Betty was in her study, glasses perched on her nose as she practiced calligraphy.
Jayson noticed she was in good spirits. “Did you take your medication already?”
Betty paused mid–stroke when she spotted him. “On time, as always. What brings you back?”
With his blazer in one hand, he leaned against the door and chuckled. “So you’re saying you don’t need me to come visit anymore? Should I start asking for permission before I come back, then?”
Betty huffed. “You’re pretty witty, huh?”
Then she added, “Your birthday’s coming up. Have you and Ari figured out how you’re spending it? It’s once a year. Take the chance to relax.”
Jayson replied, “Not yet.”
Betty set her brush down. “You two are always busy. Why not take a little trip? Ari used to say she wanted to visit Nouburgh, but you never took her. It’s a good time to visit now. Or as you young people say, kind of romantic.”
Snow season was over, but springtime there had its own charm.
Jayson didn’t respond to the suggestion. He just calmly said, “Things are a bit tight right now. I can’t leave. And there’s no need for you to call Ari. We’ll sort things out ourselves.”
Betty glared at him. “You’re always busy! Is your work more important than your wife?”
Jayson didn’t argue. He simply looked at her with a faint smile.
Noticing she couldn’t get through to him, Betty gave up and muttered, “At least show her you care, okay?”
Jayson handed her a wet towel for the ink on her fingers. “Okay.”
The next day, Ariel received an email confirming that her research paper had officially been accepted.
It was pretty much what she had expected. With top–tier quality, the review process moved quickly.
But since it was a leading journal, the proofreading and editing phase would be a bit more demanding. She still needed to tweak some formatting.
It would be published online first.
After her internal meeting, Ariel shared the news with Janice and Chad.
Chad hadn’t expected it to move this fast and couldn’t help but exclaim, “This paper of yours is bound to stir things up in the field. With quality like this, the citation count is going to blow up for sure.”
A high citation count was one of the best markers of academic weight.
“I think they’ll push the print schedule forward too,” Ariel guessed. The review turnaround had already been quicker than she had expected.
Janice crossed her arms. “Didn’t Nancy start spreading the word after she submitted a paper? She never misses a chance to show off. I’d love to see what she’s really capable of. Publishing it at the same time as Ari is just asking to get overshadowed.”
If the papers covered the same field and research focus, comparisons in quality and depth would be unavoidable.
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Chapter 428
+25 BONUS
Chad nodded in agreement. Nancy might be brilliant, but there could still be another 140,000 just like her in the country.
Ariel, on the other hand, was the kind of person who could make a genius feel small.
Otherwise, Carlos wouldn’t have had his eyes on her even after all these years.
“Your non–disclosure agreement should be expiring soon, right?” Chad suddenly remembered.
Ariel thought for a second. “Just under two months left.”
Chad finally looked relieved. Once that expired, Ariel could truly return to the position she belonged in, and there would be no more restrictions.
In the afternoon, Ariel had to head out for a visit to the indoor test site for industrial drones.
Products from various companies were scheduled for live testing.
The testing ground was massive, and Faye Technologies had been trending lately, so they were given prime space.
When Ariel arrived, Noah and the team were already mid–comparison.
Events like this weren’t rare, but she didn’t usually show up in person. This time, though, after her trip to Nacsall, she had new ideas. She wanted to see the drone in action to refine her direction further.
