Three Years Forgotten, Why Go Crazy When I Say Goodbye? novel Chapter 429

"You should at least give her a shot," Jayden reasoned, his tone perfectly persuasive. "Besides, she’s been begging to join the core team. This is the perfect test. If she succeeds, you can decide how to utilize her. If she fails, it shuts her up for good. Either way, we hold all the cards."

While Smith found the manipulation slightly distasteful, the overwhelming temptation of the clinical data was impossible to resist. This was likely his only shot at this breakthrough.

When it came to research, the man possessed an almost terrifying obsession.

To him, a lost sample was a lifelong regret. Incomplete data was a stain on his soul. An unconquered technical barrier was a demon that kept him awake at night.

He simply couldn't watch this opportunity slip through his fingers.

Knowing exactly how to play him, Jayden had pitched the idea with absolute confidence.

"And how do you plan to guarantee her participation?" Smith finally yielded.

"Leave that to me," Jayden said, a predatory smirk breaking across his face. "I promise you, she will eagerly accept, and she will get the job done."

Later that night, Jayden shot Vivienne a cryptic text: It's done.

Both of them were lethal, calculated players who smiled while hiding daggers behind their backs. They never left a paper trail for anything illicit, preferring to conduct their real business verbally. A text like this was intentionally vague, impossible to trace back to any specific conspiracy.

Her stubbornness only darkened the possessive, protective storm brewing in Silas's eyes.

He had no desire to cage her brilliance or stand in the way of her passion. But on this specific issue, there was zero room for negotiation. In his world, her safety superseded absolutely everything else.

"I'm sorry," he finally said, turning away so he wouldn't have to look at the disappointment in her eyes. "Your travel request is denied."

Willow was left speechless. This was the very first time since they had met that Silas had flat-out denied her, the first time he had pulled rank with such cold authority. She felt a crushing mix of helplessness and sting of betrayal.