She Left She Thrived She’s Worth Billions novel Chapter 226

Triland Crest Hotel.

Evelyn was having a meal with her daughter, Lila, and a man in a VIP suite.

Compared to her time at the Aldoria University Research Institute, she had changed her makeup to look more sophisticated.

She had also changed her clothes, giving off the air of a sharp, professional woman.

Lila was supposed to be at her kindergarten prep class today but was suddenly picked up by Evelyn.

Evelyn even bought her a new black Audrey Hepburn-style dress.

A little dressing up made the little girl look exceptionally striking and eye-catching.

At first, Lila had asked Evelyn where they were going and why her father wasn't with them.

But Evelyn sternly warned her not to mention that Dominic was her father when she met the new gentleman.

The atmosphere in the private room was comfortable enough, but Bryant Lennox could see that Lila was a bit nervous.

“Lila, you’re still young. If you’re not used to a knife and fork, you can use a small spoon. It’s even okay to use your hands.”

Hearing Bryant's words, Lila glanced cautiously at Evelyn. Seeing no objection, she immediately grabbed a piece of steak with her small hands and took a bite, her face quickly becoming smudged with grease.

Bryant watched Lila with an envious smile.

“I wish my daughter could be with me.”

The words trailed off, carrying with them the melancholy in Bryant's heart.

“Bryant, it wasn't your fault that you and your ex-wife divorced. The court really shouldn't have given her custody of your child.”

Evelyn feigned a look of righteous indignation.

In reality, she didn't know or care how Bryant's marriage had ended.

She had only found out about it from other alumni chatting in a group message.

Bryant—like Riley—had been a senior to Evelyn in high school.

Evelyn had always been closer to Riley.

But she was aware that Bryant had a crush on her for a while back then.

Originally, she had just seen Bryant as an admirer, but she never expected that after graduating from college, he would transform into the youngest deputy director of the National Biological Data Center.

If Riley had been reliable, Evelyn would never have thought of trying to curry favor with Bryant.

But to her surprise, Riley had turned out to be utterly useless.

She had underestimated Melanie.

She had assumed that because she had once saved his life and he had loved her, Dominic would quickly divorce Melanie after she and Lila moved to Averin, especially since he hadn't slept with Melanie in four years of marriage.

But not only had Dominic not divorced Melanie, he was becoming more and more protective of her.

Evelyn was determined to create a project a thousand, even ten thousand times more impressive than Melanie’s, to make Dominic realize that she was the one with true value.

“Bryant, I heard in our alumni group that your data center is working on a major project recently?”

While Evelyn was fishing for information over dinner with Bryant and Lila, back at the Aldoria University Research Institute, Melanie, who had just finished the quiz competition, received a call from Elias.

“Ace, I saw the live stream of your competition with Riley all the way from Cyranth. That was a pretty low blow.”

Melanie was bewildered.

“Elias, whose side are you on, mine or Riley’s? How was I the one pulling a low blow?”

“You were totally picking on him! Giving a student problems that even I couldn’t answer. How is that not a low blow?”

After hearing Elias’s self-righteous justification, Melanie was even more confused.

So, who was the student?