Trick Him Into Divorce, Then Flee With His Unknow Kid

Chapter 68: Chapter 68 A Wife and a Mistress on Live TV

Ryan hadn’t expected this at all.

Tall and lanky, he stood there as the little girl charged headlong into him, looking as harmless as a fluffy marshmallow.

His gaze slowly drifted downward.

The first thing that caught his eye was a fluffy hat with rabbit ears.

Her small backpack hung from one shoulder, while the other strap dangled from her arm.

The child was knocked back a step.

A small, pale hand covered her little face, and she let out a meek little "Ouch."

He instinctively reached out, his large hand shielding the child’s head from behind.

This steadied her, preventing her from falling to the ground.

"Did that hurt?" he asked.

Ariel rubbed her reddened little nose, tilted her head up to look at him, and smiled, revealing adorable dimples. "It doesn’t hurt."

Suddenly finding himself face-to-face with such a tiny face, Ryan was taken aback for a moment, for no apparent reason.

Something lightly tickled the tip of his heart.

The sensation was too strange and unfamiliar.

He couldn’t quite grasp it, nor could he figure out exactly what it was.

Ariel remembered her promise to Rose that she could only play for twenty minutes. She glanced at her Little smart watch, then strained to look up again.

"Sorry, Uncle, I bumped into you. Bye, Uncle."

She waved playfully.

Then she ran past Ryan and dashed off in another direction.

Ryan hadn’t even had time to react or say a few more words to her.

The little one had already scampered far away.

His gaze unconsciously followed the little girl’s retreating figure, her bunny ears bobbing up and down.

He unconsciously took a step in the direction she had gone.

"Ryan? You really like that little girl?" Samantha, standing right beside him, naturally noticed Ryan’s reaction. She frowned and glanced in the direction Ariel had gone. "What a cute little girl."

In truth, she didn’t like Ryan paying attention to other children.

Wasn’t Mike even cuter?

Only then did Ryan slowly withdraw his gaze, unconsciously rubbing his ring finger.

"It’s nothing. I just thought the little girl looked a bit like someone."

"Really? Who?"

Samantha was puzzled.

She couldn’t see who Ariel resembled.

But she was undeniably beautiful.

As a semi-public figure herself, she knew that many child models were one in a million, but that little girl was even more stunning.

She was curious just how good the child’s parents’ genes must be.

Ryan didn’t answer the question.

Just then, Mike came out and rushed toward him.

Only then did Ryan look in that direction, unconsciously furrowing his brow. After a moment’s thought, he said, "Let’s go."

*****

When Rose picked up Ariel, she asked, "Where did you go to play?"

Ariel climbed into the car, settled into her car seat, and rattled off a list as she counted on her fingers, chattering away.

"I made a new friend, and she gave me some candy. Mommy, next time I want to give her a present too."

Having resolved the major issue, Rose was in a good mood and couldn’t help but smile.

"Okay, then Mommy will definitely help you prepare it herself."

Ariel felt her little nose still sting a bit.

She thought of the man she’d met.

She pondered for a moment.

But she decided not to say anything.

If Mommy found out she’d bumped into something, she’d surely worry.

She didn’t want to worry her mother—Mom had it hard enough as it was.

She pulled a piece of candy from her pocket—a gift from a little friend meant especially for Rose—unwrapped it, and held it to Rose’s lips.

"Did Mommy win the argument when she went to stand up for her rights?"

"Of course she did."

"Did they bully Mommy?"

"Of course not. Mommy is really awesome."

Diana grimaced as she gripped the steering wheel.

"What about me? What about me? Why does only your mommy get one?"

Ariel replied with a straight face, "I’ll buy one for Auntie next time. I only have one, and I just want to give it to Mommy. I don’t want Mommy to share it with anyone—love isn’t something you can share."

Rose froze for a moment.

Then a faint, wry smile played at the corners of her mouth.

Even children understand these things.

Why do adults find it so easy to blur the lines?

Diana could tell what Rose was thinking, so she changed the subject.

"I’m producing a program. The network is launching a special series on medical innovation and the future of healthcare. They’ll be inviting leading pharmaceutical companies, research institutes, and healthcare technology firms to participate. G.S. happens to be on the guest list. You should come—I’ve already mentioned it to Caleb, and he recommended you."

When it came to discussing medical research and healthcare innovation, there was no one more suitable than Rose.

"Will Mommy be on TV?" Ariel overheard and asked excitedly.

"Of course! Your mommy is incredible—everyone should get to see how amazing she is," Diana said in an exaggeratedly childish voice.

Rose laughed.

"When is it? If my schedule allows, I’d be happy to participate."

If Caleb had already secured a spot for G.S., she was willing to give it a try.

"It’s a deal, then! With a face like yours, our ratings are going to skyrocket."

Rose didn’t argue.

If appearing on the program could help people better understand medical research, pharmaceutical innovation, and emerging healthcare technologies, she would gladly contribute.

She knew meaningful scientific progress rarely happened overnight.

Educating the public and building trust in medical innovation was a long and challenging process.

But she believed it was worthwhile.

Diana drove Ariel to Dr. Nathan’s house.

Meanwhile, Rose headed back to the G.S. Research Center to oversee the latest phase of development.

The G.S. R&D team had been making steady progress.

However...

"Dr. Rose, the researchers on the joint project are saying there’s an issue with the formulation data we provided. Ms. Hill wants to extend the testing phase, claiming our proposed compound ratios conflict with their development model."

Sofia sounded a bit anxious.

Rose frowned. "Our ratio is wrong?"

The formulation ratios were among the most critical variables in the entire development process. Based on her calculations and repeated simulations, the composition was entirely feasible. It simply required the other team to properly integrate their components into the final formulation.

"That’s what Ms. Hill said. She questioned our ratios and proposed extending the trial period by a month."

Rose suddenly laughed in exasperation.

She’d never seen anyone sugarcoat their own incompetence so skillfully.

Their raw-material extraction experiment had failed, yet they were shifting the blame onto her.

Rose put on her gloves and walked into the virology lab, her tone calm.

"Ten days at most. If she can’t handle it, she should step aside and let someone more capable take over."

From this incident, she had likely figured it out.

Thanks to Ryan’s investment, Columbia University had handed the position of chief director to Samantha.

Sofia was taken aback. "But she’s Mr. Knight’s girlfriend..."

Rose didn’t even look up.

"Ryan’s influence doesn’t extend to making decisions for G.S."

In reality, the project had already been delayed for quite some time.

She had been giving them chances all along.

Now the other party was taking advantage of her kindness.

So she didn’t mind giving Samantha a one-way ticket out.

Sofia was taken aback by Rose’s decisiveness and quickly nodded.

"I understand. Should we remind Columbia of the ten-day deadline?"

Rose replied, "No need."

The deadline was clearly stipulated in the original contract.

If Samantha kept delaying and breached the contract, Rose had no obligation to notify her.

Sofia understood.

If Samantha had any sense of contractual responsibility, she wouldn’t have stepped on this landmine.

If she kept dragging her feet just because she had Mr. Knight as her backer, she was asking for trouble.

She was afraid Columbia University wasn’t even aware of this yet.

Their Dr. Rose wasn’t just an ordinary researcher; she was the leader of the entire team and had the authority to remove people.

*****

The first episode of Diana’s show was a live broadcast.

The second episode was filmed in a documentary style to capture the work of researchers in the pharmaceutical industry.

Every major medical company was allocated one spot.

Rose arrived at Diana’s company at the agreed-upon time.

As soon as she entered Diana’s office, she saw her walk in looking extremely upset and slam down some documents.

Rose picked them up for her.

"What’s going on?"

Diana’s eyes reddened, and she gritted her teeth.

"My boss actually wants you to appear on this live stream with Samantha."

The wife and the mistress pretending to get along?

Is that even acceptable?