had a way to get her to answer the phone, but things would be troublesome if she made Catherine take her actions.She put her phone to her ear and inquired in a low voice, "Morning, Kathy. What's the matter?"Catherine's voice remained as cold as ever, without any emotion. "Tell me, what is it that you haven't told me?"Audrey had already figured out a strategy to deal with it and how to excuse herself, but as soon as she answered the phone, Catherine asked her so directly, which made her suddenly unable to react.Audrey had no choice but to tell Catherine the truth.After listening to her trembling narration, Catherine only asked coldly, "Are you sure you want him to be your boyfriend?"Audrey was a bit hesitant. Everyone blessed her and Triston after they found out they were together again, but Catherine was the only one who asked her to calm down and think i
Faced with Triston's questioning, Ronin looked arrogant. "Catherine and Audrey are sisters, so Audrey is my sister. You can bully anyone, but you can't bully her. Or else, we can't even be friends."Ronin's words sounded childish, but there was seriousness inside his eyes when he said those words. He grew up with Catherine and regarded Catherine as his most important family member. To him, Catherine's sister was his sister.After listening to Ronin's words, Triston faintly laughed out. "I see."Ronin thought that Triston didn't take his words to heart, and immediately felt a burning anger. "What do you mean? You don't understand my warning, do you?""Easy!" Triston gestured for him to calm down, then said calmly, "Even death row inmates have a chance to explain, right? You should at least hear me out.""Hmph!" Ronin snorted disdainfully. He secretly thought in his heart, "If Triston says any more asshole words, I'll definitely not show him any respect."Triston put away that cyni
They had an appointment at a recreational manor, a new property Zobber had just bought. Zobber had invited them to come along for the experience.Since Catherine's pregnancy, the entire Hacker Alliance had had much leisure time. Even though there was less to do, they had earned no less money and were basically in a dominant position.Zobber enjoyed the current situation too much becasue there was still money to be made easily. They might only have one business per year, but the profit from this business was already enough for them to spend for a year.After wandering around with her friends, Zobber excitedly looked at everyone. "How about this place? It's not bad, right? I bought it at a high price!"This was Casier, and Triston was aware of any changes in the real estate industry.He had indeed received the news when Zobber auctioned off the manor, and he also knew that Zobber had given an above-market price to take the land. But he knew that Zobber had plenty of money. It was fi
Since that dinner, Audrey had been in a special kind of relationship with Triston.Although they didn't make it clear, Triston could feel that Audrey had slowly accepted him.The number of times they met increased, and most of Audrey's work this year was in Casier.Whenever Triston had free time, he would stay alongside Audrey.Whether on set or during recording sessions, one could always catch a glimpse of Triston.Everyone kind of knew deep down that Triston was the man behind Audrey.But nobody ever exposed this whole thing, mainly because of Triston's identity.Neither he nor Audrey wanted too much attention paid to their relationship right now. If he didn't spill the beans, who else would dare to report on it?Besides, the reason Audrey and Triston's dating didn't cause much jealousy was they were a good match.Among the Four Noble Families in Casier, the Lamberts and the Swanns each held a seat, and the Swanns' power was not weaker than the Lamberts.Plus, now that Cath