"There's something else written on here too!" said Merida. "Something about youth… And something about the rest of her life…"The words on the written prayer had faded after being exposed to the elements for years. So, Merida couldn't tell what was actually written on the paper.Elara looked up and said to her, "Take it down. I'll throw it away."Hearing that, Merida gently pulled it, and the paper was removed just like that. Elara took the paper and walked to a trash can before tossing it away.Back when she was 18 years old, Harvey brought her here to the church. Then, he wrote down his own wish on the wishing paper: "Elara had a tough youth, so may the rest of her life be filled with joy and peace."He used to love her a lot and once decided to treat her right. However, it all changed in the end.Back then, the love she had for him was real. She was devoted to him and gave him all she had without a doubt. However, she really wanted to take it all back and bid him farewell this
At that moment, another huge group of people entered the meeting room. When the shareholders saw who had arrived, they hurriedly stood up."Hello, Mr. Fisher Senior!"Harvey's father, Zachary Fisher, had arrived. When the bald man entered the room, the atmosphere brightened up. He was like a saint with a gentle smile, and he would be nice to anyone.When Harvey saw Zachary, he continued to sit on his chair and didn't move at all. Instead, he just nodded at the latter to show his respect.Suddenly, more people came into the meeting room. Leonard showed up in a wheelchair, and his assistant helped push him into the room. Harvey was stunned for a moment when he saw Leonard, and he got up from his seat.The shareholders had already stepped forward to welcome Leonard, walking past Zachary in the process. Zachary turned around and just smiled at the shareholders as they surrounded Leonard. They stood a few steps away from Leonard and bent over to greet him."Hello, Prof. Fisher!""It'
When Harvey saw Elara's face once more, he finally understood that she didn't win the preliminaries because she was lucky. After all, she was in first place in the finals as well.In the challenge, the top 20 contestants would have to choose the contestant they would like to face first. Then, the contestants that were chosen could give the people who chose them a question of their choice. However, the person who gave the question would have to be able to solve it as well.If the challenger couldn't solve the question or suggest any effective solution, they would be eliminated.The contestants in the 18th, 19th, and 20th place all chose to challenge Elara! After Elara solved the questions they gave her, they were all eliminated.Next, the top 15, 16, and 17 contestants chose to challenge Elara as well. When the people online noticed that Elara was challenged nonstop, they thought it was unfair."Why is everyone challenging her? Are they looking down on her because she's a housewife
Elara stepped on the podium once more to accept the prize from the event organizers. Then, the host asked her, "Ms. Jones, I'm sure everyone must be wondering how a housewife of seven years is able to win the competition."Elara looked up at the lights shining on her. They were so warm that it felt like she was going to melt soon. Then, she faced the camera with her beautiful looks and took a deep breath. It felt like she could see her younger self sitting among the audience.Then, her deep dark eyes lit up. "There's only one reason why I'm standing here right now—I started to love myself. I picked up my courage and started living a new life. I stopped feeling afraid because of other people's reactions, and I wouldn't doubt myself because of what people were saying about me."I allow myself to be rejected, and I won't seek other people's approval. I am my own person, and only I can decide my own life!"Then, she smiled brightly and said to the countless cameras, "I often look back
Theodore stood tall and casual. He was smiling brightly as he watched Elara being surrounded by flowers and applause. There were a few professors standing in front of her, wanting to talk to her. So, when she returned to her senses, she hurriedly answered those big shots in the academic world.While she talked to the people surrounding them, she slowly walked past everyone and made her way to Theodore. Tobias was there as well. When she finally reached them, she took a deep breath and said, "I'm back, Dr. Snapp!"Tobias put his hands behind his back and held his breath. He was clearly keeping his emotions under control. "Hmph! I don't need you back here!" he said with pursed lips.Elara knew he was still mad that Harold had stolen all the hard work she had accomplished."Dr. Snapp…" Just as she was about to say something, he said to her, "Just keep on working hard with courage. Show me if you can still shine bright like you used to!" Hearing that, Elara felt warm inside. Although T
Theodore raised his hand and blocked Tobias' spit from reaching Elara. Then, Tobias mumbled while sniffing around, "What's that pungent smell?"The other professors started sniffing around as well when they heard that. "What smell? I don't smell anything!"When Elara returned to her senses, she hurriedly showed everyone the invitation letter in her hand."I've already received an official invitation. Thank you for inviting me, everyone."As she spoke, she saw someone staring at her like a vengeful spirit. Wayne was looking at her from the crowd, and when he met her gaze, he hurriedly scurried away like a rat.After he was placed in the 100th place in the finals, he didn't have the right to challenge her anymore. Before the contestant in second place was eliminated, Wayne was still hoping that the runner-up contestant would win instead. To him, that contestant was way more impressive than Elara.So, when Elara won the award in the end, he started panicking completely. He remembere
Elara had cut off Harvey's call, and everyone in the meeting room went dead silent! Harvey sat there coldly, wondering when she was going to stop throwing a tantrum and making things difficult for him. He suppressed the raging emotions that were stirring behind his cold dark eyes before calling her again.This time, an automated voice greeted him instead. "The number you're calling is unreachable at the moment. Please try again later."Elara had blocked him again! Harvey took a deep breath and suddenly looked up at the shareholders who were looking back at him. "Let me call her instead," said Leonard, and everyone turned their gaze to him.Leonard took out his phone and made the call before putting it on speaker. As the shareholders listened to the dial tone, they instinctively held their breaths.Soon, the call was answered. "Prof. Fisher, did you know I won the competition?" Elara was on cloud nine when she spoke on the other side of the call. Harvey was stunned when he heard tha
At first, the kids thought it was interesting. However, they were tired of hearing it after a few days. Since last week, Beau kept saying that Luna would visit his house soon. However, he was still waiting for her to arrive. So, the other kids stopped taking him seriously.Seeing how some kids were walking toward Merida, Beau hurriedly said, "Those who team up with Merida will have to stay back to tidy up the field and clean the gym room!" Hearing that, none of the kids dared to approach Merida anymore.The P.E. teacher, Jonathan Walker, had always gone with Beau's wishes. He even made Beau a committee of the P.E. association. So, Beau would have to be in charge of tidying up the gym equipment after they were done with their class. When Jonathan noticed Shirley was the only one on Merida's team, he said, "We're playing volleyball, so get into groups of five! You two, split up and find a team to join."After he arranged the two girls into another team, Shirley reluctantly joined he
Angie visibly flushed with embarrassment, and the other employees fell silent. Some immediately lowered their heads to focus on their meals, while others held their breath, pressing their lips together to control their expressions."Angie's been abroad too long—she's not used to strict workplace hierarchies," Samuel defended her, raising his voice."Elara, now that you're CEO, you just can't wait for everyone to bow and scrape before you, huh? You might not realize this, but modern workplaces emphasize equality—we all address each other as colleagues now."His mocking tone was unmistakable. As the eldest son of the Quinn family, he clearly didn't take Elara seriously.Elara met his disdainful gaze. "Fine."She continued calmly, "Then let's abolish internal titles at Quantum Tech. All employees will be leveled equally, with salaries determined by performance. Anyone above L4 will be downgraded to L4, so there's true equality across the board. That's the only way to eliminate workpl
When Elara came to her senses, she noticed Leonard was already gone—and Angie had disappeared with him.The nature of Leonard and Angie's relationship was undeniably intriguing, but since Leonard chose not to share, Elara felt it would be improper to pry into her elder's private affairs.She then joined the other Quantum Tech employees in seeing off the city officials. Harold immediately seized the chance to cozy up to her. "Elara, I'm dying to know—how did you become Quantum Tech's leader?"He continued eagerly, "I've been helping out at Quantum Tech recently. Ohm Technologies and my lab are collaborating on a project with them."Elara merely nodded, showing no interest in further conversation.Undeterred, Harold pressed on. "Let me introduce you to everyone at Quantum Tech."His enthusiasm was purely for show—he wanted the company to know he had special connections with Elara."You know Mr. Quinn, right?" he asked, making introductions.Elara glanced at the sharp-featured man
"Elara, you're the developer of the Prism project? Why have I never heard you mention this before?" Harold blurted out in confusion.After processing this information, he suddenly remembered Priscilla's second statement. He blinked, wondering if he'd misheard.He immediately turned to Samuel beside him. "Did I hear that wrong? It's so noisy here—what did Ms. Price just say? Who's Quantum Tech's leader?"Samuel's expression stiffened visibly.Meanwhile, Angie stared at Elara with suspicion. "What kind of deal did you make with Ms. Price? How could you possibly be Quantum Tech's lead?"Her instincts told her there had to be some mistake. She'd investigated Elara earlier. She was just a woman who dropped out of her direct PhD program at Capitol University to get married and become a housewife, without any substantial work experience.Someone like Elara might qualify as a janitor at Quantum Tech at best."What qualifications does she have to lead Quantum Tech?" Samuel muttered under
"My apologies, Ms. Price, the alarms in the data center are too loud. Let's switch to a video call."As she spoke, Elara connected her phone to the projection system. Priscilla tapped her screen to enable video, and in the next second, her face appeared on the large display.Everyone looked up at the screen in surprise. Angie even gasped. "Ms. Price?" From Priscilla's perspective, her phone only showed Elara's face through the camera feed."Ms. Price, I'm already in the data center. Please give your instructions," Elara continued.Her tone remained perfectly neutral. Priscilla responded, "You're Quantum Tech's leader. What professional guidance could I possibly give you?"Elara turned on the speakerphone, amplifying Priscilla's voice through the room. Amidst the urgent wailing of alarms, Priscilla's words sounded almost surreal. The surrounding crowd struggled to process what was happening."Elara Jones, do you realize city officials are inspecting Quantum Tech today? With the
Angie led the group into the digital data center."Good afternoon, Ms. Shelton." The employees greeted her with deep respect, their gazes filled with admiration.Angie maintained an aloof demeanor as she asked, "How's the testing on Prism's data coming along?""The basic framework is stable now. We're currently fine-tuning the details of Prism's database."Angie nodded. "Run the Prism system for our guests.""Uh... About that—"The staff hesitated. "We haven't fully mastered this framework yet..."Angie frowned. "After all this time, you still haven't figured it out?"Seeing their uneasy expressions, she sighed. "This framework's structure is elementary. Fine, I'll do it myself."The researchers' eyes lit up with excitement upon hearing this."The Prism model's framework design is incredibly complex—it completely defies conventional understanding. Yet Ms. Shelton mastered the entire codebase so quickly after joining!""No wonder she's Aempleforth Street's most sought-after g
Samuel sneered. "I bet she's just clinging to Prof. Fisher by exploiting her past connection with Harvey."Harold pressed his lips together, silently agreeing with Samuel's words.As Angie finished her introduction of Quantum Tech, she took advantage of the officials' hushed discussions to glance at Elara. Remembering the photos Rosalie had sent her—showing Elara painstakingly building rapport with Xavier—Angie let out a cold, mocking laugh through her nose.She strode directly to Leonard's side to ask, "How's Xavier doing?"Elara was slightly surprised by the question. Angie bore some resemblance to Xavier, so she wondered what exactly their relationship was.Leonard ignored her inquiry and instead asked, "How long do you plan to stay at Quantum Tech?"Their exchange suggested familiarity."My goal is to join Dragonheart!" said Angie.She met Leonard's gaze with blazing confidence, but his expression remained as cold and detached as an eternal glacier.Craig interjected, "Pro
The mayor, Craig Strickland, was both surprised and delighted by Elara's words. "So, Quantum Tech has made such rapid progress on the digital project under Ms. Jones' leadership!"He turned to his secretary and ordered, "Clear my schedule for the next two hours. I'll be accompanying Ms. Jones to inspect Quantum Tech."Elara's voice drifted to Leonard's ear. "Would Mr. Fisher like to join us as well?"Leonard let out a soft scoff. "You do enjoy making trouble for people."Elara volunteered eagerly, "I can push your wheelchair!"Only after she had wheeled Leonard onto the MPV did he speak again. "Do you plan to use me as your shield at Quantum Tech too?""Mr. Fisher, I need you." Her voice, that was soft yet earnes,t sent a ripple of something unnameable through Leonard's chest."I need your guidance. I want you to watch over me a little longer."She settled into the seat beside him as the MPV door slid shut. Leonard's expression tightened imperceptibly, his right index finger re
Harvey was furious. Now under 24-hour surveillance by Leonard's men, he swore to track down the people who had just beaten him the moment he got off this damned mountain."Just you wait!" He mentally added Leonard's so-called security team to his list of grievances. What kind of bodyguards were they when they didn't even protect him?"Mr. Harvey, we answer to Mr. Leonard. Disciplining us would be a direct insult to him."Harvey took a deep breath. "Once I'm off this mountain, I'll make sure my uncle knows you failed at your only job at keeping me safe."The security guard sighed helplessly. "Mr. Harvey, your personal safety isn't our responsibility. Mr. Leonard's orders were clear—we just have to keep an eye on you. We've done our job as long as you don't die."Harvey was utterly speechless.After the brutal beating in the bathhouse, Harvey was even filthier than before. But he refused to go back in to take another bath.What if those thugs barged in again while he was naked, bl
Elara exchanged a glance with Leonard before answering her phone. Priscilla's lazy tone came through, "Ms. Jones, have you forgotten you're Quantum Tech's project leader? I hear you haven't been to the company lately."Her voice carried clear accusations. Elara replied simply, "Ms. Price must be too busy to know I was recently hospitalized.""I heard you've been discharged." Priscilla's voice turned icy.Knowing her impatience, Elara acquiesced, "I'll visit Quantum Tech today."Leaning back against the sofa, her posture relaxed, and she added with a gentle voice, "Let's hope your employees don't disappoint me, Ms. Price."Priscilla countered, "I hope you don't disappoint me either, Ms. Jones."After hanging up, Elara turned to Leonard and asked, "Mr. Fisher, could you accompany me somewhere?"Leonard looked at her. "What do you need?"Elara looked down at the employment contract in her hands, eyes sparkling with anticipation. "As Dragonheart's new director, you should properly