Chapter 68 She Has the Right to Kick Out Stella Sutton!

Chapter 68: Chapter 68: She Has the Right to Kick Out Stella Sutton!

Julian Sterling hadn’t expected this situation at all.

He was tall and long-legged, and the little kid who barreled straight into him like a soft marshmallow posed absolutely no threat. He slowly lowered his gaze. The first thing that caught his eye was a fluffy bunny-ear hat. A small backpack was slung over one shoulder, its other strap dangling off her arm.

The little girl bounced back a step from the collision. Her soft, fair little hands covered her face as she let out an adorable, "OUCH."

He instinctively reached out, his large hand cradling the back of her head, steadying her so she wouldn’t fall to the ground.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

Lydia rubbed her slightly reddened little nose, tilted her head up to look at him, and smiled, revealing cute little dimples. "It doesn’t hurt."

Suddenly meeting such a tiny face, Julian was slightly taken aback for no reason. Something tugged lightly at his heartstrings. The feeling was too strange and unfamiliar. He couldn’t quite grasp it, nor could he analyze exactly what the feeling was.

Lydia remembered her agreement with Sophie Winslow that she could only play for twenty minutes. She looked at her kid’s smartwatch and tilted her head up with effort again. "I’m sorry for bumping into you, mister. Goodbye, mister."

She gave an impish wave, then darted past Julian and jogged off in another direction.

Julian hadn’t even had the chance to react and say another word to her. The little one had already trotted far away, PITTER-PATTER. His gaze unconsciously followed the little girl’s retreating figure, her bunny ears flopping up and down. He subconsciously took a step in the direction she had gone.

"Julian? You really like that little girl?" Stella Sutton was right next to him and naturally noticed his reaction. She frowned and glanced in the direction Lydia had left. "What a cute kid."

Actually, she didn’t like Julian paying attention to other children. Wasn’t Seth Sutton cuter?

Julian slowly withdrew his gaze, unconsciously rubbing his ring finger. "It’s nothing. I just thought she looked a bit like someone."

"Really? Who?" Stella was puzzled. She didn’t think the kid resembled anyone in particular. But she was undeniably beautiful. Stella was practically a semi-public figure herself and had seen plenty of child models with one-in-a-million looks, but that little girl just now outshone them all. She couldn’t help but wonder how spectacular her parents’ genetics must be.

Julian didn’t answer the question.

Right then, Seth Sutton came out and threw himself into Julian’s arms. Julian glanced in the direction the girl had gone, frowning unconsciously. After a moment of deep thought, he finally said, "Let’s go."

***

When Sophie Winslow picked up Lydia, she asked her, "Where did you go to play?"

Lydia climbed into the car, settled into her child seat, and chattered away, counting on her fingers. "I met a new friend, and she even gave me a milk candy! Mommy, next time I want to give her a gift too."

Having resolved a major issue, Sophie was in a good mood and couldn’t help but smile. "Okay, Mommy will definitely help you prepare one."

Lydia felt her little nose was still a bit sore. She thought of the man she had run into and pondered for a moment, but ultimately decided not to say anything. If her mom knew she had bumped into someone, she would definitely worry. She didn’t want to add to her mom’s burdens; her mom was already working hard enough.

She took out a milk candy from her pocket—the one her little friend had given her, which she had specifically saved for Sophie. She unwrapped the candy and held it up to Sophie’s lips. "Did Mommy win the argument and protect our rights?"

"Of course I won."

"Did anyone bully Mommy?"

"Of course not. Mommy is very tough."

Gripping the steering wheel, Ivy Hawthorne grimaced playfully. "Where’s mine? Where’s mine? How come only your mommy gets one?"

Lydia said seriously, "Next time I’ll buy one for you, Aunt Ivy. I only had one, and I only wanted to give it to Mommy. I don’t want Mommy to share with anyone. Love cannot be shared."

Sophie was suddenly startled. A faint, bitter smile appeared at the corners of her mouth. Even a child understood this truth. How did adults blur the boundaries so easily?

Ivy saw that Sophie was lost in thought and simply changed the subject. "I’m going to prep a new program. The station wants to promote traditional medicine, so they’ll be sending special invitations to traditional medicine enterprises to participate. Helios Labs is on the list. You should come. I mentioned it to Peter, and he recommended you."

To promote traditional medicine, there was no better candidate than Sophie.

"Is Mommy going to be on TV?" Lydia heard this and asked excitedly.

"Of course! Your mommy is so amazing, she deserves to be seen by everyone," Ivy said, pitching her voice high to mimic a child’s tone.

Sophie laughed. "When? If time permits, it shouldn’t be a problem."

If Peter Preston had finalized the spot, she was willing to give it a try.

"Then it’s settled! With your face, imagine how many ratings you’ll pull in for me!"

Sophie wasn’t opposed to it. If she could do more science popularization and let people know more about traditional medicine, it would be a great thing. The task was long and arduous, but she felt it was deeply meaningful.

Ivy dropped Lydia off at the Caldwells’ home. Sophie rushed back to Helios Labs to oversee their progress.

The R&D team at Helios had been making steady progress. Only...

"Sophie, Kingsford University says that the extraction ratio of the traditional Chinese medicine we provided is incorrect. Miss Sutton wants to extend the trial blending time, saying it conflicts with their Western medicine ratio." Renee Coleman sounded somewhat anxious.

Sophie frowned. "Our ratio is incorrect?"

She had monitored the entire process closely. The raw material ratio was crucial, and after her most meticulous calculations, it was absolutely viable. All Kingsford University needed to do was integrate the Western medicine raw materials properly.

"That’s what Miss Sutton said. She questioned our ratio and proposed extending the trial blending time by a month."

Sophie suddenly laughed out of anger. She really had never seen someone sugarcoat their own incompetence so nicely. Their raw material extraction experiment had failed, so they were shifting the blame onto her team.

Sophie put on her gloves and walked toward the virus analysis room, her tone perfectly calm. "Ten days at most. If she can’t handle it, she can step down and make way for someone capable to take over."

From this incident, she had pretty much figured things out. Because Kingsford University had Julian Sterling’s investment, they had given the chief responsibility position to Stella Sutton.

Renee was surprised. "But she’s Mr. Sterling’s girlfriend..."

Sophie didn’t even look up. "Julian Sterling’s reach doesn’t extend far enough to call the shots at Helios."

Actually, the progress had already been delayed for a while. She had been giving them chances. Now the other side was pushing their luck. She certainly didn’t mind handing Stella Sutton a ticket out of the project.

Renee was awed by Sophie’s decisiveness and nodded quickly. "I understand. Do we need to remind Kingsford University of the ten-day deadline?"

"No need," Sophie replied.

The deadline was clearly stated in the original contract. If Stella’s team repeatedly delayed and breached the contract, she had no obligation to inform them.

Renee understood. If Stella’s side had any sense of contractual responsibility, they wouldn’t have stepped on this landmine. If they kept delaying progress by relying on Mr. Sterling as their backer, they were just asking for trouble.

Kingsford University probably didn’t know yet. Their Sophie wasn’t just an ordinary researcher; she was the helmsman of the entire team and had full authority to kick people out.

***

The first episode of Ivy’s program was in a live-stream format. The second episode was a documentary style, recording the work of researchers in the medical industry. Well-known medical companies each received one spot.

Sophie arrived at Ivy’s company at the agreed time.

Just as she reached Ivy’s office, she saw Ivy storm in with an extremely foul expression and slam a document down on her desk.

Sophie helped her pick it up. "What’s going on?"

Ivy’s eyes were red. She gritted her teeth and said, "My boss actually wants you and Stella Sutton to participate in this live stream together."

The legal wife and the mistress pretending to be harmonious?

Was that even proper!