Chapter 63
"Who are you calling?"
At the sound of Gideon's voice behind her, Lorelei was still trying to puzzle out what Aaron had meant.
She jumped, reflexively ending the call.
"Just... spam. Nothing important. I blocked the number."
Gideon loosened his tie. "I thought you said your stomach was bothering you?"
He'd rushed over the moment Lorelei called, but she looked perfectly fine now.
Lorelei clutched her phone, hurrying to explain. "I don't know if I ate something bad, but my stomach felt off... If it were just me, I wouldn't worry, but I'm concerned about the baby... If you'd rather I didn't call, I won't bother you anymore."
Gideon closed the distance between them. Lorelei instinctively retreated until his hands caught her shoulders. "Lorelei, don't try to play games with me. The only reason I'm here is because of this child."
She shook her head rapidly. "I really wasn't... I wouldn't dare..."
Gideon had no interest in her protests. "Whether you're telling the truth or not, we're going to the hospital for a proper examination."
He all but dragged Lorelei to the hospital and ordered a comprehensive checkup.
Now she sat in the examination room, anxiety crawling up her spine.
The door opened. Gideon entered.
Lorelei tried to read his expression, but his face remained frustratingly blank.
"Mr. Getty..."
He stopped directly in front of her. "The doctor says you've been under too much stress lately. Your health is indeed compromised. Go home and rest properly."
Relief flooded through her.
"It's probably pregnancy symptoms... I've been nauseous constantly. Can't keep anything down..."
Her hand drifted to her belly.
"Even if you can't eat, you have to. The baby needs to develop properly."
At the mention of the child, his tone softened fractionally. Lorelei's heart hammered against her ribs. She nodded obediently. "I'll do whatever you say, Mr. Getty."
Gideon studied her, momentarily lost in thought.
If only Josephine could be this compliant.
But the moment that wish formed, he mentally shook it away.
What he loved was Josephine's independence, her fierce uniqueness. If she turned into Lorelei...
His expression went cold again. "Let's go. I'll take you home."
He still needed to find Josephine. The misunderstandings between them, this recent cold war—he'd had enough. He was desperate to repair things with her.
Lorelei, oblivious to his thoughts, assumed his concern was genuine. Secret joy bloomed in her chest.
"Okay."
---
Josephine was in a meeting with Emma and the others.
Aiden spoke up. "I've got a friend who works at Starlight Group. He leaked some intel—their project is progressing smoothly. At this rate... there's an eighty percent chance Prof. Carter will partner with them."
Kenneth frowned. "There's only one way to salvage this disaster."
"Josephine, can you find proof they stole our work?" Emma asked urgently.
Josephine glanced at her phone. After sending her laptop in for repairs last time, the shop owner had promised to call the moment it was fixed.
That call still hadn't come.
"I'll go ask in person today. One way or another, I'll get everyone an answer."
Seeing her distress, the others shifted into reassurance mode.
"Don't beat yourself up over this," Aiden said. "As long as we give it our best shot, that's what matters."
Kenneth looked at Josephine steadily. "We all believe in you."
Projects and concepts could be stolen, but her talent and brilliance couldn't be taken.
Cedric rapped his knuckles on the table. "Regardless of how this plays out, we can't neglect our own work. Keep the HGRAS system project on schedule."
"Understood."
After leaving the office, Josephine headed to the repair shop.
The place was packed when she arrived, and the owner was constantly busy. She found a seat to wait.
About half an hour later, the owner finally made his way over.
"Take a look at your laptop. Got it mostly working again."
"It turns on?"
Josephine pressed the power button. The machine was ancient—hardware and software both outdated. The moment it booted up, the fan whirred loudly.
The shop owner poured himself some water, taking a sip. "This thing is seriously ancient. Yeah, it'll turn on, but don't expect it to actually do much."
Josephine manipulated the trackpad. The cursor moved with agonizing slowness. She was terrified of accidentally shutting it down again, barely daring to touch anything.
"But what you wanted to find? That I can help with."
Those words gave Josephine the confidence to work more boldly. She immediately accessed the local files and opened the documents. These project materials and blueprints were invaluable. She hadn't even stored them in cloud backup, only keeping paper copies.
That habit had unexpectedly become her only path to recovering evidence.
She opened the local files and found the original draft in a folder labeled 'x.'
The timestamp was crystal clear.
January 1st, 6:30 PM.
It was now late June, nearly July—exactly six months ago.
"Find what you were looking for?" The shop owner leaned in curiously.
Josephine closed the laptop and practically shoved it into her bag.
"Thanks so much. I'm swamped right now, but once this is over, dinner's on me."
"If you really want to thank me, send some clients my way."
"Don't worry—everyone at my office has a computer."
Now that was music to the owner's ears. "Deal. Now get out of here with that laptop. I've got other customers waiting."
Josephine rushed back to the office with her evidence, only to be hit with troubling news.
Starlight Group had moved up their press conference.
Originally scheduled for ten days from now, it had been bumped to tomorrow.
Starlight Group.
Lorelei and Gideon visited the research lab together. Inside, Frank was working at a breakneck pace. He was the lead researcher among Starlight's team and the current project director.
"The press conference is tomorrow. There won't be any problems with the project, will there?" Gideon asked.
Frank replied, "Don't worry. We're running final tests today. After tomorrow's press conference, our system will be ready for market launch."
Being able to create this system with his own hands, bringing such enormous benefits to humanity, just imagining the recognition made his chest swell with anticipation.
He'd gone four days without sleep. Yet he wasn't tired in the slightest. If anything, he felt wired.
"Good. I'm leaving everything here in your hands. Tomorrow at the press conference, I expect to see perfection." As boss, Gideon delegated full authority to Frank, but his standards were unforgiving.
"You can count on me, Mr. Getty."
Gideon made another inspection tour of the inner lab while Lorelei waited by the door.
Frank noticed her. After a moment's hesitation, Josephine's warning echoed oddly in his mind.
"Ms. Kelly, is there something you wanted to say?"
Lorelei looked puzzled. "No, nothing. I have complete faith in you and the rest of the team. I'm confident tomorrow will be a massive success."
Frank couldn't tell if he felt relieved or disappointed.
"There won't be any problems on our end. Everyone's sacrificed sleep for this project. If something goes wrong..." His voice tightened. "None of us could handle that outcome."
The more effort invested, the more unbearable the thought of failure became.
Lorelei's heart sank, but she remained convinced nothing would go wrong. "Don't worry. Mr. Getty will give you his full support."
Frank studied her for a long moment before turning away.
They'd come too far to turn back now. Right or wrong, he had no choice but to push forward.
---
Rain drummed against the car windows as Gideon sat in the back seat, frowning at the downpour. By the time they reached the press conference venue, the rain still hadn't let up.
Yesterday's forecast had promised clear skies today.
Inside the venue, reporters had already assembled. Oscar timed his entrance perfectly. Starlight Group's staff moved into position.
As project director, Frank would take the stage first and deliver the opening remarks.
Outside the press conference hall, a deep blue Rolls-Royce emerged slowly through the curtain of rain, gliding to a stop along the curb.