Chapter 46 Your Wife Is Clinging to You Again
When Daisy caught snippets of gossip during her rare breaks, she heard all sorts of things.
Some said she used to be some rich guy's mistress, and after getting dumped, came here to seduce Ethan.
Others said she slept her way to project funding, and now wanted to sleep her way into upper management.
Even after she produced research results, people still said she didn't know anything, that the project achievements were all done by others, and she was just a thief stealing other people's work.
Before Daisy herself could react, Ethan couldn't sit still anymore.
"I heard about the rumors." His face looked really bad. "I've already got people looking into it. Don't worry, I'll get to the bottom of this for you."
Daisy was stunned for a moment, then laughed. "Why bother investigating? Let them gossip all they want. It's not like I'm losing anything, and it doesn't really affect me."
Ethan looked at her. "Don't worry about it. I suspect someone's deliberately targeting you. We'll know once I find out who."
Daisy smiled. "Alright then, I'll wait for your good news."
Her expression was calm and untroubled, like she really wasn't bothered by any of the gossip.
"You're pretty easygoing about this."
Ethan was almost envious of her steady mindset. He couldn't be like that himself, if someone said those things about him, he'd knock their teeth out.
Daisy kept smiling, but there was something else in her calm eyes.
Easygoing? Maybe so.
She really had to thank the Blacks for that. Who said those six years were wasted?
Hadn't she developed thick skin and an iron will to withstand pressure?
What she'd heard at the Blacks' was way worse than this.
Those subtle and not-so-subtle mockeries, that condescending contempt, those cold stares everywhere—she'd gotten used to all of it long ago.
"Gold digger," "Shameless," "Country bumpkin trying to climb the social ladder."
She'd heard much worse. What were these rumors compared to that?
At least here, she had Ethan's support, her own projects, and hope for a fresh start.
At the Blacks', she had nothing.
She stood up and said to Ethan, "Ethan, if there's nothing else, I'll get back to work. The sample cultivation is at a critical stage, I need to keep an eye on it."
"Hey wait, are you free tonight? Let me buy you dinner, we can talk about that new strain." The Black family villa.
Vincent had a business deal to discuss tonight, arranged by a friend. Not a super formal occasion, but he couldn't be too casual about it either.
Right now, he stood in the walk-in closet, looking at the mess before him, and let out a deep sigh.
The clothes were all clean, but they weren't organized into matching outfits. He had to dig through them one by one to put together an outfit himself. When he finally found a suitable shirt, it was wrinkled and hadn't even been ironed.
This would have been unthinkable before!
He pressed the intercom and called for a servant.
"What's going on with these clothes? Why aren't they matched up? Why aren't they ironed?"
The servant in charge of this area was a woman in her forties. Looking at Vincent's dark expression, she got a bit nervous.
"Sorry, Mr. Black. Mrs. Black used to do all this... We got used to it, so we didn't think to..."
Vincent was silent for a moment, then couldn't help saying, "Mrs. Black did all this? Just because she's not doing it, you don't do it either?"
"Daisy is my wife, not your coworker!"
The servant kept her head down, not daring to speak.
Vincent took a deep breath, suppressing his anger. "Go iron it now, and put together a casual outfit for me. I need it tonight."
The servant quickly grabbed a pile of shirts and headed to the laundry room.
Vincent stood in the closet, looking at the mess he'd created while searching, his feelings quite complicated.
When Daisy was around, he never felt she was particularly special, like it didn't matter whether she was there or not.
But once she got busy and didn't come home for days or even weeks at a time, everything on his end fell apart.
The food wasn't good, daily life wasn't taken care of, and now he couldn't even find a proper outfit.
Soon, the servant came back with the ironed shirt and picked out a jacket, pants, and shoes for him.
Vincent glanced at it and his vision went dark.
The outfit was completely mismatched!
Just as he was about to say something, the servant stood there looking like she was about to cry.
Vincent took a deep breath and ultimately said nothing, just waved her away.
He picked out something less awkward himself and changed.
When Daisy was around, he never had to worry about any of this.
He pressed his temples, his mind uncontrollably recalling all sorts of things from when Daisy was here.
Even though he didn't love her, Vincent had to admit that Daisy was a very capable wife.
--
That evening, at an upscale private restaurant in the city center.
When Vincent arrived at the restaurant with his friend and potential business partner, he was still in a bad mood, though his face showed nothing but perfection.
As they walked toward the private dining room, the group made small talk, with his friend working hard to introduce both parties.
Just as they reached the stairs, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He actually saw Daisy!
She was wearing a deep blue dress, her long hair draped over her shoulders, walking down the stairs. The lights shone on her, making her seem to glow.
And Ethan was standing right beside her.
His head was slightly tilted toward her, the two of them very close together, as if talking about something.
What made it even harder for him to keep his cool was that Daisy's eyes were sparkling, radiating a dazzling brilliance from within.
This was a radiance she had never shown when she was with him.
Vincent's hands unconsciously clenched into fists.
His friend, seeing him standing there motionless, looked in the direction of his gaze with some curiosity.
"Hey, isn't that your Mrs. Black?"
Just then, Daisy's dress hem suddenly caught on something. She cried out in surprise and stumbled forward.
Ethan reacted quickly, wrapping his arm around her waist and steadying her.
After Daisy regained her balance, she looked up at him and said something with a smile, but they were too far away to hear.
Ethan smiled too, releasing his hand but keeping his gaze on her, incredibly gentle.
Neither of them noticed Vincent downstairs.
The atmosphere around Vincent had practically frozen solid, his eyes fixed on those two people.
This strange behavior was so obvious that even the potential partner who didn't know Vincent well couldn't help saying, "Mr. Black, what's wrong? Run into someone you know? Go say hi, invite them to join us."
"No need."
After Vincent spoke, he walked forward in silence. His friend moved closer to him and said quietly, "Did your wife follow you here? What's she trying to pull with this act? Don't tell me she's hoping you'll get jealous and go fight with that guy?"
His voice was full of mockery.
After all, Daisy had used similar tactics before. After they'd ganged up on her a few times, she'd finally settled down.
Looks like after just a few years, she couldn't hold back anymore.
"Vince, you've still got it."
The friends around Vincent all laughed knowingly.
Only Vincent remained silent throughout.
Seeing his expression was off, the friends stopped talking too.