Betrayed by the Father Reborn in His Rival's Arms novel Chapter 45

"Just have a quick chat with her, and I promise you'll have your answer."

Thrilled by the prospect, Sterling began firing off a few high-level technical questions, and once he verified that Lover AI was indeed hers, the two of them dove deep into the mechanics of his new project.

The deeper they got into the conversation, the more animated and excited Sterling became.

Silas stood quietly by the side, sipping his wine without interrupting a single time.

He knew Sterling was highly impressed, and at this rate, the CEO might just hand the entire project over to her on the spot.

Just then, Silas glanced up and noticed Lucius and Liliana walking straight toward them.

Liliana's multimillion-dollar gown was undeniably beautiful, but the sheer volume of gaudy jewelry she had piled on was far too flashy, bordering on tacky.

Silas had never liked her when she was his student. Thankfully, she had only attended his lectures a few times a week, so he rarely had to deal with her.

She was nowhere near as brilliant or genuine as Madeline, even though some students used to call Liliana 'the lesser Madeline.'

Liliana greeted him with a sickeningly sweet smile. "Professor Hayden."

Silas completely ignored her. Instead, he looked directly at Lucius and smiled sharply. "So, when did you two officially get together?"

That single sentence carried three heavy implications.

First, it meant he had heard the gossip floating around the hall.

Their high-profile entrance made everyone assume they were an item, and Silas was playing along.

Second, as one of the few people who knew about Madeline and Lucius's marriage, it was a direct call-out of Liliana's homewrecking.

He had forgotten that she was once the undisputed, reigning campus belle of their university—a title she still held in the alumni legends, even eight years after graduating.

Just moments ago, he had overheard several guests comparing Liliana's extravagant look to a mysterious woman in a black dress, mocking Liliana as a walking jewelry rack and praising the woman in black.

They had said the woman in black would look stunning even in a potato sack, effortlessly wearing the dress instead of letting the dress wear her.

Those comments had infuriated Liliana, who assumed some arrogant heiress was trying to upstage her while cursing the blind, tasteless fools in the crowd.

But the moment Liliana realized the mystery woman was Madeline, the color drained from her face.

She couldn't believe Madeline was actually at this gala.

And worse, she couldn't accept that Madeline actually dared to outshine her.