Divorced, But Queen - Chapter 516: Chapter 516

"Aria!" Derek called out.
Seeing Aria, Derek instantly turned into an excited puppy, bouncing toward her."You didn't reply to any of my messages."
Derek was a chatterbox, and his messages came in long strings. When Aria was busy, she simply ignored them.
Before she could respond, Derek grinned and greeted Martin, "Hello, Mr. Schmidt. I'm Aria's younger brother."
Martin smiled kindly. "I know you. The student who switched from Pharmaceutical Analysis to Computer Science and passed the exam. Did terribly in your major, but managed to get into grad school anyway."
Derek, obsessed with computer science, had the lowest GPA in his original major and barely scraped through each course. It was enough to leave an impression.
Martin didn't teach undergrads, so Derek was surprised he even knew who he was. He chuckled sheepishly. "Thank you for the compliment."
Martin turned to his three students. "Go focus on your own work. Any updates will be sent to the group chat."
"Understood," they replied in unison.
The three left. Martin and Sophie had something to discuss and also returned to the office.
Aria stayed. "You must have a full schedule in your first year. Did you quit your job?"
"Nope. Patrick kept a spot for me. I help out whenever I have time. Oh, right. Aria, I wanted to introduce my new roommate. He's super brillia..."
Derek looked to the side. There was no one there.
The wind swept up some fallen leaves, fluttering past him.
Derek said, "Wait... where'd he go?"
Aria raised an eyebrow. "Your roommate. That really pale-looking guy?"
Derek nodded. "Yeah, that's him."
Aria said, "He left when you were jumping around excitedly."
Derek frowned. "He left without saying anything?"
Aria hadn't missed the way that guy had stared at her like he'd seen a ghost and then snuck away.
She could tell he meant no harm, so she didn't mind.
"I'm heading back. Go eat on your own."
"Alright." Derek scratched his head and had no choice but to go to the cafeteria alone.
As soon as he sat down, Arthur sat across from him with a tray.
Derek jumped. "Whoa! Where'd you come from?"
Arthur said, "I was right behind you the whole time. You were too busy humming to notice me."
There weren't many people around, so Derek thought no one could hear him singing. "Was I that loud?"
Arthur nodded. "Yeah."
Derek made a mental note not to hum carelessly in the future. "I wanted to introduce you to my sister. Where'd you go? You just vanished."
The two had known each other since undergrad. Arthur had been Derek's computer science tutor. They were both surprised to be assigned the same dorm for grad school.
Arthur said, "I went to take a call nearby. Didn't want to interrupt."
Arthur had been stunned to see Aria too. Mandino University was a big university, and since they were in different programs, he'd thought they'd never run into each other. But on the first day of school, fate slapped him with a surprise.
He could avoid Aria, but she turned out to be his roommate's sister. It was the worst-case scenario for him.
Arthur sighed. "Is she your twin? Why don't you two have the same last name?"
Derek grinned. "Do we really look that alike? I think so too."
From his expression, Arthur realized they weren't real siblings and breathed a sigh of relief.
If they were actual siblings and close, Arthur might have no way to avoid her.
Derek said, "She's my cousin. My real cousin."
Arthur replied, "Yeah, your cousin is really pretty, and impressive too."
Derek said, "Damn right she is."
Mentioning his cousin lit Derek up like a Christmas tree. He started bragging nonstop, left and right, worshipping her like a fanboy.
Watching him act like an unthinking little fan, Arthur's sense of relief quickly vanished.
Their relationship seemed really close. It was likely he'd be seeing Aria often. He'd have to keep a low profile.
Derek said, "My cousin also introduced me to one of her friends. She's a super-skilled hacker. Every time I run into a coding problem, she gives me solutions in record time."
Arthur wasn't too interested. "Really? That's impressive."
Derek kept rambling. Arthur was used to his chattiness by now.
Sophie was prepping for class. Aria was reading a lab manual. The office was quiet.
Then a knock broke the silence.
"Come in," Sophie said.
As footsteps approached, a bouquet of white roses appeared in front of Aria.
She looked up to see Liam's annoying face. Her brows furrowed.
Liam pretended not to notice her irritation. He took a bouquet of daisies from his assistant and handed it to Sophie. "Ms. Morgan, nice to meet you. Looking forward to working together."
Sophie looked confused. "Working on what?"
Just then, the dean, Fred Gardner, walked in and explained, "Here's the situation. Mr. Cole, on behalf of Heffner Hospital, is proposing a joint project with our university. It's an intelligent pharmacy quality control system.".
He added, "After internal discussions, we've decided that Ms. Saxon and Ms. Morgan will head the project."
The truth was, it wasn't really a discussion. Liam had insisted that Aria be involved. Cole Group was funding the project.
Sophie sensed something was off. She said honestly, "Mr. Gardner, this is a large-scale project. Ideally, it should be led by experienced PhD supervisors. Aria and I just joined the school. Our students are only in their first year and haven't even started official coursework."
Just then, a loud voice interrupted as someone stormed in. "Mr. Gardner, assigning this project to them is completely unreasonable!"
The voice gave it away. It was Samuel.
Seeing the flowers on the table and Liam's eyes fixed on Aria, Samuel immediately understood and said stiffly, "You're giving Aria special treatment! I don't accept this!"
He'd suspected something when Aria was chosen. Now he was sure. She was getting in through connections again.
Liam frowned. "Mister, I'm here because of Aria's capabilities. If not for her, I wouldn't have chosen Mandino University as a partner. If Aria doesn't take this project, Heffner Hospital and Cole Group will look elsewhere."
Fred quickly said, "Mr. Cole, Ms. Saxon will take it."
Aria interrupted. "I'm not the right fit. Mr. Chilton would be much better suited."
Samuel hadn't expected that. He froze for a second, then sneered and played along. "My team happens to be available. Taking on this project would be no problem."
Fred thought, 'How can Samuel be this dense? Can't he see they're only here for Aria?'
He said, "Ms. Saxon's skills are well recognized. She's a great fit for this project. She may not have a team, but there's always Mr. Schmidt. He has plenty of PhD students and postgraduates. Aria can lead and draw from them."
If this project succeeded, the academic impact would be significant. The students involved would benefit a lot too.
No matter what, Fred was determined to secure the project.
Liam nodded. "I support the dean's proposal."
"I don't." Aria picked up the bouquet on the table and gave it a light toss. The white roses landed in the trash can.