The Breaking Point of Mate: Giving Up on My Alpha novel Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Melanie’s POV

Elmer elegantly bowed and reached out to introduce me. “This is Melanie, my junior from school. She’s a genius in programming languages, and I guarantee she can help you.”

“Your junior?”

Elmer’s teacher, Marcus Norman, was an authority in the AI field. Though his students were young, they were all major players in the tech world.

But many people weren’t aware that I was also Marcus’s student.

“Absolutely,” Elmer said with a smile. “The CUAP programming language from eight years ago? She led the team that developed it.”

At the mention of CUAP, Mr. Fisher’s eyes immediately widened.

He could barely believe it. “Is that true?”

“Talk to her for a minute, and you’ll find out,” Elmer replied.

Mr. Fisher was visibly excited. He started by cautiously asking me one or two questions about programming languages. Once he confirmed my expertise, he dove into the problems he was facing.

We became deeply engrossed in the discussion, practically forgetting our surroundings.

Elmer sipped his wine, watching with a gentle smile, not interrupting.

Just then, I saw Elmer’s eyes catch on something and stop. Following his gaze, I saw Camille walking toward him.

Before I could fully react, Camille was standing in front of him. “Elmer.”

Before Elmer could speak, my eyes met Camille’s.

The polite, faint smile on Camille’s face instantly dropped, turning icy the moment she saw me.

She gave me only a fleeting look before shifting her gaze, acting as if I didn’t exist.

She turned her smile back to Elmer.

But before she could say anything, Elmer smiled and looked at me first. “This is Ms. Haines, Melanie. Would you like to meet her?”

Camille’s smile faltered, then she asked coldly, “So, Elmer, are you trying to tell me I don’t need to report to Hilltop Tech tomorrow?”

Elmer gave an admiring laugh, put down his wine glass, and clapped softly. “Ms. Haines, you’re quite sharp”

There was no attempt to be subtle in his tone. I could tell he was deliberately using this direct approach to show where he stood. Between Camille and me, he was clearly on my side.

Camille didn’t look embarrassed. She simply nodded lightly, said nothing more, and turned to walk back toward Archer’s group. I was about to thank Elmer when I noticed Archer, Dwight, and Edric watching us from not too far away.

Judging by the direction of their gaze, they had likely been looking at Camille, and followed her line of sight to spot me–they probably hadn’t expected me to be at this event.

Both Edric and Dwight looked surprised when they saw me.

Chapter 29

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Only Archer’s face was completely expressionless. His eyes were as flat as if he were looking at a complete stranger, not acknowledging me as his mate at all.

“What’s wrong?” Elmer followed my gaze.

I shook my head and smiled. “Nothing.”

By then, Camille had rejoined Archer and the others. The group huddled together for a brief conversation, then stopped paying attention to our side of the room.

I looked away too, returning to my discussion of the programming challenge with Mr. Fisher.

After Mr. Fisher left, I took a sip of my drink. When I looked up, I noticed Edric looking at me with a smirk. Archer’s back was to me, seemingly talking to someone else.

Seeing me look over, Edric raised an eyebrow and lifted his glass towards me.

I frowned, not understanding his gesture.

Then, he seemed to let out a short, scoffing laugh, before looking away and not looking back again.

It clicked. He probably thought Elmer and I had “picked on” Camille, and that was his subtle warning that “this isn’t over.”

A little while later, the dinner host finished his rounds and finally rejoined us.

After a brief chat, he looked at Elmer. “You know Ms. Haines?”

Elmer smiled. “I guess so. Why?”

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