Chapter 156

Natalie shot him a disdainful look. “Anyway, I’ve told you what needs to be done. Whether you go through with it is up to you–after all, I’m not the one who’ll face social ruin.”

Natalie had always been gentle; she typically spoke softly, her fragile and endearing manner inspiring deep compassion. Yet Kyle could clearly sense her disdain for him—even her voice now carried a noticeably harsher edge.

As expected, even Natalie now looked down on him. He could not continue to do nothing and simply wait for even more people to look down on him. He must not allow such a thing to happen. Kyle clenched his teeth, making a firm decision, then turned and walked toward the teachers’ building.

Inside the auditorium, Josie waited for a while. Most of the students and teachers had already left, but she still hadn’t seen Joseph and his group. She approached a student who was helping clean up and asked, “Excuse me, have you seen Joseph and his group?”

The girl raised her hand and pointed backstage. “They were called over by the teacher. It seems that someone is interested in their project and wants to collaborate with them.”

Josie’s heart skipped a beat–she wondered if she was still too late. “Thank you.” Josie turned and walked toward the back of the auditorium.

Claire and Sean hurried over. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to see who wants to collaborate with Joseph.” Josie furrowed her brows and reached out to pry Claire’s hand away. “Claire, don’t stop me, I…”

“No matter who you are, you are not allowed to go in right now.” Claire did not let go. “Sean, you explain.”

Sean held back Josie. “She is right. Even if you want to stop Joseph from cooperating with the other party, you cannot do it this way.”

“You…” Josie calmed down a bit. “How do you know I want to prevent him from collaborating with others?”

Sean released her hand. “If I’m not mistaken, you wrote most of the planning for their project, right? At that time, you hadn’t thought about participating in the campus competition?”

“Is there anything else?” Josie neither confirmed nor denied.

Sean went on, “Did you intend for him to work with Professor Wilcourt? Since he’s studying clinical medicine, was Joseph’s internship arranged so that he could join our research group? To be precise, it’s my aunt’s new research group. Now that someone wants to collaborate with him, it means he might be poached by others. If you don’t want him to be poached, then naturally, you should stop them from collaborating.”

Josie thought that Sean was smart indeed. He could see right through Josie’s thoughts. “Professor Wilcourt provides technical support for the faculty. If we have our own staff, it will make it much easier to move research forward. I am quite familiar with Joseph’s project. I think this is an opportunity!” Josie pursed her lips.

What she did not say was that she had just been afraid the person seeking to collaborate with Joseph might be Audrey. The project had ended up in Audrey’s hands in the past, and Audrey was, after all, Natalie’s mother.

At that time, it was likely that Natalie would be forcibly placed into the research group. According to the developments, this project later achieved great success and made several significant contributions to the medical field.

This also marked the beginning of Natalie’s emergence in the medical field. Josie could no longer give them this opportunity.

Sean patted Josie on the arm and said, “If you go to speak with Joseph, it may give the impression that you are seeking repayment for a favor. Let me go instead.”

“Thank you, Sean.” Josie couldn’t have wished for anything better and agreed immediately. She was not particularly adept at discussing such matters with others; if it were Sean, the likelihood of success would be greater.

Claire pulled her to sit down at the side of the auditorium. “Don’t worry. Joseph doesn’t seem like someone who is ungrateful. Since you helped him find an internship, and given equal cooperation terms, he has no reason to choose anyone else.”

Just then, the curtain was drawn back and Audrey stepped out from backstage into the auditorium, beaming with happiness.

Josie felt heaviness in her heart. She couldn’t help but thought, ‘Could it be that they have already reached an agreement?’