Chapter 313: A Seat at the Table

A few days later, Sierra received a call from the school. It had been over a month since the incident with Azure, and Capital Academy had finally reached a decision. It had to be said—Capital Academy was nothing like Northwind University. When something happened to their group, Capital didn’t rush to distance itself. Instead, they did everything they could to protect everyone involved.

Word had it the president of Northwind had been trying to pull strings behind the scenes—if not for that, even Professor Martin might have been caught up in the fallout. The call today was to let them know they’d be resuming classes next week. They’d still be under Professor Martin, just temporarily removed from the national research projects.

To Sierra, this was incredible news. She’d been sure Professor Martin wouldn’t take them back. The fact that everything was staying the same—it was the best possible outcome. Everyone else got the news too, and their usually quiet group chat suddenly lit up with excitement.

Sierra couldn’t wait to share the news with Johnathan. She didn’t want to wait for him to come home, so she headed straight to his office.

It was just around lunchtime when she arrived. She’d planned to grab a meal with him—what she hadn’t expected was to find Quinn already there, sitting in his office. And in front of Johnathan was a full spread of homemade dishes—it was obvious Quinn had cooked everything herself.

Seeing Sierra, Quinn greeted her warmly. “Ms. Sierra! Come sit. You haven’t eaten yet, right? I brought extra today—come eat with us.” She didn’t wait for Sierra to respond, already pulling out another set of utensils.

Before Sierra could even get a word in, Quinn added, “I got all the clothes and toys you bought for Dora—thank you so much. Dora loves them. She’s been begging to see you. Things have just been crazy lately—I was going to invite you over once everything settled down.” Quinn kept chatting and serving food, leaving Sierra no room to speak.

Instinctively, Sierra glanced at Johnathan. He was still busy with work and hadn’t come over yet. Noticing the look, Quinn offered a quick explanation. “Don’t blame Johnathan, Ms. Sierra. He’s been swamped lately. Mr. Wayne handed him some new responsibilities. Now he’s not just running his company—he’s helping out with family business too!”

She continued, “He hardly eats properly these days and hates ordering takeout. So I made extra food this morning and brought it with me. Otherwise, he’d probably skip lunch altogether. The last time we visited Mr. Wayne, even he said Johnathan looked thinner.”

There was nothing inherently wrong with Quinn’s words, but to Sierra, they landed wrong—sharp and unwelcome. Johnathan was getting involved with the Wynn family business? She hadn’t heard a single word about it. In that moment, she felt like an outsider.

Johnathan hadn’t planned on eating—he really did have too much work. But once he saw Sierra, he wrapped things up quickly and came over. “What brings you here all of a sudden?” he asked with concern.

But the excitement Sierra had felt earlier was gone. She gave a casual reply, “Nothing much. I just got a call. We’re resuming classes next week. Thought I’d come tell you.”

He asked a few questions about Professor Martin and the program but said nothing about his own situation. Instead, it was Quinn who brought up work-related topics, and the two of them started chatting—first casually, then faster and faster, more and more absorbed.

There were three people at the table, but Sierra felt completely out of place. Eventually, Quinn noticed. “Ms. Sierra, you’re not eating? You’ve barely touched your food. Are you feeling okay?”

Johnathan looked over instantly. Sure enough, she’d barely eaten a thing. He reached out and gently touched her forehead. “Are you feeling sick?”

“No, I’m just not that hungry,” Sierra replied with a strained smile.

“Did I make something that’s not to your taste?” Quinn chimed in. “I didn’t know you were coming today, so I mostly made things Johnathan likes.” Then she asked, “Ms. Sierra, what do you like to eat? I’ll make it for you next time.”

Quinn’s warmth felt overwhelming. Sierra pushed down her discomfort and answered politely, “It’s fine—I’m not picky. This is something I like too.” Johnathan watched her, frowning slightly.

After the meal, Quinn packed up and left the office. Once it was just the two of them, Johnathan finally asked, “What’s really going on with you?”