Next Man, Better Plan novel Chapter 43

Victoria spoke up then. "We're all on the same project team, which means we share responsibility. The experiments are done in pairs, and Stephanie and Serena were partners."

Victoria looked at Troy with a gentle, harmless smile.

"If Serena had to step away for an emergency, it was Stephanie's duty to keep an eye on things for her. Besides, isn't everyone saying Stephanie is about to be promoted to assistant director? And Mr. Cooper, you've always been the one who puts in the most effort for the team. We all appreciate everything you do."

Serena realized Victoria was defending her and shot her a grateful look.

Victoria returned a friendly smile. Her words had also subtly flattered Troy by praising his dedication.

As expected, Troy let the matter drop.

Stephanie watched Victoria's smooth, diplomatic performance and thought to herself that the simple, earnest girl who had once begged for sponsorship to attend school was long gone.

The Victoria of today had lost her former innocence and naivety; her eyes now held the cunning and worldliness of someone tainted by society.

Stephanie shook her head. It was her own fault for misjudging her.

Sponsoring Victoria had been an act of kindness. At the time, her father and two brothers had just passed away, and Stephanie had been taken in by the Gonzalez family.

Reflecting on her own situation, she felt a sense of pity for the orphaned Victoria and decided to sponsor her on a whim.

They were the same age. In the beginning, Victoria was thrilled to receive the sponsorship and corresponded with Stephanie by letter, writing frequently to express her gratitude.

Stephanie would encourage Victoria to study hard in her replies. Although they had never met in person, Stephanie already considered Victoria a friend.

Later, Victoria was accepted into the same university, and she logically enrolled in the same major as Stephanie. They finally went from being "pen pals" to meeting in person, though Stephanie was a year ahead of her.

At first, Victoria just admired a dress in Stephanie's closet, and Stephanie gave it to her without a second thought.

After Stephanie graduated and started working at Sapphire Group, they saw each other less and less, with Victoria still in school and Stephanie at work.

Stephanie had assumed they were the kind of friends who would always care for each other, even if they didn't see each other often. But she had been fooling herself.

The next time she saw Victoria was six months ago. She was outside the Meridian Consortium building, pestering Quennel and insisting on repaying him for his sponsorship.

But Victoria knew perfectly well that Stephanie was the one who had sponsored her; Quennel's name was just on the paperwork. Yet she pretended not to know, using it as an excuse to get close to him.

Stephanie had watched the entire scene unfold from a short distance away.

It was the day Meridian Consortium released its quarterly financial report. They had a long-standing tradition of celebrating the report's release at a nice restaurant—a ritual that had formed naturally over the years.

Quennel paid Victoria no mind, barely giving her a glance. "You want to repay me?"