Chapter 168 My Lover Is Here

Chapter 168: Chapter 168: My Lover Is Here

Sophie’s movements came to an abrupt halt. A jolt went through her heart as she turned around to meet Adrian Hawthorne’s deep gaze.

Adrian could see her momentary discomfort. A faint smile touched his usually unsmiling features as he handed her bag back to her. "There’s no time limit. Don’t feel pressured."

He skillfully eased the tension, preemptively cutting off the rejection that he knew was on the tip of her tongue. "See you next time," he added. He didn’t even press her for an answer, knowing exactly when to advance and when to retreat.

Sophie stood at the door, her mind racing, a myriad of indescribable emotions churning inside her.

When Adrian had proposed last time, they had both brushed it off so lightly that she had subconsciously cast it out of her mind, treating it as nothing more than a farce. Now that he was bringing it up again, he was making it clear that it hadn’t been a joke.

Sophie scratched her head in frustration. She was the type of person who could usually joke around or laugh things off as if they had never happened, but the moment she received a clear signal that she couldn’t escape from, she was completely at a loss.

She considered her only past relationship to be a total disaster. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t disappointed in men and romance. To ask her to seriously consider matters of the heart again was quite a tall order.

Adrian was perhaps only doing this to break free from the York family. They had no emotional foundation, and even if he did like her a little bit right now, how long could that possibly last? Sophie admitted that she was a pragmatist; she didn’t want to think about anything beyond tomorrow.

With a heavy sigh, she headed upstairs.

Upon returning to the upper floor, she received a WhatsApp message from Lucas Langley.

Lucas wrote, "Sophie, what exactly is going on between you and Mr. Hawthorne? He’s the prospective son-in-law of the York family. I hope you can think clearly and not give him the wrong idea. Reject him as soon as possible. A person shouldn’t be so greedy. Even if you can’t land a taken man like Mr. Sterling, you shouldn’t be stringing so many people along."

Sophie massaged her temples. She wanted to block him again with a single tap, but unfortunately, she couldn’t since Lucas was an investor. Without replying, she simply muted his notifications and went back to her work.

Whatever had happened at The York Gardens had likely been suppressed, as no rumors had managed to circulate within their social circle. However, Sophie felt that these peaceful days wouldn’t last much longer. She ended up staying at the company all night instead of returning to her marital home.

The following morning at ten o’clock, Peter Preston brought Stella Sutton upstairs. Sophie happened to bump into them when she came over to pick up a drug analysis report.

Stella shot Sophie a sideways glance and brushed past her as if she were thin air.

"Sophie, Miss Sutton is here to finalize the copyright matters," Peter said. "We’re officially opening up half of the access privileges today."

Sophie nodded. According to the contract, the copyright fee covered three years of usage. The initial payment would only settle the first year, while the second installment for the remaining two years would be paid in half a month. Since the first payment had arrived today, half of the access would be granted.

"Why is Mr. Preston discussing such important matters with a low-level employee?" Stella sneered softly as she went over the contract.

"Our company culture doesn’t enforce hierarchical oppression," Peter replied, not bothering to explain further.

Stella frowned slightly. She wondered if he was accusing her of putting on airs. But she quickly brushed it off. Now that the copyright was secured, her next step was applying for her Ph.D. Why should she lower herself to bicker with Sophie? They weren’t even in the same league anymore.

"Everything looks good. It’s a pleasure doing business with you," Stella said, in excellent spirits.

Sophie was in a pretty good mood herself. There was nothing wrong with earning copyright fees—it was all going into her fund to raise her future child.

"Take care," Peter said, not keen on making small talk.

"Mr. Preston, we might be seeing a lot of each other from now on," Stella suddenly added. "I’ve applied for Director Preston’s Ph.D. program. We can consider ourselves reliable partners and friends in the future." As she spoke, she cast a pointed glance at Sophie, wanting her to realize just how vast the gap between them truly was.

Peter couldn’t help but chuckle. "Sure, I’ll wait for your good news then."

Sophie’s brow twitched. Was she really going to end up as the professor interviewing Stella?

Seeing Sophie looking down in apparent contemplation, Stella let out a silent chuckle. She thought that people always cowered when they felt inferior.

Right at that moment, Stella’s phone rang.

Seeing Julian Sterling’s name on the screen, her lips curled into a sweet smile. No longer in a hurry to leave, she answered the call right there. "Julian? Are you here to pick me up?"

Having no desire to listen to the mistress and her ex-husband flaunt their affection, Sophie walked past Stella and headed for the door.

Stella’s laughter dripped with honey. "You didn’t have to go through the trouble since you’re so busy. I’ll be right down."

Sophie had just reached the elevators, intending to go upstairs, when Stella darted ahead of her.

"Sorry, my partner is here," Stella said, pressing the button for the first floor as she pushed her way into the elevator, bumping Sophie’s shoulder with moderate force. "I need to go down first. You can wait for the next one."

Sophie’s previously calm mood was instantly ruined.

As for that word, "partner"... A hint of mockery seeped into Sophie’s eyes. Had Julian already made such deep commitments to Stella? A high-profile pick-up and a high-profile title—these were treatments Sophie had never enjoyed in their seven years together, yet she was witnessing them now that they were divorcing.

She massaged her stiff neck and silently took a deep breath. They were bringing their public displays of affection right to her doorstep; she couldn’t avoid it even if she tried! She had originally planned to drop off the report upstairs and then head down to the lab, but now, she had lost all desire to go downstairs.

Later, Julian and Stella arrived at the restaurant they had booked. It was a good day, marking the official acquisition of the access rights to the Digital Chinese Medicine database. Finn Lockwood, as one of the investors in her project, was treating them to the meal.

The moment Stella walked through the door, Finn clapped his hands. "Congratulations," he said. "Now that we’ve secured this, the project is already more than half successful. We should celebrate."

He was thrilled, of course. Once the return on investment proved to be high, he could report back to his old man, who would finally have to look at him with a newfound respect instead of berating him every day for being a failure.

Stella looked slightly bashful as she turned to glance at Julian behind her. "It’s all thanks to Julian for helping me negotiate with Helios. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have gotten this opportunity." If Julian hadn’t used the funding as leverage, Helios probably wouldn’t have relented.

Finn clicked his tongue. "Alright, alright, we all know Julian treats you well."

Stella gave him a playful glare. "Stop teasing me."

"Can we take a look at the database now?" Evan York chimed in. Who among them wasn’t interested in seeing the legendary Faye’s masterful creation?

Stella brought her laptop over. "Of course. It’s not like any of us will leak it."

Julian took his seat as well and briefly browsed through the database. It offered comprehensive coverage, containing ancient and modern medical theories, famous prescriptions, new and old formulas, and even detailed pharmacology of medicinal herbs.

Finn was astounded. "Was this really written by one person? What kind of genius is this?" he asked. "Are they from our country? With a name like Faye, could they be of Chinese descent?"

Taking a slow sip of his drink, Julian replied, "Who knows."

"Let me look it up," Stella offered, immediately searching the database for all the formulas and famous prescriptions that ought to have patents. However, she couldn’t find the name ’Faye’ anywhere.

She narrowed her eyes. "Did they not apply for patents, or is their real name not Faye?"

Julian cast a sideways glance and said unhurriedly, "They’ve been renowned under the name Faye for so many years. Why would they use a fake name? No one would refuse to face such praise and glory with their real name."

"Yeah, it’s possible they are a foreign national and just haven’t registered any patents domestically," Finn agreed.

Stella’s eyes flickered as she spoke thoughtfully. "Then this Faye must be overly confident. Why wouldn’t they apply for patents to protect their rights for such valuable secrets?"