She Quit Her Family and Found Herself novel Chapter 113

Sylvie tilted her head up, staring blankly at him.

Herbert had already started walking past her. When she didn't answer a single question, he stopped and looked back. "What's wrong? Why aren't you answering me? Where is Hulda?"

Sylvie's eyes flickered. Her hand, which had been halfway in her pocket to retrieve the divorce papers, slowly let them slide back out of sight. "She came to drop something off, and then she left."

She omitted the divorce completely.

Herbert didn't suspect a thing. He just frowned deeply. "Drop something off? What was it?"

Sylvie smiled and shook her head. "I don't know. That's her privacy. I didn't ask, and I didn't pry."

He nodded. He was just about to pull out his phone to ask Hulda what on earth she had brought over when Sylvie's voice, tinged with sadness, stopped him.

"I think she really just wanted an excuse to see you. She probably felt too proud to admit it, so she claimed she was returning something. Otherwise, she wouldn't have immediately asked if you were home the second I opened the door."

Herbert's hand paused over his phone.

Her logic made perfect sense. He couldn't fathom what could possibly be so urgent that Hulda would deliver it personally in the middle of the night.

*Hah. That woman. Still playing all these petty little mind games.*

So utterly exhausting.

Watching his expression shift, Sylvie pressed her advantage. "I told her right away that you weren't here, that the company was facing a massive crisis, and that you were under an immense amount of pressure. But she didn't believe me. She's so prejudiced against me... she probably thought I was lying just to keep you two apart. Only when she realized you truly weren't home did she pivot to the excuse of dropping something off."

To Herbert, this explanation was flawless.

"That woman..." He was practically vibrating with irritation, lacking the words to fully express his disdain for his wife.

Even Sylvie, a virtual outsider, knew to ache for him and accommodate his stress. Yet Hulda, his own wife, chose the moment he was drowning under professional pressure to wallow in petty jealousy and childish romantic grievances.

Herbert chuckled and shook his head, continuing up the stairs. "Of course not. The core management team and the technical leads from the labs are coming too."

The light in her eyes dimmed slightly. "Oh. A company retreat?"

"Yes." He nodded.

Ever since Dr. Lowe had severed their direct partnership pipeline, H&J's staff had been entirely demoralized. The management was anxious, and the instability was toxic for the company's long-term survival. He and Justin had brainstormed and decided a luxury resort retreat was exactly what everyone needed to reset.

"If the Conrad Atherton Institute is doing open bidding, then as long as H&J is eligible to participate, we still have a shot at partnering with them. But before we face that battle, we need to stabilize the troops."

"But Dr. Lowe has blocked all our contacts. Will they even let us into the press conference next Friday?"

If they couldn't even secure an invitation to the venue, they'd never get face time with the Director of the R&D Center—the person holding the ultimate decision-making power. Without that, bidding was a pipe dream.