Dumping Him for His Uncle (Natasha and Zachary)

Even though this opportunity came through Molly's connections, Natasha couldn't bring herself to refuse it.

She was genuinely torn. She would eventually reach her goals if she kept following her slow, steady path. It would be tough, but effort always paid off.

Still, to reach Quentin's level would take her at least another ten years. The thought alone kept her up the entire night.

When she woke up the next day, she felt like she had been injected with adrenaline. Without hesitation, she dialed Molly's number.

"I wasn't sure you'd call," Molly said as soon as she picked up, her tone pleased. "But clearly, you're smart."

In Molly's eyes, using other people's resources to get ahead wasn't a bad thing.

But first and foremost, one had to have strong personal abilities, and Natasha certainly had those.

"I'm curious, though. What's your relationship with Mr. Foster?" Molly asked.

The sudden question made Natasha's face flush red.

She stammered, "We don't... have any kind of relationship."

"Good. Because the way he stood up for you at the lab... I've never seen him act like that before," Molly said, sounding relieved.

After hanging up, Natasha patted her cheeks lightly. She told herself to get her act together as there were still a lot of things she needed to do.

When she arrived at the lab, she immediately noticed that the way everyone looked at her had changed.

All the fawning and flattery that used to be directed at Nicole was now aimed at her.

Natasha scanned the room but didn't see Nicole anywhere.

Sidling up to her, Xavier said, "Don't bother looking. She was officially kicked out the day before yesterday. Honestly, she probably knew she couldn't stay and just quit on her own."

Natasha nodded slightly.

She glanced at the stack of small gifts people had left for her and said coldly, "Take them away. I don't need them, and I'm not helping you with anything."

The group before her froze for a second, but no one looked upset. They quickly backed off with their gifts in tow.

Only after they left did Natasha finally get a moment alone with Xavier.

"Nicole should never have been here to begin with," she said.

Both the Bradley and Foster families weren't exactly hurting for money. Back in university, Nicole had only managed to scrape by because she paid people to take her exams for her.

Natasha would never have trusted her with a real lab project.

Now that the project was wrapping up, Natasha finally let out a breath of relief. They had finished almost a month ahead of schedule.

"The project's been a big success. We'll have a little dinner party tonight. Call it a team bonding activity, if you will," Nancy announced.

It was Nancy's first time leading a project. Even though things had gotten rocky halfway through, the end result was solid.

"When can I observe a clinical trial?" Natasha asked.

She had self-studied clinical research extensively, but she had never had the chance to get hands-on experience.

Clinical trials were completely different from lab data. There were many external factors to consider.

"You'll have to talk to Mr. Graham about that. We don't do clinical trials here in Jindale." Nancy was a bit surprised by Natasha's thoughts but replied as usual.

Since there was a team-building event that evening, everyone's energy seemed to have picked up.noveldrama

Natasha sat to the side, munching on an apple. She was thinking about going to the bookstore later to buy some books. She planned to catch up on the studies she'd missed out on over the years, filling in the gaps from both the distant past and the last three years.

To her, it was never about whether she could or couldn't do something, but whether she wanted to.

"Has Zachary still been bothering you after all this time?" Xavier's sudden question made Natasha cough uncontrollably.