Divorced, But Queen - Chapter 173: Chapter 173

Stunned by the staggering amount, Liam summoned the butler. "Bryant, you've served this family for years. How could you just stand by and let Aria spend money like water without stopping her?"
Bryant looked puzzled and explained, "Sir, all the money spent on Mr. Cole, Mrs. Cole, and Miss Ophelia was paid for by Mrs. Aria herself."
Liam knew Aria was covering the Cole family's expenses, but he hadn't realized she was paying for these additional costs too.
"After Mrs. Aria left, Mrs. Cole has been in charge of household finances," Bryant explained.
Ophelia stomped her foot in frustration. "I can't believe Mom won't give me money for new clothes!" she huffed, then stormed off to confront her mother.
Bryant continued, "Mrs. Aria also hired a renowned physician to treat Mr. Cole's health condition. The medicine has run out, so I bought another month's supply, which cost 300 thousand dollars."
Liam gasped. "Three hundred thousand dollars a month?"
"Yes," Bryant explained, "The herbs aren't expensive, but the oral pills are."
Liam had never paid attention to the family's finances before, and was struck for the first time by just how massive their household expenses were.
To think Aria had done so much for his family, yet never once mentioned any of it to him, Liam's heart was in turmoil. "Bryant, that's all for now. You may go rest now."
He had completely overlooked all that Aria had done for his family.
With her usually cold personality, he never expected her to be so kind to his family.
Daniel and the others had always treated Aria with indifference.
He had always thought they didn't get along.
The next morning, the news about Aria as Professor Colton suddenly topped the trending list.
A popular blogger kicked off the buzz by posting about last night's charity auction gala, teasing their followers with a cryptic hint that he'd spotted Professor Colton at the event.
The prion disease outbreak had caused devastating losses in Erenoland. Once more, the blogger posted, portraying Aria as a divine savior, as if Erenoland would collapse without her.
The post mentioned that Aria turned down the offer to become a professor at Mooney University and would soon join Mandino University instead.
Her research skills were absolutely unmatched, even Martin would pale in comparison.
The hyperbolic claims sparked a backlash among netizens.
"Yeah, Aria is indeed impressive, but what about the other twenty-two researchers? How come nobody remembers them?"
"That's just how it is, you know? People only remember the winner, never the loser."
"Hannah, check out this blogger's analysis. Aria is a total fraud."
The account named 'Hannah's Sweetheart' claimed on social media to be one of the 22 researchers, accusing Aria of abusing her authority to steal their research achievements.
He posted a photo showing a tense three-way confrontation at the scene.
He said, "I was there last night. Hannah single-handedly developed the inhibitor, just hours after Aria's team. The professors from Mooney University witnessed it all."
"Aria's team had twenty-three people, while Hannah worked all by herself... Isn't it obvious who's more capable? And let's not forget, Aria even stole other people's research results."
The audio in the video was digitally altered, making the speaker's gender indistinguishable.
The online buzz kept growing hotter throughout the day.
Dozens of students applying to Mandino University's Pharmaceutical Analysis program stormed the comments section of the university's official account, demanding, "Is Aria really going to be our graduate advisor? If that's true, we'll boycott this year's exam and try again next year!"
Martin slammed the table in fury when he heard the news. "The grad school entrance exams are just around the corner. These students should be focusing on their studies, not wasting time online, let alone talking about boycotting the exams!"
He ordered sternly, "Find out who's behind all this."
"Understood," Albert nodded.
Aria came across the trending topic and immediately headed straight for Owen's door.
Right then, Owen's phone kept buzzing nonstop as his friends flooded him with texts.
[This manga is absolutely amazing—the art style is stunning. I'm begging you to check it out!]
[You'll be twenty-seven next year—it's time to start dating. This manga will definitely spark your desire for love.]
His friend texted: [I'll send you a screenshot. Try not to get too excited when you see it!]
Hearing the knock, Owen got up to answer the door with his phone in hand, not having read the last two messages.
Without thinking, Owen's finger tapped the screen, probably opening the last message by accident.
The door swung open.
Aria's gaze dropped, as if she had caught sight of something shocking, her pupils contracted sharply.