Chapter 7
Aiden was a native of Aloville, from a prominent family.
To treat Natalie to dinner, he reserved a private room at the fanciest restaurant near the school.
As soon as she walked in, Natalie hugged Aiden’s arm. “Aiden, why didn’t Josie come! Is she still mad at me?”
“Of course not!” Alden took the napkin for her. “She’s sick and in the hospital. We didn’t tell her about the dinner.”
Instantly, Natalie rugged on Aiden’s sleeve with a worried look. “Why? Is it serious? I want to see her.”
“She’s always been healthy, even if she’s sick, it shouldn’t be serious. Kyle poured coffee for her. “She didn’t answer Aiden’s call.
“Even though we wanted to visit, we can’t find her.”
Natalie blinked and looked at Aiden with soft eyes full of concern. “Maybe she didn’t hear the call because she was sick. Shouldn’t we cal again?
When she saw Josie this morning, Josie was lively as ever.
How could she suddenly get sick? Natalie thought she was faking it just to win sympathy from the seniors and avoid punishment.
Vincent was somewhat concerned about Josie. “Aiden, let’s try calling again; maybe she really didn’t hear before.”
“Like you’re the only one worried about her! Kyle snorted coldly.
“Mark my words, she’s doing this on purpose. She used Aiden’s medal to apologize to Natalie this morning, and now she’s ignoring his calls.
“Can’t you all see? She’s deliberately acting difficult with Aiden, still holding a grudge over him making her apologize to Natalie”
The whole medal incident already bothered Aiden enough; then hearing Josie was sick had cooled him down by half, or else he wouldn’t have helped organize archives for her.
But now, bringing up the issue again, plus Josie not answering his calls, made his temper flare up again.
“Let’s just go eat and forget about her. Since she’s been the only girl on the team, we’ve all coddled her too much. Made her forget her place–that’s why she keeps crossing the line more and more.
“Honestly? This whole mess will teach her a lesson and might stop her from throwing caution to the wind next time.”
Seeing even Aiden put his foot down, the others fell silent.
However, Vincent felt uneasy since he had known Josie longer than anyone else and owed his place in the team partly to their relationship; he didn’t want everyone hating on Josie.
“Josie got stuck in a rut this time around, wanting into the team badly led to some mistakes,” he said. “Now that she has apologized and received punishment.
“I believe that
she
e won’t hurt Natalie anymore.”
Natalie sneered under her breath. ‘Knew it. These guys would never give up on Josie that easily. Especially Vincent. Rumor has it they come from the same hubble background, always been thick as thieves,
Now, she needed to figure out how to make Vincent hate Josie quickly so he wouldn’t keep defending her later.
“You know what? Vincent is right. I believe Josie must have had a moment of weakness when she falsely accused me–after all, you five have always had her back as a tight–knit tragn.
“And since I suddenly joined the group while you’ve all been so kind to me.. well, her resentment is only natural. I totally get it, so I
don’t blame her.”
Natalie spoke with such earnestness, her face radiating “this is all my fault, that even the big guys felt a pang in their chests.
“Now that’s what I call a sweet girl. Kyle slid the freshly served dish toward her. “You’ve been through a lot. Look how thin you’ve gotten. Get some good food in you”
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Chapter 7
Aiden also put a piece of meat on her plate. If Josie were as sweet as you, none of this would have happened.”
For a moment, everyone was enjoying their food and drinks, completely forgetting about Josie.
But not long after the meal started, Aiden got a call from David,
“Did you know that Josie wants to quit the team?” David asked.
“What?” Aiden’s heavy voice instantly silenced the private room. “She told you that herself? Could it be something said in the heat of the moment?
David sounded pissed off. “If she had told me herself, I wouldn’t ask you. She sent an email. I’ll forward it to you in a sec
“Go talk to her. If she’s really decided, let her go.
“My team doesn’t need someone with bad morals who throws tantrums all the time. Who does she think she is? Acting like she can challenge me. My team doesn’t rely on her!”
David was clearly furming.
To him, allowing Josie to stay on the team was already a massive act of mercy. That she dared walk out after all that–ungrateful wretch.
that was what she was.
His research team represented the top level in the field nationally—no one could just waltz in or out as they pleased. Josie would regret this decision
As soon as Aiden hung up, he saw the email David forwarded–it was indeed Josie’s resignation letter.
He frowned deeply, an inexplicable anger rising inside him.
Logically, he should be throwing a party–after Josie humiliated him publicly, her walking away was the perfect exit. So why did seeing her resignation letter leave him hollow!
A dead weight pressed down on his chest instead. Something felt off.
“What’s wrong. Aiden?” Natalie tugged at his sleeve.
Aiden threw his phone on the table, replying, Josie wants to quit the team. She just emailed Professor Lawson, and he’s pissed off. He wants me to check if she’s serious.”
“Is she crazy?” Jaden jumped up. “She went through all that trouble to get in and now she’s just walking away? What’s her deal?”
Kyle sneered, “I told you she was just throwing a tantrum. In the end, she still wants to kick Natalie out, thinking our team can’t function without her. What a diva
“Top research team in the country, it’s every intern’s dream. I don’t believe she’d just give up like that.” Gavin didn’t buy it either, he was on Kyle’s side.
But Vincent had a different take. When he saw the email, his face went pale and his breathing got all shaky. “When has Josie ever joked about serious stuff?”
He reminded everyone, and they remembered–Josie was always dead serious, never cracking jokes about important matters.
“So she really wants to leave?” Aiden’s voice was soft, almost a whisper. The light in his eyes dimmed.
He didn’t even realize his hands were trembling. Something flashed through his mind, but before he could grabs onto it, he heard Natalie’s voice,
Natalie was close to tears. “It’s all my fault. Josie must hate me so much that she wants to quit. I’ll go talk to the professor right away- this resignation can’t be approved.
“If anyone should leave, it should be me.
“Compared to me, who just joined, Josie has worked with you guys for years and knows the team way better than I do. Even if I pass the exum, I can’t match her.”
Natalie felt like she was going crazy. Although Josie wasn’t kicked out of the team yet, she had already fallen out of favor with the professor and seniors
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Chapter 7
Even if she stayed in the team, no one would treat her nicely.
Natalie had already planned how to make Josie do all the work while getting the least benefits.
And if she could win over the seniors and the professor, Josie would eventually wear out everyone’s patience and have to leave in disgrace. But now…..
