I Was His Wife, Then His Widow, Then No One's But My Own novel Chapter 369

Nora Newman sat in her seat, her fingers still trembling slightly. She took several deep, shuddering breaths, violently forcing her racing heart to calm down. Pulling out her laptop and research materials, she waited in silence for the seminar to begin.

Soon, the massive venue filled up. A seminar by Dr. Maxwell Reed was a highly coveted event; even the industry's top elites fought tooth and nail for a seat, filling up the front rows in mere minutes.

But the stage remained empty.

Nora glanced up but thought nothing of it. Dr. Reed was likely making final preparations backstage. It was perfectly normal for the keynote speaker to make a grand, dramatic entrance.

She focused on organizing her notes. Time slipped past the scheduled start time, yet Dr. Reed still hadn't appeared. Uneasy murmurs began rippling through the massive crowd.

Hearing the murmurs, Nora looked up again. The stage was still deserted.

She frowned, a terrible, sinking premonition forming in the pit of her stomach.

Time slipped past the scheduled start, bleeding into a thirty-minute delay. Suddenly, the house lights dimmed, and the host walked onto the stage with a grim, ashen expression. She looked out at the restless crowd and took a deep, heavy breath.

"I am incredibly sorry, everyone. We just received an emergency notice that Dr. Maxwell Reed has an urgent, unavoidable matter to attend to. Today's seminar is temporarily canceled and will be postponed to next week. We will notify you of the specific arrangements. Please exit the venue in an orderly fashion."

The venue erupted in an uproar.

Nora froze in her seat, blinking in sheer disbelief. She prayed she had just misheard the announcement.

It wasn't until someone beside her slowly stood up that the horrific reality finally snapped her out of her daze. It felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over her head.

Back at the Vance Institute of Medical Science, Nora's face was calm, but the crushing disappointment pooling in her eyes was impossible to hide.

Xavier Vance had just stepped out of the lab and instantly spotted her. "Nora, weren't you attending Dr. Reed's seminar? Why are you back so soon?"

Seeing her mentor, Nora forced a smile. "It got canceled at the last minute. Dr. Reed had an emergency, so it's been postponed to next week."

Xavier frowned. The Dr. Reed he knew would never cancel or delay an event on a whim. This had to be a genuine, life-altering emergency.

"It's alright, it's just an extra week. Your proposal is already rock solid. Use this time to polish it even further, and you'll blow him away."