Chapter 100

Josie knew perfectly well they were doing this on purpose, just to make sure she got some time in the spotlight. They didn’t want to downplay her presence on the team. If anything, they were putting her front and center, making sure everyone saw her.

She’d just been cast aside by David’s team, and everyone was saying she’d made the wrong choice. But now, they were standing up for her in their own way, helping her hold her ground in front of everyone.

Josie’s eyes turned red again. “Thanks for believing in me, Claire. I’ll do my best. I won’t let the team down!”

Claire opened her laptop and pulled up the document. “Alright, let’s go over the paper one more time. Professor Wilcourt made some last-minute changes overnight, so I’ll point out the parts you need to know…”

Josie thought, ‘After I had an accident last night, Professor Wilcourt rushed to the hospital. How could she have made changes?’ She became nervous as she thought, ‘She must have stayed up all night after leaving the hospital. No wonder Claire looks like she hasn’t slept either. She must have been working on the document, too.’

In the end, it seemed like she was the only one who had gotten a good night’s sleep. Josie felt a special kind of bittersweet warmth in her chest. She knew that her good night’s rest had come at the cost of the other three not getting any sleep at all. She had just joined the team and hadn’t even done anything to help yet, but the three of them were already treating her with such genuine care. ‘How did I get so lucky? What did I ever do to deserve this kind of kindness?’ Josie thought.

Once again, Josie reminded herself that she had to never forget her purpose, work hard, and find a way to give back to them. In her previous life, Josie hadn’t paid much attention to Delilah, but she knew that as David’s status and influence grew, Delilah’s presence lessened at school. Eventually, hardly anyone even mentioned her anymore. As for the Reedshaw family, after Leo Reedshaw passed away, their fortunes started to go downhill. In the end, their medical company was bought out by Aiden. Josie remembered it even made the news back then, because Aiden gave the acquired company to Natalie as a wedding anniversary gift.

Natalie had even come up to Josie, waving the stock allocation sheet in her face and showing off. At that time, Josie was treated as the janitor at the research institute. With Natalie leading the charge, everyone felt free to step on her. Everyone took their turn humiliating her. All that time, Josie just kept blaming herself, thinking she wasn’t good enough, that she hadn’t done enough. She felt that was why everyone looked down on her and treated her like she was nothing. It never even crossed her mind that maybe it was their fault all along. They’d never once treated her fairly or with any real respect.

“Silly girl, what are you spacing out about this time?” Claire snapped her fingers in front of Josie, bringing her back to reality and reminding her to focus.

Josie quickly composed herself and looked intently at the computer screen. “Claire, could you go over these parts with me again?”

Sean came back from the ticket draw. “We’re last to go on stage, so you two can take your time going over everything. No rush.”

“Sean, you are so lucky!” Claire laughed, then turned to Josie. She asked, “Did you catch everything I just said? Do you want to go through it one more time on your own, just to make sure you understand?”

Josie nodded. “Okay.”

Time ticked by, and one after another, the competing teams took the stage. Adeline’s team was scheduled for a later slot, while Aiden’s team was set to present near the beginning.

When it was their turn, Aiden took the lead in the presentation, while Gavin and Jaden handled the demonstrations. It was the same team dynamic as in Josie’s previous life. Gavin didn’t say much on stage, but he was great with hands-on stuff. Since he was up there pretty often, even if he wasn’t the flashiest, people still remembered him. Jaden, on the other hand, was lively and energetic. Even though his explanations weren’t always spot-on, his humor made up for it, so he stood out.

But the real star of the show was Aiden. He was good-looking, carried himself with confidence, and spoke in a steady, precise way. Whenever he wrapped things up, his words always got the whole room clapping.

This time was no exception. From the moment Aiden took the stage, all eyes were on him. When he finished and walked off, he looked totally at ease, his expression gentle and calm. It was like being in the spotlight was just another day for him. He even made a point to look over at Josie, giving her a showy little nod.