Chapter 86 In Such a Hurry to Divorce Me?
Daisy froze for a moment, her heart involuntarily skipping a beat, before she turned and headed downstairs.
The night breeze was cool. Still in her white lab coat, she stood in front of him. Having rushed down, her hair was a bit messy, and there were faint dark circles under her eyes.
Vincent looked her up and down, then handed over a bag. "Here, brought this for you. Thought you might like it."
Daisy took it and opened it—it was a serving of cheese-baked shrimp, still steaming hot. She paused. "How did you know I like this?"
Vincent didn't answer. "Eat it while it's hot."
The two of them went upstairs together. The aroma of the cheese-baked shrimp kept wafting out. The hunger she'd been ignoring suddenly hit her, and her stomach started growling.
The moment they stepped inside, she tore open the bag and started eating.
After eating two pieces at the doorway, she noticed Vincent was watching her.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, she licked the sauce off her finger and looked at him. "Have you eaten?"
Vincent smiled. "I have. Go ahead and eat yours."
At first Daisy tried to eat neatly, but soon she stopped worrying about appearances. She didn't even use the spoon anymore, just bit directly into the shells, eating the shrimp meat in big bites, gasping as the hot cheese burned her mouth.
After sitting for a while, Vincent got up and looked around her office. His gaze quickly landed on her competition project.
Coincidentally, Black Group was also participating in this competition—he wasn't completely unaware of it.
"How's the preparation going?" he asked.
"Pretty good." Daisy asked casually while eating, "What about you? How are things with Vanessa?"
Vincent's expression seemed to stiffen for a moment. He said offhandedly, "Same as usual. She's pretty busy too, doesn't have much time to fight with me."
"Oh." Daisy nodded. "Oh right, when can we finish the divorce paperwork? Last time you said the property division was a bit complicated. How is it now?"
Vincent was silent for a long time. The night breeze blew in gently from the window, ruffling his hair.
Just when Daisy thought he wouldn't answer, he suddenly said, "Are you really that eager to divorce me?"
Daisy was caught off guard by Vincent's question. The shrimp in her hand almost fell onto the table.
She looked up at him. His expression was calm, as if he'd just asked casually, but the streetlight shining through the window onto his profile showed his jawline was very tense.
"It's not that I'm pushing you. I was just asking." She lowered her head and continued peeling the shrimp.
Vincent said nothing and sat down in a nearby chair, watching her peel the shrimp.
She was very skilled at it. Even with such hard shells, she didn't seem to use much force—just a twist and a turn, and a whole piece of shrimp meat came out. It should have looked rough, but the way she did it was somehow elegant and pleasing to watch.
"You used to make this dish at home a lot," he suddenly said.
Daisy's hands paused. "Yeah, Luna loves it."
"I love it too."
Daisy looked up at him. He was staring at the shrimp in her hands. She was silent for a second, then held out the peeled piece to him. Vincent didn't take it with his hands—probably didn't want to get them dirty—and simply leaned forward, opening his mouth.
Was this a bit inappropriate?
That's what Daisy was thinking, but the shrimp was already offered and Vincent's mouth was already open, so she could only feed it to him.
Vincent chuckled. "This is the signature dish from a three-Michelin-star restaurant, but it's not as good as yours."
"So you see, even if I quit research, I could do pretty well as a chef." Daisy changed the subject.
"I completely believe that."
Daisy didn't respond. After four or five of those big shrimp, she was already pretty full. There was still one left in the bag, and she pushed it toward Vincent. "Here, this one's yours."
"Peel it for me. I don't want to get my hands dirty."
Daisy snorted. "Sorry, but my hands are covered with my saliva. You want to eat my saliva?"
Vincent shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time."
Daisy's face turned red instantly. She stood up to wash her hands, leaving behind one sentence: "Fine, don't eat it then. I'll feed it to the stray cats later!"
Vincent laughed quietly behind her.
"How much longer till you're done? I'll drive you home."
...
On the day of the competition, Daisy got up early.
She checked all her materials once more, went through the competition proposal from start to finish, and after confirming everything was fine, got dressed and left.
Shawn, knowing about her competition, had called the stylist from last time again. Just like before, they kept it simple, light makeup, her hair neatly tied up, and a tailored suit that made her look both sharp and elegant.
Shawn didn't come in person but sent her a message.
"Go show everyone what you're made of!"
Daisy replied: [Yes, sir!] Then took a deep breath and set off.
The competition was held at the International Conference Center downtown. It was a big event with quite a crowd.
After signing in, Daisy was led by staff to the backstage preparation area. Her turn was scheduled for the middle, so she still had some time.
It was her first time in this kind of competition, and she was incredibly nervous, going over her materials again and again.
Laptop, USB drive, paper backup—good, everything was there. She clenched both hands into fists, closed her eyes, and rehearsed what she would say over and over in her mind.
After what felt like forever, a staff member pushed open the door. "Ms. Hart, your competition order has been adjusted. You've been moved up to fifth. Please get ready."
Daisy was startled but still nodded. She stood up, gathered her materials, and followed the staff toward the competition venue.
The venue was huge, packed with people below the stage.
Several gray-haired experts sat at the judges' table. Most of them she'd seen at the industry summit before. One of them was a top nanomaterial expert in the field, surnamed Morgan—her professor's fellow student.
Daisy had no idea he would be a judge. Her barely-steadied nerves shot up again, and her palms started sweating.
Maybe because of the nerves, time seemed to fly by. Soon the host called her name. She stood up, took a deep breath, and walked onto the stage.
The spotlight hit her. Below was a sea of darkness—she couldn't make out any faces.
She opened her laptop, plugged in the USB drive, and clicked on the folder—
It was empty.
The files that had just been there, the data she'd reviewed over and over—all gone!
Daisy's finger froze on the touchpad. Her mind went blank with a buzzing sound, and cold sweat instantly soaked through her back.
Impossible. How could this happen? How could they just disappear?
The most terrifying nightmare in the world was nothing compared to this. At this moment, Daisy really wanted to slap herself hard and tell herself this was just a dream!!
It would all be fine when she woke up.
But this wasn't a dream.
Whispers spread through the audience. The host walked over and asked quietly, "Ms. Hart, is there a problem?"
Daisy opened her mouth, trying to speak...
But no words came out.