Chapter 162
After all, men’s thoughts were much the same; she was indeed not particularly attractive, her figure was not remarkable, and she was not so outstanding as to be universally admired. No one would like her under such circumstances.
Moreover, she had already lost both the qualification to feel her heart stirred and the ability to love. In this encounter, she wanted only revenge; she wanted to drive those parasites out of the medical profession. She resolved to devote herself to research and achieve what she had once failed to accomplish.
As for Sean, she had fully accepted his concern and reciprocated his kindness, since he was indeed a good person. But beyond that, she absolutely would not even think about anything else, as it was simply impossible.
“Oh well…” Claire could not help but feel both amused and exasperated; it turned out that Josie was not oblivious, but did not believe that Sean could ever like her. ‘Is it that she lacks confidence in herself, or does she overestimate Sean?’ she thought.
“Why don’t you look in the mirror and see just how adorable you are?” Claire raised her hand and gently rubbed her face. “Remember this, there are indeed differences between men and women. Don’t think that men aren’t interested in you. If I were a man, I would be interested in you, too.”
“You are not only beautiful and lovely, but also gentle, knowledgeable, diligent, ambitious, eager to learn, kind, and sensible. Unless someone is blind, it would be very hard not to like a young woman like you.
“Trust me, be more confident in yourself, and learn to protect yourself in the future. Do not allow others to take advantage of you easily. Of course, if you also have feelings for the other person, that would be a different matter.”
Josie smiled and indicated that she understood. However, she merely regarded Claire’s words as an attempt to comfort her and did not truly believe that she was beautiful, charming, or as universally liked and appealing as Claire had described. After all, she had indeed examined herself in the mirror and was fully aware of her own appearance.
While Josie and Claire were heading to the teaching building one after the other, Audrey ran into Natalie in front of the faculty building. “What are you doing so furtively?” Audrey looked up at the faculty building but saw no one unusual.
Natalie was taken aback by Audrey’s sudden arrival. Anxiously, she stepped forward and took her arm. “Mom, what brings you here? Why didn’t you call first?”
“Why would I call you–just to remind you not to embarrass yourself on stage?” Whenever Audrey thought of how Natalie made a spectacle of herself on stage, she could barely restrain herself from slapping her twice.
“I truly cannot understand how I gave birth to such a useless thing as you. Failing to win the Grand Prize is one thing, but even when you went on stage to accept an award, you still managed to make me lose face. Where have all the etiquette and rules you learned gone? You lack even basic stage presence and can’t compare to Josie. What are you even good at?”
Natalie was on the verge of tears. Noticing that passing students were beginning to look in their direction, she quickly pulled Audrey toward a less crowded area. “Mom, I didn’t do it on purpose. It’s just that our team suddenly got a Third Prize, and I can’t accept it. I just feel so embarrassed–how could I possibly have the heart to go on stage and accept the award?”
If Aiden had not insisted that she go on stage, she was dying to sneak out through the back door. After being crushed by Josie, she could not bear the humiliation.
Audrey said, “Isn’t Professor Lawson’s team supposed to be composed entirely of top professionals? Can even experts make mistakes? And this happened right at the critical moment when Josie was leaving the team–could it be that she…”
Natalie was surprised. “That’s not true, Mom. Don’t worry about it. If Josie really was talented, she wouldn’t have been removed from the team. What happened was just a mistake. Aiden and the others are excellent. If you recruit them, the Central Research Institute will do even better, and you will…”
Natalie did not finish her sentence, but Audrey naturally understood what she meant. Noticing that her expression had eased considerably, Natalie brought up another matter. “It just so happens that Gavin has recently been submitting internship applications; please be sure to accept him.”