Chapter 191: Violet Successfully Applies for a PhD!

Wells Industrial filed for bankruptcy.

Violet was at her office as usual, working on program development, and didn't really care about Wells Industrial.

Chloe called her though. "Violet! Did you see the news? The Wells family is totally done! I walked past their mansion today and there were court seals on the door! And that Landon — apparently all the stuff he did came out, the police have opened a case, and they're taking him in even though he's still limping around!"

Violet said, "Got it."

Chloe was confused. "How are you so calm about this? This is great news!"

Violet curved her lips slightly. "They're just people who have nothing to do with me."

They didn't continue the topic after that. They made plans to have dinner together on the weekend and ended the call.

Landon's case did move quickly.

While following up on the leads Jane had provided, the police uncovered multiple financial crimes linked to Landon, including business fraud, deliberately sabotaging a competitor's systems, and an attempted assault on Violet.

The evidence was solid and the offenses were serious. The prosecutor's office moved fast to press charges.

Landon sat in the hospital with his leg in a cast, filling out page after page of interrogation records. Three rounds of lawyers came and went, and none of them could turn things around for him.

When the news reached the Wells family, Elsie was sitting on the living room carpet.

When the doorbell rang, she thought it was debt collectors and shrank into the corner of the sofa, too scared to move.

It wasn't until she heard Robert's footsteps outside that she slowly stood up.

Robert pushed the door open and walked in, reeking of alcohol, his suit hanging off him in wrinkles, his tie crooked to one side.

Elsie glanced at him and turned to head upstairs.

"Stop." Robert's voice was heavy.

Elsie paused mid-step but didn't turn around.

"You heard about Landon?" Robert stumbled to the middle of the living room and slammed the half-empty bottle of liquor he was holding down on the coffee table. "He's finished. The lawyer says at least seven years."

Elsie's tears came rushing out and her shoulders started to shake.

"Stop crying!" Robert slammed his hand on the coffee table. "If you hadn't spoiled him all those years, would he have ended up like this? If you hadn't kept pushing him to go after Violet, would he have destroyed himself?"

Elsie spun around, tears streaming down her face, glaring at Robert. "Now you're blaming me? If you hadn't been so useless back then, why would the company have racked up so much debt? If you hadn't been desperate enough to go crawling to the Hart family, why would Quinn have gotten involved with Adrian? How did our whole family end up like this?"

The veins on Robert's forehead bulged. He shot to his feet, grabbed the bottle off the coffee table, and smashed it on the floor.

Glass flew everywhere. Elsie screamed and stumbled backward, cutting her ankle on a shard. Blood ran down her foot.

"Are you out of your mind!" Elsie gripped the stair railing, her voice shaking.

Robert stood there breathing hard, then turned and staggered toward the kitchen to get more to drink.

Elsie leaned against the stairs, shaking as she cried.

That night, a neighbor called the police, saying they heard things being smashed next door and a woman crying, and that Elsie seemed to be a victim of domestic violence.

The police gave Robert a simple warning and left.

The Wells family's story settled into the dust and slowly faded from public attention.

Recently, Violet's new project had been making waves in the industry.

The upgraded version of the MBN system, after technical refinements by Arthur's team, was officially deployed in a government project on new energy and urban environmental management.

After one month of trial operation, the data came back far better than expected, and the related reports were brought up multiple times at internal meetings within the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Violet's name, as the lead developer, appeared in an official government project document for the first time.

Once the news got out, reporters from several tech media outlets reached out to VelocityTech asking for interviews.

Sebastian turned most of them away and kept only one, from the most well-regarded journal in the field.

On the day of the interview, Violet wore a light gray suit dress and sat in the conference room.

The reporter was a woman in her early thirties, professional in tone and precise with her questions.

"Ms. Reed, I've heard you became CTO of VelocityTech straight out of undergrad, which is very rare in this industry. A lot of people have questioned your academic background and experience. How do you respond to that?"

Violet gave a small smile. "The skepticism makes sense. I was out of the industry for six years, and when I came back, a lot of the technology had moved on. But ability isn't something you prove with a degree."

"What do you think allowed you to find your footing again in such a short time?"

Violet thought for a moment. "Probably never giving up on myself."

After the interview, Violet walked the reporter to the elevator.

Inside, the reporter suddenly turned to look at her. "Ms. Reed, one more question — I heard you're applying for a PhD under Professor Arthur?"

Violet didn't deny it. "I've already submitted my materials."

"Professor Arthur's team has very strict admission standards. They only take one student a year, and they've never taken anyone straight from undergrad before." The reporter smiled. "Though with your track record now, I don't think that'll be a problem."

Violet curved her lips. "I hope it goes smoothly."

It did go smoothly.

Two weeks later, Violet received the official acceptance letter from Arthur's team.

Sebastian delivered it to her office in person.

He walked in and slapped the printed letter down on her desk, his eyes bright with a smile. "Congratulations. First undergrad-to-PhD student Arthur's team has ever taken."

Violet picked up the paper and read it twice, making sure her name was on it, then looked up at Sebastian. "Thank you, Sebastian."

"What are you thanking me for?" Sebastian sat down across from her. "You did this yourself. You know how picky the professor is. The fact that he made an exception for you means he recognizes what you're capable of."

Violet carefully put the letter away in her drawer.

That evening, she went to pick up Theodore from kindergarten as planned.

When she arrived, Adrian was already standing at the entrance. The cast on his left arm had come off and been replaced with a brace, tucked under his dark coat — not obvious unless you looked closely.

Theodore came running out of the kindergarten with his backpack on and threw himself into Violet's arms, calling out "Mommy."

"Mommy, you look really happy today," Theodore said.

Violet crouched down and straightened his crooked collar. "Mommy got some good news today."

"What good news?" Theodore asked, curious.

"Mommy's going to get her PhD," Violet said with a smile.

Theodore didn't quite understand what a PhD was, but he saw his mom smiling and smiled along with her. "Is a PhD really impressive?"

"Pretty impressive," Adrian said, standing nearby, looking down at the two of them with a gentle expression.

Theodore thought about it and said seriously, "Then Mommy's a PhD, Daddy's a CEO, and Theo is going to be really impressive too!"

The three of them walked side by side down the street in the evening light. The streetlamps had just come on, stretching their shadows out long behind them.

Adrian turned his head and glanced at Violet, saying quietly, "Congratulations."

Violet met his eyes. "Thank you."

The corner of Adrian's mouth curved slightly. He didn't say anything, but his grip on her hand tightened a little.

That evening, when Violet had dinner at the Reed family home, she told Rachel about the acceptance.

Rachel held the paper and looked at it for a long time. Her eyes went red, but she said, "A PhD is tough. Don't wear yourself out."

"I won't." Violet put a piece of food in her mother's bowl. "I know my limits."

Rachel dabbed at the corner of her eye. "I've always known, since you were little, that you were someone who knew her own mind. Back then, when you put so many years on hold for that Adrian boy, I felt for you — but I never tried to stop you. Now that you've finally figured things out, I couldn't be happier."

Violet's hand paused slightly on her chopsticks, then she smiled. "It won't be like that anymore."

When she got back to her apartment that night, Violet stood on the balcony for a while, letting the breeze wash over her. Her phone screen lit up — a message from Adrian.

[Theo says he wants to go to the amusement park tomorrow.]

She sent back one word: [Sure.]