Xavier and Caleb took their seats in the stands right as the practice game began. They weren't familiar with racing, and they didn't know who to support. But after listening to the commentary, they found out that Racer 38, CC, and two others were favorites to win. The kicker? CC was the only woman in the race. So naturally, she drew a lot of attention. Besides, she pulled off two stunning overtakes on the curves that had the crowd roaring. Xavier couldn't hold back. "Holy crap, she's got serious guts. That was so cool!"Jorge, knowing Xavier didn't realize CC was actually Wynn, just gave a faint knowing smile upon hearing that. CC came in first in both rounds. Xavier blurted out, "Who even is this CC? I want to meet her!"Right then, the camera cut to CC stepping out of the car and removing her helmet—when he saw it was Wynn, Xavier's jaw nearly hit the floor. "She's CC? No way!"The shock was quickly replaced by despair. "I was literally going to ask her out. And no
"A play? What kind of play? Where do you even find one around here?""It's an old-school kind of play. You probably wouldn't be into it."Kieran's gaze sharpened. "You never know. I may have grown up overseas, but I've always been curious about Baumond's culture. I just haven't had the chance to really explore it."Left with no excuse, Celeste told him the location of the theater. Kieran immediately purchased a ticket online. Some time later, his friend called him, "Hey, rich boy, we're hanging out tonight.""Nope," Kieran cut in. "I've got plans tonight."After wrapping up her call with Kieran, Celeste didn't take a break until afternoon. Glancing at the calendar, she suddenly remembered that Shanice's birthday was coming up. She hesitated a little and decided to give Beck a call. Beck had always wanted to stay in closer contact with Celeste. Ever since he learned about Kieran's feelings for her, he had been more eager than ever. However, aside from their work togethe
Caleb was a little surprised when he saw Celeste. He called out, "Ms. Rodriguez?"Celeste nodded. "Hello, Mr. Jennings." Caleb smiled, glancing at her. "Are you stationed here for work now?"She shook her head. "No, my mentor asked me to come assist with something."That made him pause. Very few people had the authority to bring in outside personnel. Then, Caleb remembered her close relationship with Matthias and how the two weren't romantically involved. It clicked. "Your mentor… is Mr. Newman?""Yeah," Celeste answered with a slight nod.So, she was really one of Zachary's students, just like Matthias. He hadn't even thought to connect those dots until now. However, if she were Zachary's student, everything suddenly made a lot of sense. Like why Matthias had gone out of his way at the banquet to credit her to YodaVision's recent breakthrough, or why his father had paid such close attention to her. It wasn't just at his grandfather's art exhibition but also at the
Then, Celeste called Beck back to ask if there was anything important when he had called two days ago. "It's just that Shanice wanted to video chat," he explained. "No big deal."They both had to head to work, so they kept it short. After hanging up the call, Celeste grabbed her car keys and drove to the office. Coincidentally, she and Matthias arrived at the parking lot at the same time. As they got out of their cars, Matthias greeted her with a smile, "Back already?"Celeste beamed. "Yeah."Just then, Trevor's car entered the lot, and Wynn was seated beside him. Instead of pulling into a space, he stopped the car right in front of them. Then, Trevor and Wynn stepped out, looking at Matthias and Celeste. "Good morning, Mr. Yoder," they greeted. Matthias's face fell. Wonderful. Just wonderful.Ignoring Trevor and Wynn completely, he tugged Celeste forward without a word. Trevor and Wynn didn't seem to mind. As the two had left, Trevor passed his car keys to Wy
Beck was a little disappointed to hear Celeste couldn't make it to Shanice's birthday, but he understood. "It's okay. Work takes priority; Shanice will understand."Right after she hung up, just as Celeste finished freshening up, her phone rang again. It was a video call from Beck. Only Shanice would use his phone to video call her. Celeste picked up, and Shanice's bright little face popped up on the screen. She smiled, but before she could get a word in, Shanice started talking excitedly. "Good morning, Ms. Celeste! Uncle Beck told me you can't come to my birthday party tomorrow. It's okay! If you're busy now, you can celebrate with me next time."Then, without pausing, Shanice added, "Uncle Beck said you're baking a cake and got me other gifts as well. Thank you, Ms. Celeste! That's so sweet of you. My grandma says that when someone gives you a gift, you should treat them to a meal. There's this new restaurant that's super good—are you free tonight? Uncle Beck and I want
For a split second, Wynn thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. But the image in front of her was far too vivid. Celeste was walking hand in hand with Shanice, and Beck was glancing at her with that unmistakable smile. This wasn't a mistake. It wasn't a dream. Celeste was there with them. Judging by how naturally the three of them moved together—how it was Celeste, not Beck, holding Shanice's hand—this clearly wasn't their first dinner as a trio. A sudden thought hit Wynn like lightning. Could Celeste be the woman Shanice kept mentioning?No. No way. That didn't make sense. Then, her mind unhelpfully supplied the memory from last year. When Beck came to InnovaTech for a meeting that time, he had approached Celeste to speak with her. And at recent banquets, whenever Celeste and Matthias were there, Beck would always linger after saying hello. He didn't just greet them and move on. He stayed. Wynn used to think it was because he didn't want to offend Matthias
Jordyn didn't actually have anything against the color pink. If something was pretty or cute, she usually liked it as well. So, when Shanice beamed and showed off her plush, Jordyn smiled and nodded encouragingly. "Yes, it's very cute."Then, she handed her gift to Shanice. Shanice thanked her politely, then couldn't help but gush a little more. "I got a hand-baked birthday cake too! It's blue and so pretty!" She turned to Beck excitedly. "Can you help me open it, Uncle Beck?"Raising an eyebrow, Miles commented, "She not only made a cake for Shanice but also brought gifts. She clearly put a lot of thought into it, though. What are you waiting for, Beck?" The fact that Celeste woke up early to bake a cake for Shanice despite her busy schedule was enough to show Beck how much she cared for Shanice. Even with Trevor and Jordyn in the room, Beck couldn't help but smile warmly at the mention of Celeste. Yesterday, Wynn wasn't sure if Beck truly had feelings for Celeste, but
Once Celeste arrived at the base, she quickly dove into her work. The AI-human combat drill required data support to improve. The day after her arrival, another round of AI-human combat drill was scheduled. That evening, Celeste headed to the cafeteria quite late. By the time she got there, the cafeteria was almost empty. She had just grabbed her meal and was about to sit down when she noticed Caleb, who had also gotten his food. Pausing for a moment, Caleb smiled and walked toward Celeste. "When did you get here?""Yesterday," Celeste replied. "Just finished training?""Yeah, the training load's pretty heavy this year."The future of air combat would no longer just be a battle between humans—it would be a fight between humans and machines. So, the way pilots were being trained and how they approached combat had changed quite a bit over the past few years. "Was it stressful?" she asked. AI had incredible computing and data-analysis abilities, allowing it to quickly
Melissa likes Celeste? How is that possible?If what Miles said was true, then what she told Melissa yesterday…Thinking about how Melissa had left during their conversation yesterday, Wynn's heart sank.Perhaps noticing her change in expression, Trevor, concerned, asked, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"Wynn snapped back to reality, forcing a smile. "No, I'm fine."Later that day, she informed her family.Upon hearing that Melissa liked Celeste so much, even agreeing to let her be their daughter-in-law, both the Shaw family and the Locket family were in disbelief."Celeste is married with a child, and her family background is ordinary. But Matthias' family is well-off and successful. How could the Yoder family possibly agree to them being together? Did Mr. Quinton misunderstand?""That's right," Linda hurriedly added, "Or maybe that woman hid her past? The Yoder family doesn't know she was married, which is why they—"Wynn also couldn't understand why the Yoder family
The next morning, Trevor, Jordyn, and Wynn arrived early at the sports hall for Jordyn's competition.After they had been there for a while, Beck and Shanice arrived as well.Jordyn saw them and greeted, "Mr. Harper, Shanice, you're here."Shanice came over and shook Jordyn's hand. "The competition is about to start. Are you nervous, Jo?"Jordyn was very calm and shook her head. "No, I'm fine."Beck had some business to attend to, and he was just dropping Shanice off.Trevor knew Beck was in a hurry and said, "I'll take care of Shanice. You can go ahead with your things."Beck nodded. "Alright, I'll join you all for lunch later.""Okay."Their relationship seemed to be as good as ever. However…Wynn listened to their conversation, her gaze shifting between Trevor and Beck. If Trevor knew that Beck had developed feelings for Celeste, would their relationship still be as good as it was now?Beck noticed her gaze and gave her a slight nod. But he didn't speak to her, just turne
After Sebastian and Melissa left, Trevor asked, "Did you finish talking to Mrs. Yoder?"Wynn smiled slightly and nodded.Looking at Melissa's expression earlier, it seemed that she was becoming increasingly displeased with Celeste.…Melissa had actually known about the issues between InnovaTech and YodaVision long before. Matthias had already informed her in advance.When Melissa was talking to Wynn, she didn't really get a phone call—she had recorded their conversation.She walked a little further away, glanced at Trevor and Wynn, and then sent the recording to Matthias.Matthias and Celeste had not finished work yet. After listening to the recording, Matthias smiled and went to Celeste's office to inform her of the situation.After hearing the news, Celeste said, "Now I can be sure that we'll definitely win the lawsuit.""Exactly."Their insistence on suing for contract termination was not only because they really wanted to break the contract with InnovaTech, but also beca
Wynn had thought she would have to wait a few more days for news.However, that afternoon, Trevor called her and said, "Mr. and Mrs. Yoder will be attending an auction tomorrow. Would you like to go?"Wynn smiled and replied, "Sure."The next evening, not long after arriving at the auction, Trevor took Wynn over to greet Sebastian and Melissa. He introduced Wynn to them.Sebastian and Melissa knew about Trevor's relationship with Celeste and were aware of all the conflicts between Celeste and Wynn. However, when they saw Trevor, they didn't let their feelings about Celeste show.They smiled and shook hands with Trevor, greeting him warmly. When Trevor introduced Wynn, Melissa also smiled and politely shook Wynn's hand, saying, "Hello."The auction was filled with the elites from high society.After some casual conversation, Trevor and Sebastian, along with others, began discussing business matters.At this moment, Wynn saw an opportunity and started chatting with Melissa alone.
Caleb was still thinking about it when Jorge asked him again, "Caleb, besides your father and my old man, do you know anyone else who has Zachary's contact info?"Caleb replied, "No one else."Then, as if something occurred to him, he added, "But didn't you say Ms. Locket had met Zachary before? I imagine she should have his contact. "If talking to Mr. Newman could resolve things, wouldn't she have already reached out to him herself?"Jorge said, "I thought about that too. But since she's directly involved, unless absolutely necessary, it wouldn't be appropriate for her to contact Mr. Newman just to complain about Matthias, right?"He was actually being pretty considerate. Seems like he liked Wynn more than he realized.Jorge said, "Forget it, I'll try asking some other people.""Alright."The fact that Celeste was also one of Zachary's students hadn't been made public meant that it was to remain confidential. Since that was the case, it wasn't his place to share it with Jorge
Theodore refused to help, so Jorge immediately decided to contact Zachary himself.However, he didn't have Zachary's contact information.He messaged Theodore asking for Zachary's number, and Theodore simply replied with a single word. "Nope."Before he could even react, Theodore sent another message. "I've already spoken to Harold too. Don't waste your time."Seeing that, Jorge was genuinely a little angry.But when he tried calling Theodore again, the call went unanswered.Since Theodore and Harold were both at a dead end, he thought of Caleb.He remembered Caleb had mentioned before that he had some work-related interactions with Zachary. They'd even had a meal together.With that in mind, Jorge reached out to Caleb.Caleb didn't return his call until the evening. After hearing that Jorge was looking for Zachary's contact info, he said, "I don't have Mr. Newman's number.""You don't? Didn't you have dinner with him and my old man before? You guys didn't exchange contacts?"
Before Jorge could finish his sentence, Theodore cut him off. "You're trying to say that he's siding with Celeste again and bullying Ms. Locket, aren't you?"Jorge was surprised that Theodore hit the nail on the head. "Old man, how'd you know? Don't tell me you already know what happened?"Theodore replied, "I don't. I guessed."Back when Celeste and Matthias agreed to work with his foolish son for his sake, it was clear they wouldn't deliberately make things difficult for him in the workplace.His son also wasn't the kind to stir up trouble at work for no reason. So, even if they couldn't become friends, their professional relationship should have stayed smooth.If Jorge didn't clash with Matthias or Celeste personally, then the conflict likely involved someone he cared about—probably Wynn.Earlier that year, when he'd met with Kael, Celeste, and the others for dinner, they'd happened to run into Wynn at the restaurant entrance.At the time, seeing how attentive his son was to
Matthias crossed his legs. "Become what exactly? Blinded by lust? Or unable to tell right from wrong?"Both.Of course, Jorge didn't say that out loud.Matthias saw right through him and smiled. "But why do I feel like the one who's blinded and can't tell right from wrong isn't me, but someone else?"Before Jorge could respond, Matthias added, "Also, the student my mentor values most isn't me. It's someone else entirely. Mr. Robinson, you're giving me far too much credit."Jorge didn't expect that, even after bringing up Zachary, Matthias still showed no sign of remorse.But Matthias wasn't about to indulge him. He said directly, "If you can't bear to watch and want to seek justice on behalf of Ms. Locket, then you're free to terminate our contract."Of course, the condition is that you'll have to compensate YodaVision for the corresponding losses."Jorge thought he had approached Matthias politely and reasonably.But Matthias had been hostile from the beginning, and now, in a
Last week, Matthias' lawyer went to InnovaTech to negotiate the contract termination, but the talks fell through. That same day, they filed a lawsuit with the court.When Celeste had that confrontation at InnovaTech with Wynn and the others, Matthias was away on a business trip.Maybe because she couldn't meet Matthias, Wynn hadn't given up on the matter yet.On Monday, when Celeste arrived at work, she saw Wynn again. As before, when the two women saw each other, neither acknowledged the other.When Celeste got to the office, she found that Matthias was already there."You're here early."Matthias shrugged. "I came in over half an hour early just in case someone tried to intercept me."Celeste smiled at that.…Jorge happened to be in YodaVision that day to discuss something with Matthias. As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, he spotted Wynn.He had already heard about what happened between YodaVision and InnovaTech last week. So the moment he saw her, he immediately u