CHAPTER 146: ARIA’S QUEST COMPLETED

Lillian placed her phone down with a sigh as she leaned back on her chair holding in the urge to laugh, turns out Aria was succeeded in her quest.

What quest?

Well, it was pretty simple.. trappi—umm, getting into a relationship with Doctor Gabriel.

The doctor that was responsible for Ethan when he passed out in the hotel room.. aka, Aria’s eye candy.

She had spent a couple of weeks now in California and within that time she had somehow successfully wormed her way into the good doctor’s heart.

Lillian still couldn’t quite wrap her head around how it happened. Aria had gone there with the excuse of ’checking up on Ethan’s medical history,’ but knowing her best friend, that was never the real reason.

The woman had seen an attractive man in a white coat and decided right then and there that it was fate.

Now, a few weeks later, Lillian was staring at screenshots of message threads full of heart emojis, date-night selfies, and one picture of Gabriel smiling awkwardly as Aria clung to his arm like some koala.

"She actually did it," Lillian muttered under her breath, shaking her head in disbelief. "That poor man never stood a chance."

Though, she wished she was also as stubborn when it came to that department...maybe then she’d also be successful with Ethan.

With a chuckle, she dismissed the thought and spun her chair towards her laptop.

The documents needed for the Vitaband’s launch were all almost ready, the only thing needed was a private hospital to work with for testing.

But as luck would have it, her best friend’s newest boyfriend was the owner of one.

Lillian’s lips curved into a knowing smirk. "Well, Aria... looks like your unpredictable actions might actually be a right one this time."

She clicked open a few tabs on her laptop, pulling up the institute’s overview and administrative details.

It was everything OmniMed could ask for—clean reputation, advanced monitoring systems, strong security, and a research division that was constantly looking for partnerships with emerging med-tech companies.

’Perfect,’ she thought.

She immediately began drafting a proposal for a partnership, using the pretext of conducting a long-term performance study on biometric synchronization—basically, tracking how the Vitaband adjusted to individual users under controlled medical supervision.

If they accepted, then the launch of Vitaband would come a lot earlier than she predicted which would also perfectly align with Ethan’s need to speed a few things up a bit.

The jump from Cyber to Meditech was a decision that she still didn’t fully understand, but since it was Ethan’s decision, she decided to trust it.

No decision he made was not well thought out. He must have a reason for making such a big jump and she’d be behind him every step of the way.

Besides, OmniTech Corp was Ethan’s baby as much as it was hers, so he definitely wouldn’t make decisions that would harm it.

Slap

Lillian slapped both palms on her jaw as the thought crossed her mind, her and Ethan’s baby?

What the hell is she thinking?

She was currently supposed to be working, not fantasizing about her and Ethan’s future.

"This is Irina’s fault," she blamed someone that wasn’t even remotely responsible for her current thoughts, "she’s the one that has been putting ideas in my head."

Lillian groaned and covered her face with both hands, sliding down in her chair as if that could somehow erase the embarrassment creeping up her neck.

"This is so stupid," she mumbled through her palms before resetting her brain and forcing herself to focus.

She soon switched to work mode and went back to drafting the proposal for Gabriel’s hospital.

The words flowed easily, like she’d been doing this her entire life. Which, to be fair, she might as well have. Negotiations, partnerships, corporate persuasion—all of it came naturally to Lillian Hayes.

Her focus on the monitor was unmatched as she began adding the technical specifics:

What the tech did, how it did it....which Lizzy and Liam had previously compiled to ’English’ and sent to her.

It was what she’d use when it came to parenting and also if anyone got curious. Though, OmniTech Corp had no reason to explain their tech to anyone that wasn’t part of OmniTech’s higher ups...

Which only consisted of two people, despite the multiple requests by others to buy a share of their company, Ethan and her.

It took half an hour to finish but the proposal was finally ready. Reading through again before nodding in satisfaction, she was sure the proposal was professional and attractive enough for the hospital to accept.

Still, she wasn’t the type to let her ego get in the way of perfection. Lillian reread it a third time, scanning for even the smallest mistake — a misplaced comma, an overused word, anything that Ethan would catch within seconds.

Her cursor hovered over the ’Send’ button, but she didn’t click it yet. Instead, she leaned back again, stretching her arms above her head.

"Okay," she exhaled before moving close to the keyboard again. "Let’s see what Mr. ’Nothing Slips Past Me’ thinks of this one."

She attached the document to a secured messaging software that she used with Ethan, Crypt call, and sent it to him for review. Within seconds, the small [Delivered] notification appeared, followed by [Read].

She was a bit surprised that he was online, though, now that she thought about it, it made sense, since he refused to rest even if it was a day off for him.

A moment later, three animated dots popped up indicating that he was currently typing.

Soon after a reply came from him.

[You missed the typo on line thirty-two.]

Lillian froze. She could almost hear him chuckle through the software. He did that willfully.

Though, her eyes darted back to the document, scrolling fast until she found the typo— a misplaced ’its’ instead of ’it’s.’

"...dammit."

She groaned softly, slumping back into her seat. "How does he even see that stuff so fast?"

It wasn’t the first time Ethan caught a mistake she missed, but it never failed to annoy her — mostly because he was right every single time.

She quickly corrected the typo, resent the draft, and added a small note:

[There. Satisfied, boss?]

[Almost.]

Her brow furrowed.

[Almost? What do you mean almost?]

A few seconds later, his next message appeared.

[Add a closing paragraph that emphasizes trust. The institute’s director values reputation over profit. Convince him that partnering with us reinforces their credibility.]

Lillian stared at the screen for a moment before smiling faintly. This meant that in just the few minutes that she sent the proposal to him, he had already done research on Gabriel and his company.

Which was pretty cool to Lillian...

Though for anyone else, it’d be terrifying at how he got that much info in such little time.

[Got it.] she replied, then paused. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard before she added, [You should really rest, though. After all, today’s supposed to be your day off.]

[I will,] he typed, before it was soon followed by, [when I’m done working on a little project.]

[No, I mean now.] She insisted, [You’re not a machine, Ethan.]

It took a moment but his reply soon came.

[But OmniTech can’t afford for me to act human either.] It seemed he wanted to say more, but he just ended with that.

Lillian froze, she didn’t know the underlying meaning behind those words since they seemed anything but simple...

[You sound dramatic.] she typed, trying to lighten the mood.

[You sound worried.] came his instant reply.

[I am.]

That one slipped out before she could stop herself. And when she realized what she’d sent, her stomach dropped.

Oh, hell.

Yes he knew her feelings for him but that didn’t mean she should casually send texts that seemed like she was flirting, he had already said they needed time.

Her mind scrambled for a follow-up — anything to downplay it — but the three dots had already appeared indicating that Ethan would soon reply, which he did.

[I know, then I’ll get some rest.]

It was a simple reply... but for some reason, it made her heart skip.

He actually agreed?

Ethan Carter was many things—a genius, a control freak, the embodiment of efficiency—but agreeable wasn’t one of them. Especially when it came to taking a rest.

According to Irina, María—the woman she’d had the pleasure of meeting—was the only person who could ever win against Ethan.

Lillian couldn’t help the faint pang of jealousy that stirred at that thought.

She had heard so much about María, about how warm and motherly she was, yet Irina had met her first. Somehow, that didn’t sit quite right with her.

[Promise?] she typed before she could stop herself.

Three dots appeared... then vanished.

Appeared again, then vanished again.

Her lips curved slightly into a smile, "He’s hesitating."

Finally, the message came through.

[...Fine. I promise.]

Lillian grinned, biting her lip to keep from laughing. Did this mean she finally had one up on Irina?

Or maybe... this just evened the score for Irina getting to meet María first.

Anyway, that didn’t matter right now as she typed her reply, [Then I’ll hold you to it.]