Boss, Your Wife Signed the Divorce Agreement Before the Wedding novel Chapter 382

After exchanging contact information with the university board, Preston arrived to pick Raelynn up. The testing phase for their project had been yielding phenomenal results. If everything stayed on track, the surgical robots would officially launch for a three-month live data trial in the second half of the year. The upcoming schedule was going to be brutal. They had to juggle product teasers, early market deployment, promotional campaigns, and aligning with their collaborative partners all at once. "Securing our market share right out of the gate is critical. We need to start meeting with hospital directors and institutional heads to pitch the product directly," Preston said, already laying out the battle plan. The more meetings they took now, the faster the robots would be integrated into operating rooms across the country once they launched. "Filter out the top-tier partners and start setting up the meetings," Raelynn agreed. If they nailed this phase, the rest of the rollout would be significantly smoother. A groundbreaking product was useless if they couldn't convince surgeons to actually use it. By early evening, just as Raelynn finished a complex raw material extraction, her phone buzzed with an iMessage from Lily. It was an adorable animated sticker asking, 'Are you there?' Raelynn peeled off her sterile lab coat and immediately dialed the little girl's number. "Hey, sweetie. What's up?" Lily's giggles chimed through the speaker. "Mama, I have a day off tomorrow! Can you spend the whole day with me?" The little girl's voice held a trace of hesitation, as if she were terrified Raelynn would use work as an excuse, or say 'the timing wasn't right' like she had so many times before. A sharp pang of guilt twisted Raelynn's heart. She knew she had failed Lily in so many ways. Her daughter was almost six years old, and the amount of time they had actually spent together was heartbreakingly small. If Lily hadn't transferred to a school in Kingsford this year, their visits would likely still be restricted to a handful of fleeting moments. "Of course I can. Work can wait. You are the most important thing in the world to me," Raelynn said firmly, pushing her schedule aside without a second thought. She couldn't bear to let Lily down. Lily instantly brightened, her tiny voice bubbling with excitement. "Then can I come over tonight? I want to sleep in your bed! Just the two of us!" Ever since she was a toddler, Lily had known her mother was doing something incredibly important. She knew Raelynn was fighting for a future where they could finally be together. Because of that, Lily always tried to be the perfect, invisible child who never got in the way. But sometimes, she just wanted to be held by her mom until she fell asleep. It sounded like the best thing in the whole world. Raelynn couldn't even force the word 'no' past her lips. Lily was already far too mature for her age. "Yes! I'll come pick you up in a little bit," Raelynn promised. Lily let out a joyful cheer, immediately chattering about packing her favorite pajamas, her stuffed animals, and the little cookies she had baked at school that afternoon. Raelynn smiled, murmuring her agreement to every demand. The guilt still gnawed at her. For years, the suffocating presence of the Croix family had forced her to be agonizingly careful. She had never even dared to keep Lily overnight, terrified that a random slip-up would expose her daughter to Sebastian's world. But now... Aside from lacking the official divorce papers, things were as safe as they were going to get. One night wouldn't hurt. After ending the call, Raelynn drove straight to the supermarket, loading her cart with Lily's favorite snacks and the ingredients for dinner. It was a rare, precious taste of normal happiness. She hadn't given up the lease on her small apartment yet. Moving back into the marital mansion under Matilda Croix's orders was only a temporary nightmare; she knew she would eventually leave again. Tonight, she was bringing Lily to the apartment. Ever since their explosive fight at the main estate regarding her fabricated miscarriage, Sebastian hadn't set foot in their shared home. It didn't matter if she didn't go back tonight. They were living entirely separate lives, neither caring about what the other was doing. Once Raelynn brought Lily to the apartment, the little girl dropped her backpack and immediately began sprinting around the small space.