His feelings for her had crossed a line. "What a coincidence," he said, his voice tinged with bitterness. "SummitCore's new product is also launching in March." Darcy nodded. Her bright eyes met his directly, each word crisp and clear. "So, from now on, we are competitors. It's best if we keep our distance." She hoped he'd get what she meant. But he clearly didn't, or pretended not to. He pressed his hand against the car door again. "We'll never be enemies." He smiled, "Don't forget, you and Gwen are friends. I'm Gwen's cousin." Darcy opened her mouth to say something but ultimately remained silent. "I know what you're thinking," he said, reading her mind. "You and Zane are in the past, aren't you?"Since it's already the past, there's nothing to hold us back, right?" His words made Darcy's heart skip a beat. She cut him off quickly. "Sorry, something came up at home. I need to go." With that, she practically fled into the driver's seat, started the engine, and sped away. Only when Hugo's figure had shrunk to a dot in her rearview mirror did she let out a heavy sigh. A moment ago, she had been genuinely afraid he would say something he shouldn't. If the only thing between her and Hugo was Zane, she could simply refuse and cut ties. But there was Gwen. That complicated everything. At a red light, Darcy tapped her forehead, trying to clear her mind. Romance could wait. Only two things mattered right now—the company's new product launch and prep for the graduate school interview.Everything else is just smoke and mirrors. Not important! Back home, she threw herself into studying. When she encountered problems, she still asked Bram for help. As it happened, Bram had something to ask her, too. "I forgot to ask earlier at the lab—do you have beef with Dr. Moss and Mr. Vance from SummitCore? During the meeting, I kept feeling they were targeting you." After a moment's thought, Darcy told him everything. "Actually, I never mentioned it to you or Prof. Reed. Zane is my ex-boyfriend. Zora is his current girlfriend." "What?!" Bram was shocked. Then he clenched his fists, furious. "So he's the one who cheated and left you?" "It's all in the past." Though Darcy's tone was light, Bram knew she must have been heartbroken, devastated.He gritted his teeth. "You should have named him right there at the meeting! He's that jerk! You gave up your admission to help him start his company, and what did he do? Ran right back to his first love!" Darcy sighed, "Forget it. Please don't tell Prof. Reed. SummitCore is still one of the project's investors." Hearing the weariness in her voice, Bram softened immediately. "Alright, I see. Get some rest." ... Time flew. It was March, one week before the product launch. SummitCore Tech— Lucian walked into the office with his laptop and flopped onto the sofa. "Knock next time," Zora said without looking up. "I'm the company's VP. Don't give people reason to suspect." Lucian leaned over, glancing at her phone screen. He raised a brow. "What are you looking at? Wedding dresses?"Zora frowned and flipped her phone face down. "Mind your own business." "Come on," Lucian said, crossing his long legs, a smirk playing on his lips. "I saw it. Wedding dresses. What, tying the knot with Mr. Vance? Thought you'd play the field a bit longer. "Oh, wait. The company's going public in the second half of the year. You need to get married before the IPO. Otherwise, how do you legitimately turn SummitCore into marital property?" Zora's face instantly turned icy. "Shut up! Don't forget—your sister is still in my hands!" Lucian shrugged, miming zipping his lips. He slid his laptop toward her. "Here's the demo for the mid-March launch product. Take a look?" "What's there to look at? You make the call. The plan must be flawless." Lucian didn't argue, closing the laptop. He leaned back on the sofa, looking utterly relaxed.Suddenly, he asked, "Do you know who Darcy Gale is?" Zora paused while taking a sip of water, frowning. "Why are you asking about her?" Lucian chuckled, "You might not know this yet, but our new product pretty much rides on the coattails of this Ms. Gale." He mused to himself, "Such a lovely name. Must be a lady." "What do you mean?" Hearing that name sparked an irrational anger in Zora. Her attitude toward Lucian turned even colder. "I hired you to develop a new product, not to crib other people's work! Are you just taking a paycheck for doing nothing?" Lucian scoffed, "Ms. Moss, you only gave me two months. How am I supposed to develop something from scratch? You think it's like writing a term paper? Just patch things together?" Not wanting to push her too far, he softened his tone. "Relax. We only used her underlying framework. The content and features are all our team's original work."