Chapter 573
At first, the other students had barely tolerated her. She was a foreign student who never attended in person and only appeared online. But when they saw her deliver flawless experimental data, their opinions shifted. Even if they still muttered about her being “robot-like,” they could no longer ignore her skill.
Her gift for medical data work drew the attention of Professor Dominic Holden himself. After their latest group session, he sent an encrypted file to her email with a short note: “Please process this dataset with precision. This is of utmost importance to us.”
The seriousness of the message made her pause. After decrypting the file, she read the medical title at the top, and her brows lifted slightly.
It was a project from Deandre’s research lab — the same one that had recently been tied to a fatal accident. The case had been closed with settlements and compensation, but its shadow lingered.
After scanning the document, Rylie agreed to take on her professor’s unusual assignment.
But she hadn’t had time to work on it lately. Today, she was heading out to administer treatments for Felice’s pregnancy and to check on Zander’s throat condition.
Felice, as the wife of the CEO of Evergreen Media Works, worked closely with him. She usually spent her days buried in business affairs. Pregnancy had slowed her pace, making travel harder. When she learned Rylie would come to her office for the treatment and follow-up, she felt genuinely grateful.
Behind her desk, Felice had already told her assistant to prepare the finest tea for the guest. But before Rylie could arrive, a man wearing a hat and mask burst through the door.
Bodyguards followed quickly but couldn’t reach him in time.
Felice’s frown deepened as she instinctively shielded her belly. “What do you want?”
“It’s me, Zander. I heard the shareholders voted to replace me,” Zander said, pulling off the hat and mask. His voice was rougher than before the surgery.
Felice replied with a heavier frown, “No one wanted this, but singing is your life, and now your voice is gone. Did you really think you could keep going? You need to face it — there are plenty of people in the industry who could take your place.”
“Someone harmed me on purpose!” Zander rasped. “I’ll get my voice back. Just give me more time!”
Felice’s eyes flicked toward a file on her desk. Zander noticed instantly. He lunged toward it, his gaze fixed on the papers. “Did Elaine bring in new talent for the company?!”
His sudden move sent the guards into a flurry, scrambling to hold him back.
Felice’s own pulse quickened at his intensity. “Turnover is part of this business. You can stay angry if you want, but you lost because luck wasn’t with you — unless you think someone can rewrite fate for you!”
As the guards were about to push Zander out, Rylie reached the office door, led there by the front desk staff. She stepped right into the middle of the commotion.
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