Find me in your labyrinth (Stella and Jonathan) novel Chapter 3442

Carson glanced at the sandwich in his hand, then looked up at Marina with a teasing smile. "Feels like a wife nagging her husband before he leaves for work."

A flush crept up Marina's neck. "Don't flatter yourself. You'll never get a wife that considerate, trust me."

Carson arched a brow. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

He opened the door and stepped out, glancing back at her. "No need to see me out. Watch the kids. I'll be home tonight."

Marina grabbed a small decorative figurine from the entryway console and faked throwing it at his head. Carson dodged it effortlessly and pulled the door shut behind him.

Still clutching the figurine, Marina couldn't help but laugh out loud.

*

The new week kicked off. During the Monday morning briefing, the company officially launched their self-driving car project. The project lead announced that they had finalized an agreement with the international TG Corp. The two companies would collaborate on research and development, fully sharing their core technologies.

With such a major breakthrough, Marina was ecstatic. The lingering frustration from Phoebe and her grandparents felt entirely insignificant now.

Late in the afternoon, right before quitting time, Marina had her assistant inform the R&D department that she was taking them all out to dinner to celebrate.

Her assistant happily rushed off to spread the news.

Marina opened her laptop and noticed a notification in her private inbox—an email address known only to her closest friends and former classmates.

Curious, she clicked on it.

*Hello Ashen. This is Nocturne.*

The moment she read the opening line, utter shock washed over her face.

Back in college, she had been absolutely obsessed with manga, dreaming of becoming a professional artist. During her senior year, she had worked on adapting a classic fairytale, handling the illustrations. Her bold concepts and gorgeous art style had even earned her a modest bit of fame.

Later, she collaborated with a publisher to release her first original manga, which became a sleeper hit. The pen name she used back then was Ashen.

She wanted to decline, but every time she typed out a rejection, she backspaced the words away.

For the first time in her life, she was agonizing over a choice.

Quitting time rolled around, and she still hadn't made a decision. She opted to shut her laptop, deciding she needed more time to think.

After work, Marina treated her team to dinner, followed by a trip to 9th Mansion for some karaoke and downtime.

With the new project breakthrough, everyone was in high spirits. The drinks were flowing, and the private room was filled with rowdy, ecstatic chatter.

"Ms. Evert, a toast to you. Without your total support, we'd never have gotten this project off the ground."

Yuri Lestrade, the newly appointed technical lead, approached her with a glass in hand.

Having just finished his PhD, he was so nervous his face was flushed, and the hand holding his drink trembled slightly.