Chapter 77
Josephine laughed.
Lorelei was puzzled. She'd just declared war, so why was Josephine laughing?
"What's so funny?"
"Your naivety. How adorable."
To Lorelei, these weren't compliments—they were mocking sarcasm.
"Of course I'm naive. I'm young, after all. I'm several years younger than you. Mrs. Getty is almost thirty, right?"
She assessed Josephine critically.
Josephine was beautiful and mature. Even now, her looks surpassed many others.
But she had advantages Josephine didn't.
Josephine looked at her youthful face and sighed. "What a shame."
"Shame about what?"
"Shame that someone so young chose to be with a married man. Even if you do succeed in your little scheme, what do you think people will say about you?"
Lorelei snorted coldly. "You think I care about that?"
When she decided to be with Gideon, she was aiming for his wife's position. She didn't care what others thought—only that the winner takes all, and history is written by the victors.
As long as she won, no one would remember she was a homewrecker.
Josephine was almost impressed.
"If you put this much energy into your career, you'd probably be running the show by now."
Lorelei didn't like her tone.
It sounded like a lecture.
"Instead of wasting time preaching to me, Mrs. Getty should think about what you're going to do. You don't really think I'd let my child call you 'mom' after it's born, do you?"
"I'd prefer you didn't. I don't want to raise someone else's kid anyway."
Josephine wanted nothing to do with her or the baby she carried. This lunch had become unbearable. She picked up her tray and turned to leave.
Lorelei's voice followed her.
"Mrs. Getty, dare to make a bet with me?"
"About what?"
"Let's see which of us becomes Prof. Carter's student."
Josephine burst into laughter.
She turned back to look at Lorelei with the expression one might give a punchline.
"You becoming Prof. Carter's student? You're not even close."
Oscar was in a league of his own.
No one understood her former mentor better than she did.
He was stubborn, never considered politics or personal favors. Threats and bribes were useless—he only cared about talent and ability.
Lorelei...
Forget about it.
Watching her retreating figure, Lorelei gritted her teeth and slowly cleared the table.
She would become Oscar's student. Only then could she possibly replace Josephine as Gideon's wife.
After class, a female classmate approached Josephine. "I didn't quite understand what Prof. Carter was explaining earlier. I saw you taking notes the whole time—could I borrow them?"
"Of course."
Josephine generously handed over her notebook.
The girl was thrilled and took the notes to a corner to study.
Seeing how seriously she was studying, Josephine didn't want to disturb her and waited quietly nearby. After about thirty minutes, the classmate returned the notebook.
"Thank you so much! Let me buy you dinner."
"That's not necessary."
"How can I not? You really helped me out today." The girl enthusiastically pulled Josephine toward the door, and as they walked, they exchanged names.
The classmate was called Rebecca Nelson.
Hearing the name, Josephine paused.
Rebecca asked, "What's wrong?"
Josephine shook her head. "Nothing, just think it's a beautiful name. Your parents must really love you."
"I guess so."
Rebecca wrinkled her nose. "They just worry too much—always afraid I'll get into trouble when I'm out."
As they talked, they reached the school gate. When they parted ways, Josephine watched Rebecca's retreating figure thoughtfully.
She felt like Rebecca looked familiar somehow.
But she couldn't pinpoint where she might have seen her. She searched through all her memories and was certain they'd never met.
Where was this sense of familiarity coming from?
She walked to the parking lot, preparing to drive home, but spotted Lorelei and Gideon.
Both of them saw her, too.
Lorelei instinctively looked at Gideon. Usually, at times like this, Gideon would immediately explain to Josephine or tell her to get in the car quickly to avoid awkwardness.
But today, he didn't.
He just stared at Josephine. "You're attending classes here. Why didn't you tell me?"
Josephine replied coolly, "You brought your 'employee' here to attend classes and didn't tell me either."
"Are you throwing a tantrum?"
Gideon moved closer, his gaze fixed on her face. "Or... are you jealous?"
"You're overthinking it. I'm leaving now."
She got in her car and drove away.
From beginning to end, she showed no anger or concern whatsoever.
Even after her car had left the parking lot, Gideon continued staring in that direction.
She really seemed to not care about him anymore.
She'd seen him with another woman—why wasn't she even slightly jealous?
Lorelei linked her arm through his.
"Mr. Getty..."
Gideon recoiled as if electrocuted, shaking her off so forcefully that Lorelei stumbled and nearly fell. After regaining her balance, she stared at him in shock.
"Mr. Getty?"
"I'll have the driver take you home."
Gideon left that curt statement and hurried away, not even taking his car.
Lorelei was left stamping her feet in frustration.
……
For an entire month, Josephine immersed herself in learning. Company, school, and home—three points forming her daily routine. Her life felt fulfilling.
Most remarkably, during this period, Gideon didn't appear.
Lorelei occasionally showed up in front of her but didn't come over to provoke her anymore. She seemed genuinely focused on that bet, burying herself in the material the professor taught.
But whatever those two were thinking, Josephine didn't care.
She just wanted to be a sponge, absorbing all knowledge. As long as the two projects she was handling at the Getty Group showed results, she'd become a key company player.
Once she became essential to the company, she'd naturally have leverage to borrow lawyers from Cedric.
Thinking of this goal filled Josephine with motivation.
Meanwhile, she had no idea someone was watching her from the shadows.
Gideon sat in his car, and the moment Lorelei got in, she noticed his expression looked grim.
"This is what you call pulling back to make her realize my importance?"
He'd kept his distance. For this entire month, he hadn't sought out Josephine or even called her once.
But Josephine seemed better than ever—she even looked like she'd gained a little weight.
She didn't care about him at all!
Lorelei quickly tried to soothe him. "Don't get anxious. How long has it been? Just one month. Mrs. Getty definitely knows you're playing hard to get to show her your importance, so she's just pretending. I even saw her staring at your photo in class today, looking all spaced out."
"Really?"
"Would I lie to you about that? I wouldn't dare."
Gideon was half-convinced. She suddenly leaned closer, her hand slowly caressing his shoulder.
He watched her movements with cold eyes.
Lorelei pressed closer, lightly kissing his jawline. "Mr. Getty... ever since I got pregnant... we haven't been... intimate... but now it's been three months... the doctor says the baby is stable... we can do it appropriately..."
She licked his Adam's apple.
Gideon's breathing suddenly became heavy—physical instincts were uncontrollable.
Lorelei secretly smiled in triumph.
The phone in her pocket screen flickered softly, Josephine's name dancing across it.
Call in progress.