Chapter 36 Julian Sterling Does Not Deserve to Be Lydia’s Father!

Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Julian Sterling Does Not Deserve to Be Lydia’s Father!

Hector Caldwell’s attitude left absolutely no room for negotiation.

Sophie Winslow felt a bitter pang in her chest. She knew Caldwell had only flown into a rage out of a protective instinct for her. At his age, he still had to worry about her and even stand up to get back at her bullies.

Stella Sutton felt as if needles were piercing her heart. She was certain Sophie had sown discord. The current situation was completely roasting her over an open fire. Making her admit to ruining Sophie’s family? Didn’t that just mean he was refusing to accept her as a student?

"Mr. Caldwell, I still hope you will carefully reconsider. I will do my best to satisfy any reasonable demands you might have," Julian Sterling said. His eyes narrowed slightly as he stood up slowly, his posture neither arrogant nor humble.

At the same time, he made no concessions. Naturally, he would never agree to let Stella make a fool of herself and suffer the grievance of being publicly humiliated.

Sophie saw everything clearly. A faint, mocking smile touched her lips. She thought that love truly was a grand thing. A dazzling, privileged man like Julian Sterling was actually willing to bow his proud head for Stella. Yet, she was the real victim of the malicious rumors, and he remained completely indifferent.

Sophie’s chest heaved heavily. She slowly released her clenched fists. Harsh crescent marks had long since been dug into her palms by her fingernails.

Hector Caldwell looked at the noble, steady man before him with near-disappointment. Now, he was even more certain of one thing: Julian Sterling was utterly unworthy of being Lydia’s father!

"Then there is nothing more to discuss," Hector said. Without another word, he pushed the door open with a cold expression and left.

Stella’s expression was incredibly ugly. She had never been so thoroughly humiliated in public before, and the instigator of it all was Sophie, who had maliciously smeared her. If Sophie hadn’t bad-mouthed her, Mr. Caldwell wouldn’t have rejected her.

Sophie was in no mood to care about how Julian felt about being rejected. She simply greeted Peter Preston and went out to chase after Hector. The little old man was angry; she had to go coax him.

As soon as Sophie left, Julian’s gaze landed on Peter. His tone was polite but distant. "Apologies for the intrusion today, Mr. Preston. Let us catch up another time."

He made no mention of asking Peter to put in a good word. He calmly turned the page.

Knowing well that one shouldn’t strike a smiling face, Peter gestured toward the door. "Take care, Mr. Sterling. I won’t see you out."

Julian nodded. Just then, his phone rang. He answered the call and walked out of the reception room.

Stella had hit a major brick wall today. Before leaving, she paused, looked back at Peter, and said sincerely, "I don’t know what Sophie told you, Mr. Preston, but I am not the type of person who likes to waste effort proving my innocence."

Peter watched her quietly, his expression betraying a hint of speechlessness.

Stella suppressed the pent-up frustration in her chest and spoke with intentional ambiguity. "But I can say that there is a misunderstanding here. I hope a one-sided story won’t affect how you and Mr. Caldwell view me. Perhaps you haven’t seen certain negative news articles. The one truly accused of poor moral character is actually someone else. I don’t mean anything by this. I just want to remind you, Mr. Preston, that a great company like Helios shouldn’t be ruined by a single bad apple."

Sophie was currently being cursed online as a homewrecker. She had a problematic reputation, yet she could still get into a company like Helios. If Peter didn’t know, Stella could drop a hint or two. After all, Sophie was just a lowly employee. A prominent figure like Peter would definitely know who was better to befriend.

Sophie had no way of proving she was Mrs. Sterling. As long as Julian refused to acknowledge it, there was nothing she could do. Stella had the confidence not to fear any trouble Sophie might try to stir up.

Even though Peter was used to seeing all kinds of bizarre people, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud at this moment. Out of sheer anger.

"Are you saying that Sophie interfered in your relationship with Julian?"

Stella avoided giving a direct answer. "Let’s not bring up private matters."

Peter wanted to laugh even more. Was she actually trying to appear magnanimous, as if she were saving face for Sophie by not exposing her?

"Apologies, I just had to take a call," Julian said, returning to the room.

Only then did Stella rein in her expression. Looking at Peter again, she said, "Mr. Preston, I still hope we can collaborate deeply. Could you reconsider?"

Julian also looked at him.

Peter sneered inwardly, though his face remained perfectly impassive. "There are currently no vacancies in our team. Thank you for your high regard."

Stella frowned. Shouldn’t a talent like her be incredibly rare? Even if they couldn’t squeeze her in, would it be so hard to kick out some insignificant employee? She felt this was absolutely just an excuse. Perhaps there was another reason, but it wasn’t appropriate to press the issue now.

Julian, however, did not force the matter. The corners of his lips curved slightly as he gave a faint nod. "It’s fine. Collaboration depends on fate." He led Stella away with breezy nonchalance.

Peter frowned as he watched the two of them leave together. Suddenly, he could feel just how suffocating and agonizing it must be for Sophie. No matter who looked at them, Stella was the one with all the confidence, the one who was favored, the one who was publicly acknowledged. Did being loved really give someone such fearless audacity? Even if they were the other woman?

That evening, Finn Lockwood organized a gathering.

Stella did not deliberately hide the fact that she had been rejected. Pursing her lips, she said, "I can’t think of any other possibility. Sophie must have said something to prejudice Mr. Caldwell against me."

"If she’s too cowardly to compete fairly, she can only resort to such cheap tricks." Finn frowned, then comforted her. "It’s fine. There will be plenty of opportunities to meet him in the future. Once Mr. Caldwell gets to know you, he’ll see right through Sophie’s lies. Don’t worry, we are all on your side."

Stella couldn’t help but smile at that.

"Besides, you have Julian to back you up. There’s nothing to be afraid of," Evan York said. He lifted his eyes from his phone screen, an eyebrow cocked slightly.

Stella smiled gently. She knew the two of them were just coaxing her to cheer her up. She had saved Finn’s grandfather, so Finn was paying much more attention to her now. Meanwhile, Evan looked down on Sophie’s character and was speaking up for Stella, fully validating her as a friend.

When it came to winning people’s hearts alone, Sophie was far inferior to her. Stella had powerful, central figures backing her up. What did Sophie have?

Stella then turned to look at Julian beside her, her gaze softening. "But in the end, I still failed to become his apprentice. Julian, do you have any other ideas?"

Julian lowered his eyes and poured a cup of tea, replying at a leisurely pace, "Yes. Leave it to me."

The smile in Stella’s eyes deepened. Julian was so patient and responsive to her every request. No matter how many schemes Sophie played, it would all be in vain.

"You guys eat first. I have some business to attend to." Evan stood up.

Julian looked over. "Any news?"

Hearing this, Stella was also curious. "Is there something important going on?"

Finn shrugged. "York has a biological younger sister. For various reasons, they were never reunited, and he hasn’t been able to find her for many years. He only found out she might be in Kingsford, which is why he came here to develop his career."

The York family’s daughter. She was absolutely the apple of Evan’s eye. He had been searching for her eagerly for so many years.

Stella was surprised. "Such a thing happened?"

Evan waved his phone. A trace of frustration flashed through his usually lazy eyes, but he eventually shrugged. "I don’t lack patience, anyway. There will be a result eventually."

Stella fell silent for a moment before finally smiling. "So you’re quite the doting brother."

She thought she was the only special female existence among their group. She never expected there to be another woman—

After Sophie came out of the laboratory, Peter came over to inform her. "The collaborative partners have been finalized. After the new year, government policies will support traditional medicine. Mr. Caldwell gave his input and suggested joint research and development with a university’s pharmacy school."

Sophie had no objections. The most prestigious pharmacy school in Kingsford was Kingsford University.

"Kingsford School of Pharmacy has the richest biological sample library. We each have our own advantages. I think it’s a great idea."

"Before Stella left, she still tried to secure a spot in the team. Does she think the whole world carries the Sterling surname and has to do her favors?" Peter smiled. "Is her head entirely in the clouds? She’s completely delusional."

For a project with this much prestige, the other party certainly wasn’t stupid. People would eagerly bash their heads in trying to squeeze into the team just to pad their resumes.

Sophie gave him a thumbs-up. "Thank you for that. Not having to work with her means I won’t have to pop ginseng longevity pills every day to survive the stress."

Peter looked at Sophie’s seemingly thoughtless, silly smile. His heart twisted. He affectionately ruffled her hair. "Once you establish your foothold and achieve success, even the Sterling family won’t dare lay a finger on you."

That way, Sophie would finally have the leverage to flip the table. Her talent and abilities would shine brilliantly sooner or later. When that time came, she wouldn’t have to suffer such useless grievances!

Sophie tilted her head back and smiled. "I’ll take your word for it."

That afternoon, Sophie and the Helios R&D team made a trip to Kingsford University for a meeting with the university’s team.

When the car arrived downstairs, she grabbed her experimental data and stepped out, only to crash right into someone walking up behind her. The person reacted with lightning speed, catching her firmly by the waist—