Genius Kids' Scheme: Claiming Daddy's Billionaire Empire Chapter 298

"Hello, Dr. Sterling, it's me." The voice belonged to none other than Dr. Roberts, the same director who had tried to cover up for his daughter just days ago.

Irene's mood instantly sank. Her face went cold as memories of the research center came rushing back.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice chilly.

On the other end of the line, Dr. Roberts stood by his office window, fidgeting as he stared outside.

"Look, Dr. Sterling, after thinking things over these past couple days, I realize I handled everything all wrong. Don't take it personally." His voice had that fake-nice quality people use when they want something. "Jennifer needs to own up to what she did. I'm calling to say sorry on her behalf."

Irene stepped away from the picnic blanket, keeping her voice even. "Thanks, but no thanks. Nobody likes being targeted for no reason. I can't work with someone who's so childish and sneaky."

She added, "Even if I came back, things would be awkward between us. That's not good for the work we're doing."

Dr. Roberts' face hardened, though he tried to keep his voice pleasant. "Dr. Sterling, I get all that..."

He kept pushing: "We really want you back. Jennifer promised she'd behave herself around you."

After a pause, he added with barely hidden frustration, "If you don't believe me, we could meet face-to-face. I'll agree to whatever you want!"

Irene frowned, turning him down again with no wiggle room.

Seeing his sweet talk fail, Dr. Roberts lost it. "Dr. Sterling, you might be a big shot in R Country, but I've got friends in high places here! Outside my hospital, good luck finding anywhere decent to work!"

His voice had turned into almost a growl as he squeezed his phone, getting madder with every word.

Irene's frown deepened, her nice afternoon completely ruined now.

"Wow, Dr. Roberts, you sure change your tune fast," she shot back, clearly annoyed. "Since that's how you want to play it, let's not waste any more time. My answer is still no."

She hung up, thinking to herself that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree—both father and daughter were bad news.

Adam noticed Irene's face darken after the call and immediately grabbed her hand. "What's wrong? Who was that?"

"Dr. Roberts from the research center," Irene said.

Adam's eyebrows pulled together, sounding protective. "Didn't you already quit? Why's he still bugging you?"

Irene told him everything—how Roberts started with an apology but switched to threats when she wouldn't come back.

A cold look flashed across Adam's eyes, but his voice stayed super gentle with her. "He's just a private hospital director—small potatoes. He seriously threatened you?"

Adam pulled Irene closer, his fingers softly touching her cheek. "With me in your corner, nobody can mess with your career in Silver City. Anyone who tries will be sorry they did."

Irene saw the rock-solid promise in his eyes and felt a wave of comfort wash over her.

"Yeah," she nodded slightly. In her mind, Dr. Roberts wasn't all that impressive; his power came from his wallet, not anything he'd actually earned. Her disgust toward both Roberts and his daughter grew deeper, convinced they were rotten to the core.

Irene let out a soft sigh. "Let's forget about them. Whatever comes our way, we'll handle it. It's getting late and the air's cooling down. We should head home."

When Adam heard the words "head home," his face visibly softened, his mouth curving into a tender smile. "I love hearing you say 'home.' Makes me feel like we're really a family."

Irene blushed at his out-of-the-blue confession, gently squeezing his hand. "We are a family. The kids already see you as family."

Adam held her hand, bringing her fingers to his lips. "Not just the kids' family, but yours too, right?"

Warm light danced in Irene's eyes as she nodded with a smile. "Of course."

As evening rolled in, everyone packed up and headed back to Emerald Garden. Irene said she needed to fix dinner, while Adam mentioned he had paperwork to look over at his place.

After they all went inside, Adam's smile disappeared.

"Get this painting framed and hung in my study," he told Thomas, "then dig up everything you can find on Martin Roberts."

Thomas started to ask what exactly he should look for, but Adam coldly said, "Everything."

Inside, Adam was fuming at the thought of Roberts—just a research center director—daring to threaten Irene.

When Thomas asked if Adam wanted to be walked home or to Irene's, Adam waved him off, telling Thomas to get moving on the tasks.

Later that night at Adam's place, Thomas came back with the framed painting and what he'd found out so far.

"Martin Roberts has been director for years, and he's got some dirt under his fingernails," Thomas reported, explaining this was just the tip of the iceberg. "Someone who's kept that job so long won't leave easy evidence lying around."

"Boss, why the sudden interest in Roberts?" Thomas asked, confused. Haven Enterprise had no business with Roberts, and Irene had already quit his center.

Adam gave a cold laugh, a dangerous look flashing in his eyes. "He threatened the woman I love, saying he'd make sure Irene couldn't get a job anywhere in this country."

His fingers tapped lightly on the desk, his voice dropping lower. "Nobody hurts Irene, especially now that she's the most important person in my life."

Thomas's eyes went wide as he instantly got how serious this was. He noticed how Adam's voice changed when talking about Irene—the softness in his eyes, the urge to protect her.

In his head, Thomas felt sorry for Roberts. Pissing off Adam was bad enough, but threatening the woman Adam loved was like "signing your own death warrant."

Thomas remembered seeing Adam and Irene getting cozy in the park days earlier, silently realizing their relationship had gotten more serious than he thought.

"Martin Roberts came from nothing," Thomas explained. "His family was dirt poor before college. He worked his way up from scratch, and now owns several hospitals..."

Thomas wondered how someone who barely scraped through college with no special talents could end up so loaded.

"Dig deeper into his money," Adam ordered coldly. "If that checks out, look into who his friends are. I want to know who's got Roberts' back."

Adam didn't buy the rags-to-riches story for a second.

That same night at the Roberts house, Jennifer heard about her father's afternoon call.

"She's such an ungrateful bitch," she sneered. "Medical places around here should show us some respect. Who does she think she is? The golden girl everyone in R Country was fighting over? In Silver City, she needs to learn her place. We offered her an olive branch and she slapped it away—she's asking for trouble!"

Jennifer was already mad about her father wanting her to apologize to Irene, and now she hated the "ungrateful" woman even more.

"I tried being nice," Roberts said coldly. "Never thought she'd throw it back in my face like this. Since that's how she wants to play it, we'll have to crush her. We can't let her work anywhere else!"

A nasty look flashed in his eyes.

Jennifer had been waiting for exactly these words from her father.

*That fucking bitch Irene!* she thought hatefully. *Making Matthew choose you over me! You're already a single mom with kids, yet you've still got Matthew wrapped around your finger!*

She kept cursing Irene in her head, her jealousy and hatred growing stronger by the second.