NovelOnlineIt was nothing, really.
A phone on the table buzzed to life.
Jarrod spared it only a passing glance.
Unknown number.
He pressed decline.
Whoever was on the other end seemed to grow impatient and kept calling, again and again.
In between flipping through The Harcourt Group's files, Jarrod simply blocked the number.
Elodie hadn't rested for long.
Her last episode had caught everyone off guard.
There was still unfinished business at the research base-she needed to wrap up phase one of the project.
She made her way to the hangar to test the new system.
System maintenance was a tedious process, requiring round after round of diagnostics.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtBy the tshe finished, evening was drawing near.
Walking from the hangar toward the data center, she crossed paths with Watts, who had just stepped out of his car.
Ever since the incident a while back, Elodie hadn't seen Watts in stime.
Watts caught sight of her-his usually composed expression flickered with something unspoken.
He stood there, watching her.
Elodie barely glanced up before returning her focus to the data sheets in her hands.
The higher-ups were still investigating her claim about the data tampering. Clearly, it wasn't a simple matter-there were no leads yet.
But Elodie had already figured out enough.
She knew exactly what kind of person she was dealing with.
She had no intention of speaking to Watts again.
She didn't bother with a greeting, just turned to head upstairs.
But Watts called out first. "Elodie, can we talk?" She had no choice but to stop.
There was no one else around; his voice was clear and direct.
Watts could see it plainly-Elodie's indifference, her refusal to even acknowledge him.
He walked over, eyes lowered, regarding her. "You've been avoiding me, haven't you? There's really no need I'm just here to hand in my resignation from the project team." Elodie turned to the side, expression unreadable.
She didn't dignify that with a response.
Watts gave a helpless shrug. "You think I set you up, don't you? The data tampering, your suspension... all of it?" Elodie closed the folder, her voice calm and without a trace of anger.
Whether you did or didn't doesn't matter. You're just a colleague. Office politics don't interest me." Watts' eyes darkened at that.
Elodie turned and walked away.
He could only watch her go.
Only now did the full weight of her detachment hit him-cold and unmistakable.
A colleague? Irrelevant? Her tone had been almost gentle, emotionless, yet the words landed with a sting that left him deeply unsettled.
Watts frowned, storm clouds gathering in his usually easygoing eyes.
He barely noticed.
Something else was nagging at him.
Patricia's call.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmHe climbed back into his car.
"I called him, and every the just blocked me! I only wanted to invite him to my exhibition! Is that too much to ask?" Patricia's voice was edged with anger and agitation-party music thumped in the background, half-drowned by her frustration.
Watts frowned in silence.
He knew Patricia wasn't in a great place these days.
Her parents had split. She'd grown up mostly abroad, unsupervised, with a temperament that could swing to extremes.
And then there was...
Patricia had been adopted by the Aldridge family.
Years ago, she'd made a scene about not being their biological child.
Especially when it cto Jarrod-anything involving him was a minefield Afew years back, Jarrod's indifference had sent her into a tailspin.
For months, she couldn't even hear his name.
She'd either lose herself in her art, refusing food and sleep or drown her pain in alcohol.
Watts knew that artists-especially those with sfoften led m complicated lives. Patricia, given her background, was more volatile than most.
"Where are you?" Watts' voice was cold. Patricia's current state worried him.
"Tell me," she said, sidestepping his question, "if I dragged Elodie to my exhibition, Jarrod would have to show up, wouldn't he?"
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