What She Overheard in Her Own Marriage novel Chapter 210

A professor quickly walked up to the podium, officially dismissing the class and reminding everyone to exit safely.

Kaia started packing up her files as a group of eager medical students swarmed the stage, surrounding her with questions.

Silas and Miles didn't seem to be in any rush to leave. They stayed in their seats, casually discussing Kaia's lecture and debating some of her points.

Suddenly, Simon Quinn bypassed the crowd entirely, walked straight up onto the stage, and approached Kaia the moment she had a free second. He handed her the bouquet. "Brilliant lecture, Kaia. Even as an outsider, I found it incredibly insightful."

Kaia looked at him, completely caught off guard.

Down in the front row, Silas and Miles both froze.

They had purposely stayed in their seats, trying not to disrupt her flow, and here was this guy, completely breaking the unwritten rules, walking right up to the stage to give her flowers.

"What are you doing here?" Kaia asked, taking the flowers with a surprised smile.

Simon laughed. "I had dinner with one of the professors here a few days ago, and he mentioned you were giving a guest lecture. I had some free time today, so I figured I'd drop in and relive my college days."

Kaia smiled warmly. "And how was it? Did it bring back memories of your youth?"

Simon looked right at her, a charming glint in his eye. "If my teachers had looked like you, I guarantee I would have passed every class."

Just then, Miles and Silas finally walked up to the stage. Both of them stared at the flowers in Kaia's arms with barely concealed irritation.

"Simon. Look at you, sneaking in to audit a class without telling anyone," Silas said, giving Simon a firm, overly friendly pat on the shoulder. "Did you actually understand any of it, or did you just show up to admire our Dr. Chavez?"

Simon clearly hadn't expected Silas to be there. He masked his slight embarrassment with an easy smile. "I caught the general idea, but you guys are the real experts."

"Director Kendrick!" Simon offered a polite handshake.

"Mr. Quinn," Miles replied, shaking his hand with stiff formality.

Seeing the three men standing awkwardly around her, Kaia decided to break the tension. "Since we're all here, why don't we grab dinner? My treat."

"I can't let you pay. Dinner's on me," Silas declared, thumping his chest. "I'm your boss. You have to listen to me."

Kaia laughed. "I can pay, and then I'll just expense it to you. Same difference."

"You've got it all figured out, haven't you?" Silas smirked. "But no, I'm paying."

Kaia didn't bother arguing with him.

Miles and Simon exchanged a quick glance, neither raising an objection to the plan.

Just as they were trying to decide on a restaurant, Miles's phone suddenly rang.

He checked the caller ID and looked at Kaia. "It's Finnian."

He turned away from the window and opened one of the drawers in his old desk.

Underneath a stack of outdated medical journals and old textbooks was a yellowed notebook. He had found it lying in a hallway at the estate seven years ago, less than a month after he and Kaia had gotten married.

Tucked inside the pages of the notebook was a Polaroid picture. It was a photo of Kaia in her lab coat, her hands shoved into her pockets as she stood outside a research lab. She looked incredibly young, her face still holding a bit of baby fat, flashing a bright, radiant smile.

On the back of the photo, written in Kaia's neat handwriting, was a single sentence: "First time seeing him, my heart beat so fast, so fast."

Finnian had been trying to figure out who this photo was about for seven years, and he still didn't have an answer.

Who was the man that made Kaia's heart race like that?

Finnian let his fingers linger on the cover of the notebook for a few seconds before slowly opening it.

The pages were filled with Kaia's elegant, precise handwriting, documenting lab data and meeting notes.

She was a perfectionist. Every single entry was flawless and methodical.

Finnian didn't even know what he was looking for anymore. He had read this notebook front to back years ago. But thinking about it now, the man she had secretly hidden in her heart had to be someone she was close to back then.

So, was it Miles... or was it Simon Quinn?