“Mr. Silverstein really is willing to risk life and limb for a beautiful woman, isn’t he?” Alexander’s tone dripped with sarcasm, his lips quirking in a mockery of a smile.

Why hadn’t that drone finished him off the other day?

Mr. Hay chuckled, rubbing his belly. “Mr. Silverstein’s putting together an elite team for Neural Intelligence. With him at the helm, who wouldn’t want in? Ms. Fielding… talk about lucky!”

That finally drew the faintest reaction from Elodie-she lifted her eyes.

Even Alexander frowned at that so-called “luck,” his expression clouding with silent contempt and worry as he glanced at Elodie.

Sylvie’s so-called good fortune was nothing more than feasting on what Elodie had bled for.

That’s what everyone believed. The narrative played out like a silent insult to Elodie-a love story fit for the tabloids, all at her expense.

Elodie, however, barely reacted.

Yesterday, she’d called Jarrod; he’d been in the hospital. By that same night, he was off on a business trip with Sylvie.

So when Jarrod said, “If you’re free, come by,” he must have known she wouldn’t. Or maybe, even if she did show up, he was perfectly content to leave her hanging while he ran off with Sylvie. It made no difference to him.

None of it really mattered. What did was the sheer scale of Jarrod’s latest moves.

Not only had he poached talent from VistaLink Technologies, he’d gone straight to the country’s top tech expo to recruit even more.

He’d already decided to build his team both at home and abroad; he would never be short of talent. Yet he still went out of his way to steal from VistaLink, delivering a deliberate blow.

It was calculated-nothing accidental about it.

Mr. Hay saw them off at the lobby and headed back to work.

Only then did Alexander lower his voice, the edge in it unmistakable. “I don’t know what Jarrod’s heart is made of. After three years together, he walks out of the marriage without a scratch. No pain, no care-just takes Sylvie on a ‘business trip’ as soon as he can. He sure doesn’t waste time.”

Even now, while he was still recovering from his injuries, Jarrod made sure Sylvie was taken care of always giving her a sense of security.

Elodie, on the other hand, had to face everything alone.

“I’m hungry,” Elodie said, cutting off the subject before it could go further. “Let’s get something to eat and then go over the plan for the new energy project.”

No matter how grand the launch of Neural Intelligence turned out to be, what really counted in the end was the strength of the project itself.

And that, Elodie understood better than anyone.

Alexander took one look at her, then ruffled her hair in a half-hearted attempt at comfort.

They ate lunch at a nearby restaurant.

Afterwards, Alexander went to fetch the car, and Elodie waited outside. She hadn’t expected to run into Lucinda.

Lucinda spotted her, but walked past without any change of expression.

Elodie had no intention of saying hello either.

But halfway to the door, Lucinda seemed to remember something and stopped, turning back to look at her. “You keeping busy with work?”

Elodie finally glanced up, meeting her gaze.

Lucinda didn’t bother waiting for an answer. Her cool, elegant features tightened with severity. “Jarrod was hurt for your sake, and yet you never showed up at the hospital. Is work really that important? It’s not like the Silverstein family ever let you go without.”

She must have heard something about the Warwick family situation.

Lucinda’s tone was frosty. “A happy home is the foundation of everything. Small marital spats aren’t worth airing to your grandmother, and there’s no need to go crying to her about your grievances. Don’t drag her into your problems and make things messier for everyone. Show some dignity-for both your sakes.”

Elodie could tell-Jarrod hadn’t mentioned the divorce to Lucinda or the others.

He was ever the cautious one.

As for “dignity,” Elodie could guess why-so that if Jarrod ever insisted on marrying Sylvie, the Silverstein name wouldn’t suffer from the scandal of a homewrecker.

She’d always known Lucinda was cold and calculating.

In the past, Elodie would have quietly listened and nodded along.

But not now.

Her tone was cool and distant. “Jarrod was discharged days ago. Didn’t you, as his mother, know or care?”

Lucinda’s expression flickered, caught off guard by Elodie’s attitude.