No Wife, No Life Chapter 272

How did Orion manage to pull all this off? Had he been planning it for years, or did he just snag everything last minute at an auction? Either way, there were definitely some recent auction finds in there.

Luckily, Harper had a dedicated jewelry room. All these jewels needed regular upkeep. She couldn't be bothered with it, so Caden always handled the arrangements.

"Whatever; just have someone sort it out tomorrow. It's too much and gives me a headache."

Harper snuggled back into Caden's arms.

Lately, she had been especially reliant on Caden's presence. She even wondered if she had developed some kind of skin hunger.

"Once your leg is healed, I can be even lazier and have you carry me around."

She couldn't help but let out a little hum, sounding a bit spoiled.

Caden chuckled, "Sure, whatever you want."

"When did you become so obedient? I feel like you're not yourself now."

She reached out and pinched Caden's cheek.

"Can't help it, I turn into this whenever I see you." Cader smiled dotingly.

With that, he leaned down and kissed her.

It had been a long time since they had been intimate, so as soon as they touched, Harper responded immediately.

They ended up falling onto the bed together.

Fortunately, they were both too tired from the trip to do much more.

The next morning, Harper called Chloe and arranged to meet at the Sapphire Dining Room.

Caden took over the work at FusionX Company, while Harper and Chloe each had their own tasks.

Chloe, always self-sufficient, had already ordered a variety of pastries and sampled each one by the time Harper arrived.

Unexpectedly, Noah had somehow gotten wind of their meeting and showed up, claiming he wanted to see what they were discussing.

What could they be discussing? Of course, it was about the competition they had agreed on earlier.

Noah was clearly there to see Harper.

Just as Chloe was about to question Noah, the door opened, and Harper walked in.

Today, she wore a simple coat over a sweater dress, looking fresh and uncomplicated.

The room's lighting cast a soft glow on her, making her appear serene and beautiful.

Chloe couldn't help but take a few extra glances.

Before Chloe could say anything, Noah stood up and poured Harper a cup of hot tea. "It's been a while. How have you been?"

Harper took off her coat, her face radiant.

Today, she wore no makeup, no fancy clothes, no jewelry. Her white sweater dress made her look gentle and relaxed.

"Of course, I'm fine," Harper replied simply.

She sat across from Chloe. In front of her was the cup of hot tea Noah had just poured. She picked it up and took a slow sip.

She took a deep breath, savoring the tea's flavor.

Seeing that she liked it, Noah gently placed the delicate teapot in front of her.

Chloe was speechless.

Was this really her big brother?

Where was his usual businesslike decisiveness?

Unable to bear it any longer, Chloe spoke up impatiently, "Noah, do you have anything else to do? If so, can you go back to work? Isn't the company busy?"

Noah smiled and said appeasingly, "The latest research equipment you wanted has been acquired and just delivered to your lab. You'll see it when you get back."

Those pieces of equipment cost several billion dollars.

So, her brother still cared about her.

Chloe acknowledged this with a nod and said no more.

Noah didn't linger either. He had only come to see Harper and didn't want to interrupt their conversation, so he left after a brief greeting.

Now, it was just Harper and Chloe in the room.

Chloe was straightforward. She took out her laptop and began demonstrating the data she had recently researched.

Harper watched attentively but maintained a faint smile, showing no reaction.

Chloe paused, frowning, "Did you come up with something better?"

"I didn't, but someone else did. No matter how much we innovate and calculate in the short term, I don't think we can match the data she provided."

Harper didn't intend to hide anything. She took out her USB drive and plugged it into Chloe's laptop. "I got the overall data the day we competed."

Even though it was given to her by Alvina, Harper wouldn't claim it as her own.

That wasn't Harper's style.

Chloe stared at the data flowing on the screen, her expression serious.

She could tell that this data perfectly combined both their ideas, making it more comprehensive than her own.

She was surprised. If it wasn't Harper or Manuel, then who?

Was there really someone else in the world who could produce such perfect data?

Suddenly, a name flashed in Chloe's mind, and her eyes darkened. "Alvina Taylor."

By now, it wasn't a secret in their circle that Alvina was still alive, and everyone knew Harper was her daughter.

Even though Harper hadn't been raised by Alvina, their blood relationship was real, and of course, Alvina would help her daughter.

"Yes, it was her," Harper said calmly. "She provided the optimal data that night."

Chloe asked, "So, are you proposing a collaboration now?"

Harper poured herself another cup of tea. "You're smart. You should understand that people like us remember data once we've seen it, so..."

She paused, took a slow sip of tea, and looked steadily at Chloe. "Shall we collaborate?"

Harper wasn't forcing Chloe, but given the situation, Chloe had no room to resist.

At this point, she had no choice but to collaborate.

"Didn't expect it to come to this. If I had known, I wouldn't have wasted all those days."

Chloe's frustration was evident, her voice louder than usual.

She had spent countless days and nights in the lab, working hard for a month, only to end up collaborating with Harper?

"Really? So what have you been doing this past month?" Harper couldn't help but tease her.

Chloe, feeling annoyed, glared at her. "For collaboration details, talk to my brother, not me."

With that, she still felt unsatisfied.

"Even though I agree to collaborate, it doesn't mean I like you or accept you. You'd better stay away from Jacob."

She stood up to leave, not wanting to continue the conversation with Harper.

Harper didn't want to stay either. She put on her coat and left.

As she stepped into the lobby, she immediately noticed Peyton sitting alone on a couch.

He hadn't seen Harper yet, his eyes were on Chloe. When he saw her, his smile deepened.

What was going on? Why was Peyton here?

This didn't seem right.

Sure enough, the next moment, Peyton stood up and walked towards Chloe, saying something, only to get angrily pushed away by Chloe.

But Peyton took the opportunity to grab her hand and kiss it.

Harper was stunned.