Want My Womb? I'll Make You Childless novel Chapter 40

< Chapter 40

Chapter 40

His face grim, Ethan stood in the doorway. “You cracked Skyline’s core data?”

“Do you even know this is a trade secret?”

Clara’s eyes dropped. “Olivia abandoned her post. I told her to come back, but she refused.”

“Time’s running out, and I couldn’t wait. I just had to come alone.”

Mark

Olivia glanced at Ethan.”Ms. Bennett, there’s nothing I can do. This meeting today is super important for the Carter Group, and anyway, when did you ever call me?”

Clara turned to Olivia.”I don’t have your number, so no, I never called you.” Her gaze hardened. “But I called Mr. Carter. You picked up. I told you to come back, and you told me to wait.”

Olivia, you joined the R&D team. You had to know how urgent Project Blade was.

That half-day you wasted? The data’s expired. How many all-nighters will the whole R&D team have to pull to get back on track?

And besides, Engineer Walker already sent out a notice. You were supposed to be on standby in the R&D lab today. I still want to know why you went AWOL.

Olivia remembered the group chat messages from this morning, then looked away.”When did I ever receive a notice?”

“Ms. Bennett, okay, I didn’t make it back for the data compatibility, that’s on me. But you can’t just use that to justify messing with our Skyline project and push all the blame on me, can you?”

“That’s a lie!”

A little girl’s clear voice suddenly cut in from just outside the R&D lab door.”I helped Dad write that notice and sent it to the group chat. Dad said this was super important. I even sent you a separate copy!”

The commotion quickly drew everyone’s attention. Even Lila, who was in the break room, came out to see what was up.

Olivia glared at Lila.”What do you know, kid?”

Lila wasn’t fazed.”I know everything.”

“I also know Auntie called you to come back to work, and you told her to wait.”

Ethan frowned, his eyes on Olivia.

Honestly, she hadn’t even needed to be at today’s conference.

He’d only brought her along because she’d complained about being sidelined by the R&D team, said her lead wasn’t giving her work, and that she had nothing to do at Nova AI.

Ethan’s stare pinned Olivia. Her eyes skittered away, guilt immediately flushing her. She scrambled for an explanation.

But then David rushed in. He went straight to Ethan, about to say something, but froze when he saw Clara sitting in the R&D lab. He leaned in close to Ethan, whispering something in his ear.

Ethan’s face went dark.

He turned to Clara, his gaze dropping to her stomach, his eyes unreadable.”Clara, come out for a sec. I need to ask you something.”

Clara saw David’s face and just knew. They were probably talking about Lucas kicking her yesterday.

She typed in the last set of data on her keyboard. Clara stood up, following Ethan to the elevator lobby.

Ethan’s seyes scanned her up and down, full of concern.”Lucas kicked you yesterday? How’s the baby? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Clara just felt a bitter twist of irony, seeing Ethan like this.

Lucas had kicked her in the stomach over a dozen hours ago. He was just finding out now, from David. Who knew what he’d been up to all this

time.

Then she remembered Ethan and Olivia, just moments ago, outside the lab door.

Clara suddenly really wanted to see his face when he found out his baby with Olivia was already gone.

“But…”

Just as she started to speak, Ethan’s phone rang.

He pulled out his phone, ready to hang up. But then he saw the number. His eyes lit up.

She couldn’t hear what was said, but a rare flash of pure joy actually flickered in Ethan’s eyes. “Got it,” he said. “I’ll be right there.”

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Maria

He hung up the phone. A hint of urgency flashed across Ethan’s face. He looked at Clara.”Glad you’re okay. I gotta go, I have other things to

deal with.”

He spun around and strode into the office area. Facing Olivia, he said, “Clara’s already on your tasks anyway. Just let her take over the rest.” You’re back at Carter Group tomorrow. Don’t bother coming to Nova Al.

Disbelief flooded Olivia’s eyes.

Ethan actually handed the core of Skyline-such a crucial system-to Clara? An outsider?

“I’ve got an interview. I’m out.”

Ethan couldn’t care less about Olivia’s expression. He pivoted and headed for the elevator.

He jabbed the down button, his gaze snapping to his watch. Urgency blazed in his eyes.

Years he’d searched for her. And now, finally, he’d found her.

Olivia watched Ethan walk away, her eyes burning with resentment.

She’d invited Ethan to Nova AI because her phone had buzzed with a warning – the Skyline firewall was breached. Sophia had told her Clara was behind it. Her plan? Get Ethan to chew Clara out, make them duke it out.

But then Lila popped up, totally wrecking her scheme. She’d braced herself for Ethan to lay into her once he knew the whole mess, yet he’d just… ended it so abruptly, shipping her back to Carter Group.

So, that meant she was practically kicked off the Blade dev team, right?

She’d fought tooth and nail for this chance. But Ethan’s decision? She wouldn’t dare argue All she could do was swallow the bitter resentment boiling inside her.

She turned to Clara, forcing a stiff, plastic smile.”Ms. Bennett, since Mr. Carter put it that way, I guess it’s all on you now.”

“Totally my bad for not checking the group chat today. My apologies for the extra hassle.”

With that, she spun on her heel and walked away. Passing Lila, she shot her a venomous glare.

If that girl hadn’t run her mouth, none of this would’ve happened.

Just you wait. She’d make that nosy little brat regret it, because meddlers never come out on top.

Once inside the elevator, Olivia couldn’t shake the feeling something was off.

David had clearly said earlier that Ethan only had one joint interview today, with the U.S. head of the foreign Al company, Apex.

He never used to do these kinds of non-exclusive interviews, but he not only agreed, he left in such a rush.

Could it be that the Apex head knows him? And is super important?

Olivia pulled out her phone, searching for information on Apex’s U.S. head. All she found was that she was an American-British and an incredibly successful woman. Nothing else.

Meanwhile, Sophia felt a pang of dread when she heard Ethan tell Olivia to go back to Carter Group.

She’d been sucking up to Olivia for ages, and finally got her to agree to bring her along for this project’s R&D. Even if she couldn’t get her name on it, just gaining some experience would’ve been great.

But now that Olivia was gone, she had no reason to stay either. She just huffed annoyed.

“Clara, you go ahead and finish up. I’m heading downstairs to grab some food. I’ll be back up later to pack up mine and Olivia’s stuff.”

The research lab door clicked shut. Clara just stared at her computer screen, like she hadn’t heard a thing.

About half an hour later, a knock came at the lab door. Clara got up to open it.

Lila stood there, her small hands clutching a lunchbox bigger than her own face.

“Clara,” Lila piped up,”My dad told me to bring you this. It’s past 8, you must be starving!”

Clara smiled, taking the box.”Did you eat already?”

“Mhm.”

Lila nodded. “Dad and I both ate. This is just for you, Clara.”

She peeked into the lab.”Clara, can I come in and keep you company?”

Clara looked down the dimly lit hallway. The entire R&D office was quiet. Only a few of them were still working late; everyone else had already called it a day.

Sophia could tell Clara was a little freaked out. She thought for a second.

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Clara figured Olivia’s lab didn’t hold any classified documents. Plus, Lila came from a military family, so she was trustworthy. Alright, come on in, Clara said, nodding

Clara walked over to the workbench, pushed aside some papers, and opened the lunchbox. She smiled, seeing it had a good mix of meat and veggies.

Ryan was surprisingly thoughtful.

Once Clara finished eating, Lila got up and tidied away the containers.”I won’t bother you anymore, Auntie.*

Clara was just about to tell Lila to stay when Lila let out a little “Huh?”Why won’t the door open?”