Leo pressed the button beside the door, and the car doors slid shut once more. The reporters, left standing obediently outside, didn’t dare take another step forward.
Once the security team had cleared out, the reporter from Platinum 818 turned away from the scene, quickly pulling out her phone to make a call.
“Hey, Flick! You never told me that someone from the Vaughn family would be protecting Selene! If I’ve offended a Vaughn today, I might as well kiss my career goodbye!”
Leo was already long gone, but the reporter’s heart was still pounding.
Felicity’s voice crackled on the other end. “What do you mean, someone from the Vaughn family? Who are you talking about?”
“Leo! He showed up with bodyguards and took your sister away.”
“No way!” Felicity blurted out, disbelief clear in her tone. “You’re telling me you saw Leo pick up Selene with your own eyes?
I grew up with Harrison, and even I’ve barely seen Leo a handful of times. He’s a fellow at the Aldonia Academy of Sciences, always wrapped up in top–secret projects the government snatched him up for–how on earth would he…”
“I swear, it was Leo!” the reporter insisted, voice rising. “I saw it myself, clear as day! He even made fun of me–said that a seasoned reporter like me stooping to squeeze dirt out of a five–year–old was ridiculous.”
Clutching her chest, the reporter fretted, “If I go back to the office, are they going to fire me? Flick, I was just helping you out–I never meant to cross Leo!”
But Felicity wasn’t listening anymore. Still in shock, she muttered to herself, “It’s impossible… Leo would never help Selene. No way!”
The reporter sighed, “Anyway, I’m not touching any stories about Selene. Not after today.”
Felicity’s tone turned icy in an instant. “You might not report it, but there are plenty of vultures out there just dying to dig up dirt on her. The story about Selene abusing her son is already trending.”
She hung up, her lips curling into a cold smirk as she stared at her phone.
Selene thought she could launch herself to fame with the ALI Math Competition?
Pathetic.
1/3
21.413
However high the Internet tried to prop Selene up, Felicity was going to make s her fall was even harder.
There could only be one “it girl” from the Thompson family, and that was Felicity.
Selene, that country bumpkin who somehow lucked into marrying into the Vaughn family, had already used up all her good fortune.
The Vaughn family was the highest she would ever reach.
From now on, Selene would be nothing but a stepping stone under Felicity’s heel.
As the luxury car pulled away from Capital University, Selene worked at the metal puzzle in Altair’s lap, finally freeing its last loop.
“Wow!” Altair gasped, eyes wide with delight as he looked up at her.
His cheeks were rosy with health, and his delicate features were almost androgynous. When he was two or three, his little cousins couldn’t even decide whether to call him “brother” or “sister.”
Cradling the now–loose puzzle, Altair formed a tiny heart with his thumb and forefinger, holding it up to Selene.
So adorable. Selene felt her heart melt.
Leo’s gaze flickered to Altair’s beaming, toothy grin.
Even during all those therapy sessions, Altair had never smiled so brightly.
It was only in Selene’s presence that Altair ever seemed like a normal child:
Selene glanced at Leo, about to speak, but he beat her to it, as if he’d read her mind “Just happened to be passing by.”
Selene fell silent.
Not only could Academician Vaughn see right through people–he was as terse as
ever.
Selene managed a quiet, “Thank you.”
“So, what are your plans/now?” Leo asked, his voice direct as always.
He and Harrison were only two years apart, but standing side by side, you’d never guess it–they seemed worlds apart.
21:41
Chapter TIO
Leo, always reserved, had a gravity about him that quieted the air. Harrison was all sharp edges and bravado, but Leo was like a steady church bell at dawn–just being near him brought a strange sense of peace.
