Elara pressed the answer button. "Hello, Mr. Snapp."Her voice was distant and polite, stripping away any hint of late-night intimacy.The man's deep, magnetic voice came through. "I saw the trending news."Elara immediately asked, "How is Dr. Snapp?""He's asleep."Hearing that Tobias wasn't affected by the online rumors, Elara let out a quiet sigh of relief.Theodore added, "I may have slipped him two sleeping pills to make sure he actually got some rest."Elara was baffled by this.She hesitated before asking cautiously, "Was he very angry after reading the accusations online?""What made him shake with rage wasn't the cheating allegations—it was the fact that his past conflict with Harold Judd from four years ago was dragged up again."Now, everyone thinks he was just jealous of a rising talent and deliberately tried to suppress Harold."After leaving Capitol University, guilt and unease had pushed Elara to block out anything related to her former school. Because of that
Tobias had been betrayed by his own student—and he genuinely believed Elara had willingly handed over her research to Harold.It gnawed at him for years. So, when he saw Elara again five years later, his emotions were a tangled mess, stuck like a bone in his throat.Theodore asked, “Do you still have an old copy of your paper?”Elara lifted a hand to cover her stinging eyes."My old laptop was ruined. Someone spilled milk on it, and it never turned back on after it crashed… Later, the housekeeper threw it away as trash."Beau was even younger at the time. While she held him in her arms, he had accidentally knocked over a glass of milk. The liquid had spilled straight onto her laptop's keyboard.Her first instinct had been to pull Beau away, making sure he hadn't been burned. She had soothed him for a long while before he was willing to leave her arms.By the time she had turned back to her laptop, the screen was already blue.Panicked, she had reached out to Harvey for help, ho
Elara's appearance was the first thing to stun netizens. For a moment, countless minds nationwide went blank.Many streamers, who had originally planned to criticize and dissect her actions, found themselves speechless. Some began rubbing their chins, and others leaned closer to their screens while adjusting their glasses.Some live-streaming hosts couldn't suppress their grins as they took in Elara's face.From all five camera angles, Elara was seen to be sitting at a light-wood table. Her coat was still damp from the rain, clearly soaked before she had even arrived. She hadn't even had time to change, and a few strands of wet hair clung to her forehead.She rubbed her hands together, blew warm breath into her palms, and only then did she start typing. She looked like a frozen snowman, but the fire inside her burned unwaveringly.The audience heard her clearly as she reported her situation to the competition officials."Azure Shores where I live just lost power, so I had to relo
Those parents woke up to find their social media accounts completely overrun by an avalanche of criticism from furious netizens."I told you not to rush deleting those apology posts! What do we do now?"The wealthy socialites held an emergency discussion in their private chat group."Even if Elara didn't cheat, it doesn't mean she'll place in the finals! Didn't you see those analysts saying other contestants deliberately held back their scores in the prelims? That's the only reason she ranked first!""Let's just lay low for a few days. When she gets crushed by all those PhD candidates in the finals, people will mock her all over again!"Yesterday, several media outlets wanted to release their interviews with Elara. However, seeing how quickly public opinion shifted, they held back the footage as they were afraid of backlash.Gingham TV, however, took the lead and released Elara's full interview. They even aired a segment featuring Faye's recorded phone call with Elara from the ni
The employees stared at Harvey, and their eyes were wide with confusion. "Mr. Fisher, do you have a cold?""Mr. Fisher, should you see a doctor? You don't look well... Your complexion seems off..."Their concerned remarks only darkened Harvey's already grim expression.Cyrus was about to step forward and scold the employees, but before he could, Harvey had already turned and strode toward the exit.Cyrus quickly caught up, pulling open the car door for him. "Mr. Fisher, I'll make sure every single one of those employees slacking off in the lobby gets written up with a docked pay!"Harvey sat in the car like a walking refrigeration unit. His icy gaze locked onto Cyrus."Oh? And you think announcing to the world that I'm Elara's 'blind as a bat' ex-husband is a good idea?"Cold sweat dripped from Cyrus's forehead. He stood frozen in place, and his lips were trembling."I... I would never think that! It's just... There's a lot of online chatter that's... not exactly in your favor.
Beau sat in front of Niamh, bouncing with excitement."Niamh! You're my only real friend! I never even dreamed that Daddy would take me to watch a race!"He pouted and added, "Compared to that country bumpkin, you're light-years ahead!"Niamh chuckled, unable to suppress the smug lift of her brows. "Do you know your mom is getting trashed online?"Beau corrected her with a scowl. "That woman isn't my mom anymore!"The amusement in Niamh's eyes deepened."Why are people trashing her?" Beau asked curiously."Elara cheated her way to first place in the math competition prelims. The Internet finally caught on—her scores are fake! There's no way she had the ability to win!"Saying that, Niamh opened X, intending to read Beau some of the hate comments about Elara. But the moment she tapped the trending list, she froze.The number one trending topic now was #ElaraJonesExHusband.She clicked on it, scanning the flood of comments, and immediately froze. She kept scrolling—post after p
During this time, Niamh recorded plenty of videos of herself and Beau riding motorcycles, posting them on TikTok.Her account had barely scraped past two thousand followers for five years. She had been posting cool riding clips, but it was always the same group of friends giving her likes over and over.Then, the first time Niamh uploaded a video of her and Beau riding together, everything changed. She went viral that very night.From then on, she frequently took Beau out for rides, and every video of them together effortlessly landed in the million-view traffic pool.Realizing she could turn this into something bigger, Niamh started posting consistently over the past month. Her follower count skyrocketed past a million.Of course, criticism followed. More and more people questioned her content, but Niamh couldn't care less. They were just jealous of her.No one else had the guts to put a five-year-old on a heavy-duty motorcycle.But this past week, she noticed something troubli
"Well, slap me sideways and call it a miracle!" Tobias cursed outright."Dr. Snapp!" Wayne frowned in displeasure."You're just a walking bowl of poison soup filled with bad intentions!"Wayne immediately went silent."Why hasn't the government used your face to test bulletproof vests yet?" Tobias scoffed. "And now you're telling people to withdraw? Your scheming is so loud, it's giving me a headache!"Listen up—Elara is not dropping out! With her skills, she's going to take the gold medal!"Wayne chuckled. "Dr. Snapp, you must not have heard yet. Thanks to numerous requests from the contestants, the finals now have an additional challenge round."The top 20 finalists can challenge each other to head-to-head problem-solving duels."The other students looked at Elara as if they were just waiting for her to embarrass herself."Your prized student winning this challenge round? Not going to happen. A housewife winning gold? Yeah, in her dreams."Elara finally spoke. "Wayne, if I
This time, Harvey very clearly saw Elara's face deepen from a light pink to a rich, blooming rose—visibly, and in real time.Her beauty blossomed like a peony in full bloom. Her long lashes trembled several times, and her dark eyes shimmered as if brimming with tears.She looked as if… She was lovestruck. The moment that phrase crossed Harvey's mind, he was so stunned that his eyes widened in disbelief.Was Elara suddenly getting shy because of him?A strange flutter rippled through his chest. He sat at his desk, staring at the high-definition monitor in front of him, where every detail of Elara's face—even each individual eyelash—was crystal clear.He shifted his gaze to the upper-left corner of the screen to glance at the small preview of himself.After Leonard had driven him up to the mountains, the priest at Atkina Church had given him a haircut. Since he was neither a monk nor formally ordained, it was just a close-cropped cut, not a full shaving of the head.He looked at h
Theodore's eyes gleamed like sunlight shimmering over a lake. He looked like a large dog trapped in a cage, gazing at Elara with unwavering intensity. If he had a tail, it would have been wagging wildly like a windmill spinning at full speed.Elara screamed internally. This had gone a little too far! Her eyes then dropped to the tip of her own shoe. The place she had kicked… had grown!"Oh!" She quickly jerked her foot back, only to feel her body tip backward uncontrollably.Just as she was about to fall, Theodore reached out and grabbed her ankle.The moment his fingers touched her skin, her heart skipped a beat. Theodore pulled her back toward the desk.Elara froze in place like a statue. Her entire body was tense, her eyes were wide, and her pupils were unfocused."Elara, what's wrong?"Harvey had seen her suddenly lose her balance and fall backward. It startled him so badly, he looked as if he wanted to jump through the screen.A wave of helplessness washed over him. Luckil
Elara looked under the desk. What on earth was going on?Meanwhile, Harvey observed Elara in her formal women's suit on the computer screen—an attire he'd never seen her wear before.Her hair was pulled back into a bun secured by a simple ebony hairpin. A few strands, gilded by sunlight, curled against her porcelain cheeks.Though she appeared to be looking down at something, Harvey's gaze and thoughts remained completely captivated by her face. Only months had passed since their divorce, yet seeing her now felt like encountering someone from another lifetime.Had time stretched endlessly during his days at Atkina Church?"El—" Harvey's throat tightened as if stuffed with paper.But he quickly regained his usual composed tone. "Elara—no, I should address you as Ms. Jones now. Had Sam not called me, I wouldn't have known you'd assumed Quantum Tech's CEO position."His voice carried that innate condescension of the privileged, laced with unmistakable mockery."Why are you hiding
Elara stood still as she gazed at the tall, distinguished man before her. Meanwhile, Theodore looked up and smiled at her against the light."Why are you so far away?"Elara stepped toward him, teasing lightly, "I wanted a good look at you.""Then you'll need to come closer." Theodore leaned forward, closing the distance between them.Though she stopped a step away, their faces nearly touched. Elara instinctively held her breath as her eyes locked on him."Can you see clearly now?" Theodore asked."Mm," Elara replied."And?""So handsome." Elara praised him sincerely. "You're one of the most attractive men I've ever seen!"She truly meant it. Theodore chuckled through his nose. She'd seen plenty of handsome men in her life—Finnegan, Harvey, and Leonard. Especially Leonard, whose looks even made Theodore feel somewhat threatened."My face is the least remarkable part of me." He declared confidently.Images of those shirtless photos Theodore had sent flashed through Elara's mi
Harold smiled as he explained, "Of course, they're talking about the most prominent figure in all of Capitol."Although Angie had lived in Melcina for years, she still kept up with the major gossip surrounding Capitol's elite families.And when it came to the most famous heir of the Snapp family, none other than Theodore came to mind. His reputation was practically legendary—everything he touched turned to gold. It was as if, with just a flick of his fingers, he could rise to the top of any industry."Does he have any business dealings with Quantum Tech?" she asked.Harold replied, "Ms. Price is interested in having Mr. Snapp's firm, Polaris Law Firm, take over Quantum Tech's legal affairs."The moment Harold said this, Angie understood that Priscilla clearly had an ulterior motive. She must be looking to shift her business focus back to Eucon, and using Quantum Tech to pull Theodore into her orbit was the first step."So, that means Mr. Snapp's visit is to discuss a legal partne
When Angie realized what she'd been saying, she quickly apologized, "Sorry, Leonard, for making you listen to my complaints all this time.""It's fine." Leonard's cool voice resonated like a struck bronze bell, sending subtle vibrations through her heart.This was the first time Angie had managed to keep Leonard on the phone for so long, though their entire conversation revolved around Elara.Leonard showing such rare patience made Angie's lips curve upward in delight."Can I call you again in the future?" She ventured the bold question, though anxiety churned inside."You may call if it's regarding Quantum Tech matters."He had glimpsed an Elara who was completely different from the respectful woman he knew through Angie's words. So, she had a temper too—how intriguing.Angie's smile stretched ear to ear as she continued, "Leonard, thank you for listening to my grievances.""Oh, right."Suddenly remembering something, Angie added, "Quantum Tech has a front-end project collabo
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