Chapter 40

“Adrian?”

“Yeah.” Adrian forced his voice to sound normal. “I'm here.”

“Our group project progress report is due tomorrow,” Victoria said softly. “I just finished the options Greeks sensitivity analysis, but I still haven't seen your simulation results in the shared folder. Is something wrong?”

Adrian suddenly remembered.

“…I'm almost done. Don't worry. I'll have it uploaded before five tomorrow morning.”

There was a brief silence on the other end.

“What happened?” Victoria asked with concern. “Are you planning to stay up all night? And you sound like you're… not exactly in a good mood. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“No!”

Afraid she'd misunderstand, Adrian quickly added, “No, it's not that. It's just… the investment in my quantitative hedge project was withdrawn!”

Victoria was silent for a moment.

“How did that happen? Who was the investor?”

Adrian didn't have time to regret saying anything. He simply gave her a brief explanation of what had happened.

“Prism Ventures?” Victoria said after a moment. “They're technically an independent investment firm, but their controlling shareholder is actually one of the financial subsidiaries under the Sterling Consortium.”

The Sterling Consortium.

Her family's business.

There was unmistakable confidence in Victoria's voice.

Whatever was going on behind the scenes, as long as the problem originated somewhere within the Consortium, she was certain she could straighten it out.

“Don't worry,” she said calmly. “If it's connected to the Sterling Consortium, then this should be easy enough to handle. I'd like to see who's abusing their position and pulling strings behind the scenes.”

She thought back to what had happened with Professor Caldwell.

The reason Adrian had lost his place in the competition was because of the Caldwell family's enormous influence in academic circles.

But this situation was different.

She was the Chairman's daughter.

All it should take was a few phone calls and a word from her. Getting one of the Consortium's subsidiaries to reconsider Adrian's project ought to be effortless.

Adrian froze.

Then his heart leaped.

He'd made the right bet after all.

Victoria hadn't looked down on him.

She was actually willing to help.

Whether she was simply kind enough to help someone in trouble or whether she genuinely saw him differently, the outcome was the same.

“Thank you so much, Victoria,” Adrian said quietly. “I really owe you one.”

Victoria laughed softly.

“It's really nothing. But if you put it that way, I might actually hold you to that.”

Adrian laughed as well.

“Deal. If you ever need me, just say the word. I'll do whatever I can.”

After hanging up, he immediately pinned Victoria's conversation to the top of his messages.

Then his eyes fell on Elena's profile picture.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

His jaw tightened.

Victoria might not have been as beautiful as Elena, but in every other way, she was infinitely better.

What did Elena have besides her face and figure?

Once he became successful, he'd make sure that woman regretted ever leaving him.

Meanwhile, near the main campus of Westbridge University.

Before Victoria had even started attending the university, she'd had a villa purchased for her in a newly developed residential community.

She was now sitting in the study on the second floor, calling Michael.

“Find someone senior at Prism Ventures.”

She explained the situation.

“Have them reevaluate Adrian's project and reinstate the investment commitment immediately.”

Michael agreed without hesitation.

“Of course, Miss Sterling.”

Victoria had no idea that Michael had already come up with about five hundred possible ways to explain why this might not work.

She simply assumed the matter was settled and ended the call.

Half an hour later, Michael called again.

His voice sounded noticeably more tired this time.

“Miss Sterling, I contacted several senior people I know at Prism Ventures. The situation is a little more complicated than we expected.”

Victoria's expression darkened.

“Tell me.”

“The current seed fund officially closed its fundraising period last month. That means they don't have any new investment allocation available right now.”

Michael sighed.

“Adrian's project was originally signed before the fundraising deadline. But once the compliance department vetoed it, the project was effectively removed from the fund's investment portfolio.”

Victoria frowned.

“Then have them reserve an allocation from the next fund.”

“That was my suggestion too.” Michael gave a helpless laugh. “But the investment strategy for their next fund has already been finalized by the partners. They're focusing on AI computing infrastructure, not financial technology. Adrian's project doesn't fit their investment mandate at all.”

Victoria's heart sank.

“…Did they flag the project for compliance risk?”

“They did,” Michael said, sounding increasingly troubled. “When Prism Ventures withdrew, they also flagged Adrian's project in their post-investment system.”

Risk flags like that could be shared among firms in the financial industry.

Once a project received that kind of designation, other major venture capital firms in the city would be extremely reluctant to touch it.

Victoria's fingers tapped unconsciously against the desk.

“I'll contact the person in charge at Prism Ventures myself. Give me their number.”

Michael immediately sent her the contact information without trying to talk her out of it.

A minute later, Victoria got through.

The executive director on the other end sounded extremely enthusiastic.

“Oh, Miss Sterling! What a surprise. What can I do for you?”

After exchanging a few polite words, Victoria quickly got to the point.

But the moment she mentioned Adrian's project, the man fell silent.

He gave an awkward laugh.

“Miss Sterling, we're a professionally managed investment firm. We have to operate according to market principles. If we make a special exception like this and our LPs find out, we'd have to answer for the compliance violation…”

Victoria's expression turned cold.

Why had everything always been so easy for her before?

Why was helping Adrian suddenly proving so difficult?

Wasn't the reason people treated her with such respect precisely because of who she was?

Because she could accomplish things other people couldn't?

If even something this simple required her to jump through so many hoops, then what would people think of her in the future?

For a moment, Victoria was consumed by frustration.

She took a breath.

“If you're unwilling to do me this favor, then I'll speak to my father directly.”

There was a two-second silence on the other end.

The executive director's voice remained polite.

“Miss Sterling, if you feel it's necessary to discuss the matter with Chairman Sterling, that's entirely your prerogative.”

Back at the Westwood estate.

The butler and servants had already withdrawn, leaving the dining room completely quiet.

The only sounds were their uneven breathing.

Elena no longer had the presence of mind to think about what any of this meant.

She was completely lost in the lingering intensity of the kiss.

The world around her seemed to spin and turn upside down.

Even the wind outside the window had faded into a distant blur, disappearing beneath everything else.

The hand cradling the back of her head shifted lower, sliding from her neck to her waist and wrapping firmly around her slender, supple frame.

Richard gently pulled her closer.

The last bit of space between them disappeared.

Elena's chest pressed fully against his solid chest.

She could feel the muscles beneath his shirt tensing. The hard edges of his buttons pressed lightly against her ribs.

Richard's hand tightened slightly.

A barely audible sound escaped Elena before she could stop it.

Richard paused.

He finally released her lips, which were flushed and swollen from the kiss, but he didn't move away completely.

His lips remained against hers for a moment before he gave her lower lip one last, almost teasing bite.

“Mm—”

Elena drew in a sharp breath.

Only then did Richard slowly straighten.

He looked down at her flushed, disheveled face.

Her lips were swollen and red, her eyes damp and shining, her ears flushed pink, and her usually bright eyes were unfocused from the kiss.

Richard lightly traced the line of her jaw.

“You little liar.”

Elena finally came back to herself.

She met his dark eyes, something intense still burning beneath them, and suddenly found herself unable to say a word.

Then—

a phone began to vibrate, breaking the silence.

Richard turned his head slightly.

Elena followed his gaze and saw the caller ID.

Victoria Sterling.

Hadn't they just spoken on the phone?

Richard's expression didn't change. There was no visible concern in his eyes.

He simply stared at the screen, as though something had suddenly caught his attention.

Elena's eyes shifted.

Then an idea came to her.

She tightened the arm around his neck, rose onto her toes—

and bit lightly down on his throat.