The Scorned Heiress's Hidden Empire (by Jade Quinn) novel Chapter 198

Chapter 198

Some people gave Natalie a polite yet distant smile and a nod, just enough to say hello

Only one young researcher with glasses smiled at Natale and said. “Welcome, then went right back to his work

The atmosphere in the lab wasn’t cold, but it definitely wasn’t warm either. There was an awkward vibe hanging in the Leonardo could sense the awkward vibe in the lab, but he’d expected it from the start.

Everyone here was proud and ambitious, with several papers published in SCI journals and over ten million dollars it research funding every year. No wonder they weren’t thrilled about letting a freshman join their ranks.

But Leonardo didn’t mind. He knew Natalie’s talent. If they didn’t believe it now, it was only a matter of time before th did.

He trusted his own instincts; he’d never misjudged anyone.

Leonardo called over the youngest–looking researcher. “Mike, show Natalie around and help her out if she needs anyth

Mike was dressed in a white lab coat and wore rimless glasses. He was pale and slim, giving off a refined, scholarly vibe.

He was a PhD student at Redvale University. He nodded at Natalie in greeting.

‘Sure thing, Leonardo. Hi, Natalie, I’m Mike. If you need anything in the lab, just let me know,” he said politely

Mike addressed Natalie with a courteous smile.

Seeing everything was in order, Leonardo said a couple more words and headed out.

As soon as Leonardo left, the awkward silence in the lab settled right back in.

Mike turned back to his desk, fired up his computer, put on his headphones, and started working on a new set of data He didn’t spare Natalie another glance.

He wasn’t ignoring her on purpose. He was just seriously overloaded. Being a PhD student meant endless work as project stuck lately, he barely had a moment to catch his breath.

He was even reading papers while grabbing a bite; honestly, he didn’t have the bandwidth to look after a fresining

now.

Honestly, nobody in the lab took Natalie seriously. To them, she was just an extra, like a hamless mascot hanging an not someone worth paying attention to.

After all, she was only a freshman.

Natalie stood there for a couple of .econds, wanting to see if anyone would give her something to do Whooty bothered, she decided to explore the lab herself

She walked over to an optical platform bent down feexamine the lus setup, then headed over 4 Max Tonkret

She noured a blackboard filled with formules and derivations Natali passed in front otse carefully reacting brought the equalis from the top left comer to the bottom righ

Everyone else in the lab was caught up in their own work thecasionally sothe would love it her soureA MENORES SUTHE just checking her out

Chapter 18 –

But most of the ye she got that look that said. “Why are you still hanging around?

No one talked to her, no one gave her anything to do. She was like a drop of water in hot oil, totally not fitting in

But Natalie didn’t care. She wasn’t bothering anyone; she was just looking around

“Excuse me.”

A voice came from behind her, quiet but with obvious impatience in his tone.

Natalie turned around to see a male researcher in his early thirties standing there. He was wearing a white lab coat, holdin stack of printed data sheets, and his frown was so deep it looked like he could crush a fly between his brows.

His hair was a mess, his glasses smudged with fingerprints, and there was some kind of stain on the cuff of his lab coat. probably coffee, or maybe something else. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

Honestly, he hadn’t gotten a decent night’s sleep in days. The project had been stalled for a week because of one stubborn >arameter, and he’d tried every possible setup, but nothing worked.

Today, he finally felt like he was onto something, only to have his concentration wrecked by a freshman pacing around th ab, her presence constantly distracting him.

Why are you pacing around here?” he asked.

His tone wasn’t exactly harsh, but it was clear he thought she was just making things harder for everyone.

Natalie just looked at him, saying nothing.

The researcher gave her a quick once–over.

Just a freshman, and she’s the top scorer on the SAT? Is that really enough for Leonardo to send her here?

There have been plenty of SAT top scorers before. How come none of them ever made it here?‘ he thought

Being a SAT top scorer and actually doing research were worlds apart. He’d spent five years in this lab and seen plein, et so called geniuses walk in, only to flounder and accomplish nothing.

Research isn’t like taking a test. There’s no right answer, and just because you can ace exams doesn’t mean you live

nywhere in the lab.

If you’re just standing around, go organize those data sets in the corner,” he said.

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He pointed at a computer tucked away in the corner, his tone blunt, like he was ordering an intern to do some busy work

‘Sort the latest experiment data by time, mark any weird values, and upload it to the shared foldes when youre Montes! And stop pacing around. You’re distracting everyone, he addest

He turned and walked off, not giving Natalie a chance to reply or even waiting for her resposase

He headed back to his deck tossed the stark of data sheets on and slammed hansell and has, hang it copak loudly

He rubbed his temples, closed his eyes, and took a deep bacalls trying board tow alin huise!l town

The colleague next to him shot lum a look glanced at Natale then sand boiling in Exciting back to his work

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Chapter 198 –

Amalie Mood there, looked away from the researcher, and said nothing

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