Chapter 464 We Will Compete Fairly
The next morning, Adeline woke up with a killer headache. She couldn't even remember how she got back from the bar. All she remembered was Vikram saying he wanted to take her out to chill, and then they hit the bar. After that, it was all a blur.
"Mommy." Lauren came in holding a small bowl, handed it to Adeline, and pouted. "You mustn't drink so much in the future; it left Vikram tending to you until late at night."
Adeline took the soup and drank it. After her headache eased up a bit, she thanked Lauren and frowned. "Why are you the only one here? Where's Blake?"
Since Bennett passed away, Blake and Lauren had always been together no matter where they went or what they did. Why was Lauren the only one here today?
Lauren said, "Blake is sleeping."
Lauren pouted. "Last night, when Vikram was taking care of you, Blake was afraid he might take advantage of you, so he stayed up to secretly supervise him. He only went back to his room to sleep after Vikram left."
Lauren's words made Adeline feel a pang of guilt.
Adeline pursed her lips, got out of bed, and said, "I'll go check on him."
Lauren pursed her lips, probably not wanting Adeline to feel so guilty, and couldn't help but say, "When Bennett was around, he always said we were Mom's rock and needed to look out for Mom. So, Mommy, you don't have to feel so guilty. It's what your children should do for you."
Lauren's words only deepened Adeline's guilt.
When she gave birth to them, she had vowed to protect them. But now, not only had she failed to protect Bennett, but she also went out drinking late at night because she was in a bad mood, causing Blake, who had just undergone a bone marrow transplant and hadn't fully recovered, to stay up late for her.
Adeline walked into the children's room.
On the small bed, Blake was quietly sleeping. On the small table beside his bed lay the code he had written in an attempt to decode the virus he had created, page after page, densely packed.
Adeline walked over, gently stroking Blake's hair with her fingertips, and suddenly felt that her disappointment over not being able to compete and the sadness of being replaced were insignificant. Since she had the best children in the world, she was the happiest.
Thinking of this, she gently covered Blake with a blanket, then turned to pick up Lauren, kissing her face repeatedly.
Holding Lauren, she walked to the hallway, closed the door to the children's room, and then solemnly looked at Lauren and said, "Mommy promises you that I will never go out drinking late at night when I'm in a bad mood."
As she spoke, Adeline raised her hand and pointed to the sky. "I swear."
Lauren pursed her lips and quickly covered Adeline's mouth with her small hand. "Mommy, you don't need to swear. If you're in a bad mood, you can vent. It's our duty to care for you."
After saying that, Lauren smiled and kissed Adeline's face. "We're a family. You never complained when you took care of us, and we won't either."
Adeline pursed her lips, hugged Lauren tightly, and felt her heart warm. As they hugged, they heard clapping from the hallway stairs.
It was Lauren's psychologist.
She had just witnessed the conversation between Adeline and Lauren and saw them hugging, and couldn't help but clap excitedly. "It looks like Lauren's condition is almost completely cured! Indeed, the care and companionship of family are the best treatments for such emotional trauma!"
Hearing the doc's words, Adeline was both surprised and stoked. She hugged Lauren and kissed her a bunch of times before letting her go and seriously grilling the doc on the side.
After hearing the doc say that Lauren was almost fully recovered, she was even more pumped.
Blake's doc had already said a few days ago that Blake was bouncing back well and was unlikely to have any more rejection reactions. He'd only get healthier from here on out.
Now, she got the news that Lauren was also on the mend.
So, on her way to work, Adeline snagged some candy and chocolate to share her excitement with everyone.
Blake and Lauren's illnesses were cured. This was the best news she had gotten since Bennett passed away!
Adeline rolled into the company all hyped, only to find that the design department had almost completely changed.
As soon as she pushed the door open, Adeline heard a bunch of voices coming from Luna's workstation.
"Ms. Jones, I made you some coffee!"
"Ms. Jones, I finished the form you wanted."
"Ms. Jones, need anything else?"
Almost everyone in the office was gathered around Luna, kissing up to her.
And those employees who used to be all about Adeline acted like she was invisible when she walked in.
Adeline's heart sank. But she wasn't super mad. After all, her rep outside was trash now, and Jasper had booted her from the competition team. She had no right to gripe about others' attitudes. However, the candy and chocolate in her bag were no longer necessary to share.
Adeline took a deep breath and headed back to her office.
Not long after, Timothy, Robert, and Anne showed up. They barged into Adeline's office together. "Adeline, what's going on?"
Timothy frowned. "There's less than two days until the competition, and Jasper actually replaced you with Luna. What's he thinking?"
Robert stayed calm. "I think Mr. Foster wants to give the honor of leading the team to Luna. After all, Adeline will be leaving soon, and he needs to elevate Luna so that the Foster Group still has a prominent designer after Adeline leaves. But these designs have nothing to do with Luna! How can they be so shameless! Keep your voice down. Everyone outside is on Luna's side now. It's not good to be overheard."
Seeing their pissed-off faces, Adeline couldn't help but smile. She took a handful of candy and chocolate from her bag and placed them on her desk. "Have some candy."
Timothy, Robert, and Anne stopped arguing.
Anne looked at Adeline in shock. "Adeline, you're actually offering us candy? This isn't something to be happy about."
Adeline said, "But I have something to be happy about."
Adeline smiled and told them about Blake and Lauren's recent progress, then chuckled. "Timothy, Robert, I don't want you to quit the competition team because this project also has your effort in it. If you quit, everything will belong to Luna."
Timothy and Robert, who had been ready to bail, finally fell silent.
After a while, they sighed dejectedly. "We'll give it our all."
Adeline smiled as she encouraged them. "I'll be there tomorrow to see your creations snag some awards. Good luck!"
After they left, Adeline munched on some candy while tidying up her desk.
She had been so swamped these past two weeks that her desk was a mess, almost like a garbage dump. She hadn't finished tidying up when the office door was pushed open again.
This time, it was the smug Luna who walked in.
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