Chapter 437
"Soren just wasn't interested in her personal life," Flora said defensively.
"Then do you think your brother would care about her work, or her hobbies?" Glenn pressed.
The question left Flora speechless.
The truth was, after the incident where Poppy was bullied, she only knew that Soren and Evangeline's relationship had deteriorated rapidly. She already disliked Evangeline, and hearing Soren's version of events only deepened her animosity.
Most of the time when she visited the Fawkes estate, both she and Soren treated Evangeline as if she were invisible. On the rare occasions they had to share a space, Soren ignored Evangeline completely, while she usually met her with hostility.
As for caring about her?
She didn't know what Soren cared about, but she only cared about when he would finally divorce Evangeline.
Flora fell silent, her mind a tangled mess. Glenn's words had managed to shake her conviction.
But a moment later, she saw the police officers standing guard outside Poppy's residence, and the purpose of her call came rushing back. “Since it's already happened," she said, "I'm calling to propose a deal."
"You get Evangeline to drop the lawsuit against Poppy, and I'll get my brother to drop this whole matter and help clear UME's name. How about it?"
"This plagiarism scandal isn't a huge deal, but it's not insignificant either. If we each take a step back, it'll be better for everyone."
Flora thought her proposal was perfectly fair and expected Glenn to at least consider it.
To her surprise, he just laughed and said without a hint of hesitation, "First, some things are non-negotiable."
"Second, Evangeline is not the one at fault in this plagiarism case. I'm confident the truth will come out soon enough."
"And finally, I brought Evangeline back to UME myself. I won't stand for anyone making her suffer over something that hasn't even been proven. If you're going to remain this biased against her, don't call again."
The line went dead, leaving Flora choking on her anger with nowhere to vent it.
Meanwhile, Evangeline was in a conference room, completely unaware of the phone call.
Upon returning to UME, she had explained Finn's method for catching the mole to Theo and Glenn, the two people she trusted most.
After discussing and reviewing the situation, the three of them narrowed the list of suspects down to a few individuals.
Giselle Whitmore, Lily, and two other members of the design department.
Giselle had been moody and
slacking off for days because her
father, Winston Whitmore, was
pressuring her to marry Mr.
Wellington. Besides, Evangeline felt that while Giselle was arrogant she didn't seem like the type to engage in corporate espionage.
Still, with the future of UME at stake, Evangeline knew they couldn't afford to be careless. UME was growing, fast and if they didn't find the mole and allowed them to continue their sabotage, it would be like nursing a viper in their own nest.
Once the suspects were identified, Evangeline developed four different sets of algorithms to patch the same vulnerability, and she assigned one to each of the four suspects to work on.
Back at the apartment, Lily returned home to find her boyfriend, Frank, was out again. She cooked dinner and waited for a long time before he finally stumbled through the door, drunk.
"You've been drinking again?"
“Have you eaten? Didn't we agree you'd be home for dinner tonight?" Lily couldn't help but complain.
For the past two months, Frank had often been out entertaining clients until the early hours of the morning, and she had grown used to it. But today Evangeline's sudden return to UME had put her in a temple mood and she couldn't stop herself from nagging.
Listening to Lily, Frank thought of Poppy's gentle and considerate nature. The stark
contrast made him find Lily more and more irritating.