Soren and Poppy didn’t stay long before deciding to head home.


    Flora looked puzzled. “Did something happen?” she asked as the two of them. gathered their things..


    Soren kept silent.


    Poppy forced a smile. “We’ve been out all day–it’s exhausting. We should probably get some rest.”


    Flora could sense something was off. It was obvious they weren’t in the best of moods. But she knew better than to press for answers now. Once Soren was in the car, she quietly pulled Poppy aside.


    “Poppy, is this about Evangeline?”


    Poppy nced at Soren in the driver’s seat, then gave a weary smile and nodded.


    “I knew it!” Flora huffed. “She must have ruined your evening.”


    “Let it go, Flora. She’s still Soren’s wife, after all.” Poppy’s voice was soft, her words meant to soothe.


    What she didn’t share was what Soren had just told her: tonight’s trip to the fairground had been nned for Evangeline. Even though Poppy knew it didn’t necessarily mean anything, Soren had never gone out of his way to defend Evangeline in front of her before.


    When Evangeline got back to her apartment, she found Glenn waiting by the door. The moment she arrived, he hurried over. “About the issue you raised earlier–the sensory partitioning problem–I think I’ve found a solution.”


    Evangeline wasn’t surprised. That was always how it worked between them: she’d have a good idea, figure out most of the technical hurdles, and Glenn would find a way to fill in the gaps.


    What did surprise her


    was how quickly he’d done it. She’d spent over two weeks


    making headway, and he’d finished it in a single afternoon.


    Glenn opened hisptop and ran the algorithm he’d justpleted. To be sure there


    were no mistakes, he’d checked the results three times.


    When the numbers came out perfectly, Evangeline could feel her pulse racing.


    “This is incredible, she breathed. “It actuall…..


    <b>Chapter </b>136


    “Send it over to me–I’ll get everything organized right now!” Excitement made her voice tremble.


    She hurried inside to grab her keys, determined to get started, but Glenn caught her by the arm. “Not tonight. You need to rest.”


    After struggling with this problem for so long, finally cracking it–and having it be the first real breakthrough since she joined UME–she was far too wound up to sleep.


    “It’s fine, I’ll just finish sorting everything out,” she insisted.


    “They’re not going anywhere. But you need to take care of yourself.” Glenn was gentle but firm as he steered her back inside.


    Evangeline didn’t argue any further.


    When she got back to her room, she noticed a friend request waiting in her inbox.


    She tapped it open: it was from Poppy.


    Soren’s profile picture was a nighttime sky scattered with stars, and if you looked closely, right in the center was a single red blossom. Poppy’s, on the other hand, was a vast, endless field of snow.


    Both their avatars echoed the meanings of their names–a subtle, yet unmistakable expression of affection.


    Maybe it was just her good mood, but Evangeline didn’t feel anything in particr about it. If it weren’t for Soren, she and Poppy would have never crossed paths. And with her marriage to Soren almost over, there was little point in epting the request.


    Evangeline declined without hesitation.


    On the other end, Poppy received the rejection notice, sipped her wine, and let a faint, knowing smile tug at her lips.


    She’d expected this. She’d known Evangeline wouldn’t ept.


    But still…


    Poppy opened her social feed. Hertest post


    a gallery of photos showing off <b>a </b>gift Soren had supposedly given her. In the center photo, her hand–wearing a matching diamond ring–was intertwined with a man’s hand, also wearing the same ring.


    The hand wasn’t Soren’s, of course. She’d borrowed someone else for the photo,


    <b>2/3 </b>


    and as long as no faces were shown, Evangeline would assume it was Soren.


    Poppy had shared that image on her private feed, knowing exactly who she wanted.


    to see it.


    Even if Evangeline could swallow her pride, seeing her own husband and another woman wearing matching rings would surely be too much.


    Still, Poppy knew it wouldn’t actually make a difference <b>or </b>speed up their divorce. She didn’t expect it to fix anything; she just wanted Evangeline to feel a little worse.


    Chapter <b>137 </b>


    Cha