Leila Jennings was fiddling with the pinecone wind chi when the doorbell rang.
On the monitor was Cherry Cole, arms crossed, pouting at the cara.
Leila Jennings was taken aback for a mont.
She hadn’t heard from Cherry Cole since yesterday, and there was no ssage this morning either.
She opened the door.
Cherry Cole stood in the doorway, glaring at her with a look that was both angry and not angry. After her dark eyes darted around, a smile full of delighted surprise blood on her face.
"AAAAHH! You’re so amazing!" Cherry Cole stomped her feet in excitent, then threw her arms around Leila in a tight hug.
The hug was a bit tight, but seeing that Cherry wasn’t actually angry and was, in fact, this happy, Leila Jennings smiled too.
"I thought you were mad at . You didn’t reply to my ssages."
"Hah!" Cherry Cole let go of her and said as she walked toward the sofa, "It was that old man’s fault. I was getting totally absorbed in the news reports about you on TV and my phone when he called over. He kept locked in the lab until just now."
Leila Jennings sat down next to her and handed her a juice box.
Cherry Cole gulped it down, and when she finished, she looked at Leila with sparkling eyes. "The first ti I t you, you helped with my thesis. I knew you were sothing special then, but I had no idea *how* special. My whole family was stunned yesterday."
"My family had no praise for my brother, only surprise and admiration for you."
Leila Jennings smiled faintly, feeling that Cherry was exaggerating a bit.
"Oh, right, I heard sothing else. Your ex-husband and that ’third sister’ both got taken in by the police. Is that true? If it is, Forrester’s ability to control public opinion is insane. There’s not a peep about it out there."
"It’s true." Leila Jennings nodded. "But Sean Sinclair was cleared of suspicion and released. Sarah Lynch wasn’t."
When it ca to matters involving the proprietary chip project, she was the first to be notified of any developnts.
Just then, she received a ssage: Sarah Lynch was eting with her lawyer.
Julian Grant entered the police station carrying a briefcase and t with Sarah Lynch alone.
Sarah Lynch had been detained for over ten hours. She looked exhausted, her beauty faded, and she had lost all of yesterday’s radiance and vitality.
When she saw Julian Grant, her eyes quickly welled up with tears, a mix of excitent and grievance.
"Julian, I didn’t think you would co."
"How could I not co when you’re in trouble?" Julian Grant was thirty years old, with a noble air about him, appearing steady and reliable.
Sarah Lynch had t Julian Grant abroad. They were at the sa party, and Sarah saw soone put sothing in Julian’s drink.
Just as Julian was about to take the glass, Sarah walked over and said in Chinese, "Don’t drink it. There’s sothing in it."
The person offering the drink didn’t understand and continued to look at Julian expectantly.
Julian Grant’s expression changed on the spot.
Realizing the woman next to him had exposed the plot, the person yelled "Bitch!" at Sarah Lynch and threw the contents of the glass in her face.
Julian Grant quickly moved to block it for her.
That was how the two t and exchanged contact information.
Julian Grant treated her to a al to show his gratitude, and she, in turn, played the host, showing him around when he wasn’t busy.
During that week, an ambiguous, romantic atmosphere developed between them.
When Sarah Lynch learned that he was a famous lawyer from her ho country and the eldest son of the Grant Family in City B, other ideas began to form in her mind.
But soon, these budding thoughts were shattered.
Sean Sinclair flew in to celebrate her birthday, and she took his call right in front of Julian Grant.
Under the circumstances, Sarah Lynch had no choice but to give up on her idea.
When Julian Grant asked, "Was that Ms. Lynch’s boyfriend who just called?"
Sarah Lynch was imdiately certain that Julian Grant had feelings for her and was testing the waters.
"You guess," Sarah Lynch replied ambiguously.
Afterward, she noticed that Julian Grant was very respectful of boundaries, likely because he was sure she was with another man.
Still, he contacted her frequently and sent her gifts on holidays. But compared to Sean Sinclair, Julian Grant was a bit stingy.
’In hindsight, it was for the best I didn’t get involved with Julian. He’s a lawyer, after all. People like him are always shrewd. He’d never be like Sean, willing to give up anything for . He’d probably demand a thick prenuptial agreent if we ever got married.’
Outwardly, she treated Julian Grant as a friend, but secretly, she kept him on the hook.
’He’s such a good connection, after all.’
’And look, he’s coming in handy now.’
She made one phone call, and Julian Grant flew to City A overnight.
"Julian, I’ve been frad," Sarah Lynch said. "I never had any intention of leaking state secrets."
"I know." Julian Grant looked at her earnestly. "Tell everything that happened, from beginning to end."
"Okay." Sarah Lynch gave a vivid account of all the unfair treatnt she had supposedly suffered since returning to the country and joining the proprietary chip project. "As for the so-called video evidence, I just felt that as a mber of the project, it would be unacceptable if soone asked about it and I knew nothing about the project data."
Julian Grant asked, "Did you ultimately obtain the data?"
"No." Sarah Lynch’s face was full of bitterness. "Didn’t I tell you? Leila Jennings was always on guard against . The entire project team was."
Julian Grant nodded, seemingly lost in thought.
"Why would Leila Jennings think you would leak the data? Did she know about your relationship with President Sinclair of Stellaxis Technologies?"
’He really cut right to the heart of the matter.’
Sarah Lynch had tried to hide the relationship between the three of them, but she hadn’t expected it to be completely unavoidable.
She bit her lip and nodded.
"Julian, I didn’t know at first that Sean and Leila Jennings were already married."
Julian Grant froze, looking up at her in disbelief.
"Are you saying that Sean Sinclair and Leila Jennings are husband and wife? And you interfered in their relationship?"
Sarah Lynch retorted, "I didn’t interfere. Sean and I were together in college. We just separated when I went abroad, and then he suddenly married Leila Jennings. I had no idea. By the ti I found out, it was already too late."
"Leila Jennings always knew about my relationship with Sean, but I never knew that Sean had any connection to Leila." She wasn’t lying. She truly hadn’t known that the Dr. Jennings from the proprietary chip project had a connection to Sean Sinclair.
She hadn’t even seen Leila Jennings from the ti she joined the project until the day of the bid presentation.
Julian Grant was silent for a mont before saying, "Sean Sinclair deceived you."
Sarah Lynch lowered her gaze as a single tear fell.
Julian Grant handed her a tissue.
"Thank you, Julian."
Sarah Lynch didn’t imdiately confirm Julian Grant’s statent, instead changing the subject.
"Leila Jennings knows President Cole of The Cole Group. During the period of the confidentiality agreent, Leila worked as Nathaniel Cole’s secretary for a month. Everyone at The Cole Group knows about it."
"So, you suspect that President Cole and Leila Jennings tead up—one to crush a competitor, the other to defeat a romantic rival," Julian Grant summarized.
Sarah Lynch nodded without hesitation. When she looked up, her eyes were red-rimd.
When a vibrant rose suddenly sheds tears, anyone would feel a pang of sympathy.
Julian Grant promised her, "I’ll get you out of here, safe and sound, very soon."
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