Chapter 255: Sowing Discord

Chapter 255: Chapter 255: Sowing Discord

Chloe York nodded straightforwardly. "You guys know each other?"

Stella Sutton chuckled lightly. "We’re good friends."

Chloe didn’t think there was anything special about that. She wasn’t very familiar with Evan York’s private affairs, so she merely smiled. "What a coincidence."

Stella’s lips curved into a smile. "It really is a small world. I’ve always admired Chairman Hayes. The reason I want to join the National Academy of Somatic Medicine is so I can be closer to her and Mr. Caldwell."

Chloe didn’t doubt her words. After all, any medical student would admire those two.

"By the way, is Chairman Hayes doing better now?" Stella asked with concern. "It was quite perilous last time when she had that sudden medical emergency. I helped out with some first aid, but it honestly terrified me."

Chloe looked at her in surprise. She hadn’t realized that Stella was involved.

Meeting the girl’s clear eyes, Stella smiled. "I was there, after all. I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. However..." She furrowed her brows slightly, looking a bit helpless. "It was so chaotic then. The other person wanted to show off and stopped me from administering in-depth first aid, which almost delayed her treatment. Thankfully, nothing major went wrong."

Chloe looked confused for a moment. The other person? She could only think of Sophie Winslow. She truly didn’t know the specific details of what had happened, but after a moment of thought, she said earnestly, "I think there might be a misunderstanding. No doctor can perform with one hundred percent perfection during an emergency without a single unexpected hiccup. If they could, doctors would be no different from machines, and patients don’t exactly fall ill precisely according to medical textbooks. I feel that as long as the outcome is good, that’s all that matters."

Anyway, wasn’t her grandma fine? The process wasn’t nearly as important as a good result.

With that, Chloe’s eyes crinkled into a smile as she waved at Stella. "I’m going to go grab some food now!"

Stella watched her retreating figure, her brows knitting together little by little as a sense of displeasure began to fester. She hadn’t expected Chloe to be so clear-headed. Even though the girl looked like someone who had grown up in a privileged environment and seemed naive to the ways of the world, she evidently had a mind of her own.

She frowned slightly. She had no choice but to take her report and go look for Professor Young.

When she reached the office door, before she could even knock, she heard Philip Preston’s voice from inside. "Sophie’s situation is quite special. Once this project concludes, she will likely enter the National Academy of Somatic Medicine directly. It has nothing to do with the current university competition; her current status is already a stepping stone."

"They won’t assess her project contributions then?" another voice asked.

"She won’t have any issues with the project," Philip replied. "Besides, she has been a steady and reliable worker ever since being exceptionally appointed as a professor. As long as no major negative incidents occur during her tenure, she’s basically guaranteed a spot."

A look of sheer astonishment washed over Stella’s face. Sophie actually had a free pass without having to fight her way through the fierce competition of these neuropathic medicine projects? Just because she was a professor?

Although Stella knew Sophie wasn’t capable enough to fight her way to the top among the seven medical academy research teams, on what grounds did Sophie’s abilities earn her a direct pass? How could that possibly convince the masses?

With this, Sophie had yet another bargaining chip. And when it came to the Sterling family...

Stella pursed her lips, her eyes trembling for a long time. Only then did she turn around and leave without a sound.

In the afternoon.

Sophie and Philip finished leading their team in the lab. Soon after, someone arrived at the door, carrying an array of exquisite food and beverages.

"Thank you for your hard work, everyone. Mr. Lockwood ordered this for all of you."

The delivery person announced Finn Lockwood’s name. Only then did Sophie glance over. She met the gaze of Finn’s secretary, who smiled and bowed in greeting to her. Sophie vaguely realized that Finn was... aiming this at her? Was this a show of goodwill?

Stella happened to hear this just as she walked over. She recognized Finn’s secretary. Seeing the room full of refreshments, she walked over with a smile. "Let’s divide this up, everyone. A friend of mine sent this over. It’s been a long day, so please, take your time and enjoy."

Her mood, which had been terrible due to Philip’s earlier words, lifted considerably. Finn was helping her consolidate her interpersonal relationships. After all, taking someone’s food meant owing them a favor. Once everyone ate the desserts her friend bought, they would be much friendlier to her.

At Stella’s invitation, everyone snapped out of their daze and gathered around to thank her. Stella was once again placed on a pedestal in the center of the room, smiling as she responded to everyone’s gratitude.

Sophie merely cast an indifferent glance at the scene, too lazy to expose the truth. She had no intention of reminding Stella, either. Even less did she want to join the crowd to grab any of the desserts. Instead, she turned right around and went to discuss matters with Philip and the professors from the other universities.

During the project reports, Kingsford University stood out the most, though the faculty and student teams from the other universities also presented many exceptionally outstanding reports. However, Sophie and Stella still ranked at the very top.

Next, each school would produce relevant research and patents focused on neuropathic medicine. Sophie didn’t have an abundance of many things, but she definitely had a lot of patents. She had been researching in this field for years and had already secured quite a few patent rights. Therefore, she didn’t need to bury her head in research right now; she had free time to deal with the follow-up matters regarding her Helios surgical robot.

It had been an instant hit in the early stages, but the mid-to-late stage promotion had to keep up. She had thought it through and planned to discuss a collaboration with Ivy Hawthorne’s workplace. She wanted to sign a contract with their TV station to broadcast commercials for the machine during their key programs.

When she arrived at the station, Ivy walked over from afar, sporting a messy head of hair. "Come on, I’ll take you through the green channel."

Sophie stared at her disheveled bun. "How many days have you stayed up?"

Ivy looked like she was about to turn into a zombie, but upon hearing this, she sprang to life like a reanimated corpse. "Five days! I haven’t been home to sleep in five days! I can’t finish processing all these clips!"

Sophie silently fished a piece of candy from her pocket and stuffed it into Ivy’s mouth, lest this corporate slave actually drop dead from exhaustion right then and there.

They headed upstairs. Ivy’s direct superior was a young man named Felix Coleman, who looked around thirty. He appeared quite refined.

Sophie stated her purpose directly. "The advertising fees are negotiable. I need to place ads in all of your station’s flagship programs."

Felix had also heard of the highly popular Helios project recently and was very willing to negotiate. "We have three flagship programs, as well as various high-traffic, short-term shows. You want to place ads in all of them?"

Sophie decisively offered a figure. "At this price point, place as many as you can."

Seeing how straightforward Sophie was, Felix looked at her with a bit more interest. "It seems Helios has indeed made quite a lot of money from this equipment."

Both parties were straightforward, and they practically finalized the direction right then and there. It was genuinely rare for the station to sign so many ad slots across multiple programs in one breath. Sophie’s requirement was to place them in all of the station’s key programs.

Drafting the contract required time, so Sophie came over again the next day to officially sign it.

Just as the two parties signed the contract, the door was pushed open once more. While Sophie was still holding the contract, her smile not yet faded, she met the eyes of the man at the door. Julian Sterling looked down at her, and leaning intimately against his side was Stella Sutton.

The moment Ivy saw the two of them, she stood up, her expression utterly disgusted. She muttered to Sophie, "What bad luck."

Sophie, however, felt that running into these two here might not bode well.

Felix also stood up and walked over to shake Julian’s hand. "Mr. Sterling, excuse my lack of a proper welcome. Finn Lockwood informed me in advance that you’d be coming."

Julian shook Felix’s hand and nodded. "Yes. Did Finn already speak to you about the program?"

Felix smiled and instructed someone to prepare coffee. "Finn and I have been friends for years, after all. It’s not difficult for him to create an exclusive, solo program for Miss Sutton."

Sophie’s gaze paused slightly.