The Wife He Forgot to Marry (Winona and Yule) novel Chapter 245

Margaret was so infuriated she was left entirely speechless, her eyes glaring daggers at the younger woman.

She had never expected Winona to have such a sharp, unforgiving tongue.

What on earth did Stefan see in this utterly ill-bred girl?

Winona held her gaze coolly. "If you're quite finished, I'll be taking my leave."

Without so much as a second glance, she turned on her heel and walked away.

The next day at the office, Winona caught snippets of her colleagues gossiping enthusiastically about Stefan and Ophelia.

"I heard Mr. Goddard and Ms. Powell flew back to the capital together. Sounds like wedding bells are ringing!"

"The top executives at headquarters already got the heads-up about their upcoming engagement. Rumor has it they might just roll the engagement and wedding into one huge event before the holidays."

"Could you imagine? They're both incredibly gorgeous. Their babies are going to be absolute models!"

Winona tuned out the chatter and focused entirely on her screen.

Tallulah strolled past her desk, her eyes gleaming with undisguised schadenfreude.

Winona simply cast a dull, dismissive glance at Tallulah's stomach and let out a soft, mocking scoff.

Tallulah's hands balled into fists. She let out an angry huff and stomped away.

That evening, Winona went out for dinner with Rhea.

Swirling her drink, Rhea asked cautiously, "What if Stefan really can't handle the pressure from his mother and ends up marrying Ophelia? What will you do?"

Winona gave a light, easy smile. "Stefan and I were never at that point to begin with. If he marries someone else, I'll genuinely wish him the best."

She had only recently escaped the wreckage of her marriage with Yulen; she had absolutely no desire to plunge into another romance anytime soon.

And even if she did eventually decide to move on, it wouldn't be with Stefan.

She was done getting tangled up with billionaires and high-society drama. All she wanted was a quiet, peaceful, and stable life.

*

Meanwhile, thanks to Mr. Powell's connections, Yulen finally managed to get Dr. Dawson on the phone.

"Dr. Dawson, I know your schedule is incredibly demanding, but my grandmother's condition is critical. I'm hoping you can fly over to perform the surgery. You can name your price—whatever the surgical fee is, I'll cover it. On top of that, we are fully prepared to make a substantial donation to fund your laboratory research."

At the same time, Stefan also made contact with Dr. Dawson.

When he heard the doctor demand the patent technology for a revolutionary drug developed by Goddard Group's pharmaceutical division, Stefan didn't even blink.

"Done," Stefan agreed instantly. "I'll have my legal team draft the transfer and contact you immediately. I expect you on the earliest possible flight to Riverton."

Dr. Dawson was thrilled. "A pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Goddard. I'll book my ticket tomorrow and head straight to Riverton."

Stefan relayed the news to Jericho, asking him to pass it along to Winona.

Jericho raised a knowing eyebrow. "I was just talking to Winslow and the others about this. Dr. Dawson is notoriously impossible to book. The last two billionaires who hired him had to agree to some incredibly steep, outrageous demands. Stefan, you must have bled a fortune for this."

Stefan replied evenly, "It's nothing. I just handed over a piece of patent technology."

Jericho was stunned, then shook his head with a helpless smile. "You really don't hold back, do you? And you're still not going to tell Winona?"

"There's no need. I don't want her feeling like she owes me."

*

When Winona received the call from Mr. Harper confirming that Dr. Dawson had agreed to fly to Riverton for Nikita's surgery, the massive weight that had been crushing her chest finally vanished completely.