Chapter 325
Even someone as composed as Ariel couldn’t stay calm this time. She was genuinely pissed.
Lucas had always been like this arrogant, forceful, and annoyingly sharp–tongued.
She yanked her phone back from his hand. Her expression was ice–cold as she said, “Let go of me.”
Lucas‘ hand was still clamped around her wrist.
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He had seen this sharp, bristling version of Ariel more than a few times lately. The sting of it left a vague discomfort in his chest, but he ignored it.
Instead, it triggered something rebellious in him. His smile turned cold. “You changed your number and didn’t even bother to tell me?”
“You really think you’re that important?” Ariel stared at him. Her tone was calm but left no room for argument.
For a moment, Lucas looked stunned. Then his gaze turned icy.
Ariel didn’t bother saying another word. She pulled her arm away.
Just then, the sound of footsteps came from the entrance.
When Matt spotted Ariel and Lucas, he frowned, then glanced at Jayson in surprise. “Is Ariel getting into it with her own brother?”
Jayson’s gaze flicked over.
Ariel had already freed herself from Lucas‘ hold.
Ignoring him, she walked out without a pause. Even when she passed by Jayson and Matt, her eyes didn’t flicker, like she didn’t know them at all. She brushed past Jayson without even the courtesy of a glance.
Matt was even more surprised now.
When Lucas saw the two of them, his earlier emotion faded. He gave a smile as a greeting.
From a distance, Matt couldn’t quite figure out what was going on between Lucas and Ariel. He tilted his head toward Jayson and asked, “What’s up with those two? Did they fight or something? She just walked past you like you didn’t even exist.”
Just then, Jayson’s phone buzzed. He glanced down.
It was a text from Nancy, telling him not to bother buying her that iced drink. Her body wasn’t up for it.
He stared at the screen for a second, then sent back a simple “Okay.”
Without even lifting his eyes, he responded to Matt’s question, “Does it matter?”
His tone couldn’t have been more indifferent.
Matt nearly burst out laughing.
He immediately rushed to their group chat and gave a full play–by–play of everything he had just witnessed. He even recounted Jayson’s response with vivid exaggeration.
Perry didn’t reply.
Meanwhile, Nancy replied with a laughing emoji, then added a thumbs–up to express herself.
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Chapter 325
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Back at Faye Technologies, Ariel handed off the desserts to Janice. She didn’t mention the run–in at the cafe.
She didn’t approve of the way Lucas had forcefully gotten ler number. She blocked his number right away.
Then she dived into the technical meeting with Noah and the team to hash out software development details.
Military projects like this one were meant for disaster relief and security. Even with existing mature systems, any improvements or breakthroughs in practical application would still require a long development cycle.
Many major companies had spent years running tests and refining their work.
But after doing the math, Ariel was confident she could lead Faye Technologies to streamline the process and shorten it to somewhere between six and eight months.
Besides project work, her after–hours were spent buried in books.
Carlos was right. Three years was a long time for talents to emerge. Even if she used to be on top, being arrogant now would only drag her down.
Carlos held a professor position at Ashford University, but he rarely had any teaching duties. Most of his time was devoted to research projects at the institute, although he had mentored a few postgraduate students in earlier years.
Ashford University was one of the top universities in the country.
As Ariel stood at the gates, watching the steady flow of people outside the exam site, she felt like she was in a dream.
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