Chapter 403

“No!” Josie blushed. “It’s not right to make such a big fuss about this, is it? It’s not like we’re getting married!”

She thought, ‘Who throws a party just for moving in together?’

Claire asked, “You haven’t gotten married yet? When Sean said he was moving out, he even took out his driver’s license. I thought he was going to register the marriage with you right away!”

Claire was slightly puzzled, but then something else quickly occurred to her.

She said, “That’s true. Sean would never put you through that. He should at least propose first. Besides, you’re still in school, so there’s no rush!”

Josie’s heart skipped a beat. For some reason, she felt a mix of anticipation and fear after hearing that Sean wanted to marry her.

The two of them walked ahead, and though their voices were not loud, Ian and the others following behind still heard them.

Joseph patted Ian on the shoulder.

He said, “Cheer up, I heard Josie is treating you because of your thesis. Don’t be ungrateful. At least she considers you a true friend!”

Ian said with a bitter look on his face, “Yeah. You’re right, how could I be ungrateful? Considering she only credited my name for the publication of this thesis, I have to consider her a true friend!”

He thought, ‘What a loyal friend she is!’

Even Joseph and Tripp were somewhat surprised. “We also didn’t expect Josie to want nothing in return, guiding you to success and paving your way.”

No one would have thought of that.

They wondered, ‘Why is she doing this? Others might suspect she has feelings for Ian, but she’s clearly dating Sean. Is she simply a good friend?’

Once everyone arrived in the private room, Josie got up to go to the front desk to order more drinks.

As she walked back, she ran into Natalie coming out of the private room in the hallway.

Natalie grinned widely. “Josie, you actually showed up? You’re really willing to do anything to get ahead, aren’t you? Betraying the Reedshaw family so quickly? Want to come back to Professor Lawson’s team? Want to work with us again? Did you beg other people in the team like this before? But I’m not them, and I’m not as easygoing as they are. If you really want my help, then beg me, preferably on your knees.”

She crossed her arms, a smug look on her face.

Josie wondered, ‘Natalie probably doesn’t even know about Ian publishing his paper. Is that why she is still so cheerful? That’s true. She’s probably too busy with her celebration party today to pay attention to anything online. I wonder how many people came to her celebration party. It’s already this late. Shouldn’t everyone be here by now? Or perhaps no one came?’

Josie offered a smile. “I bet your private room is still empty, isn’t it? Natalie, I really don’t know what you’re so happy about. How about you guess why they haven’t arrived yet? Are they playing hard to get, looking down on you? Or has something else unexpected happened?”

Josie’s smile deepened. “What a pity. Look at you. You are so young, yet you are so deluded.”

She thought, ‘Otherwise, why would she think I am here to beg her?’

As soon as Josie finished speaking, Sean pulled open the private room door. “Come in quickly. Everyone’s waiting for you.”

“Okay!” Josie joyfully skipped into the private room, not even glancing at Natalie again.

Natalie froze the moment Josie said no one was in her private room. She thought, ‘How did she know? Is she behind all this? How did she manage to prevent everyone from coming to my celebration party? This doesn’t make sense. Did the Reedshaw family help her? Why would the Reedshaw family help her like this? What’s in it for them?’

Natalie was completely baffled.

She thought, ‘No, that’s impossible. If the Reedshaw family was behind this, then David would have shown up. How could David not come? He was the one who insisted on hosting this celebration party!’