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“Claudy, since Prof. Hutchinson asked you to be the liaison, you should understand that this project is not attractive to any company.” 

Claudine understood the implication in Damian’s words. 

People like them sponsored the Antique Restoration Research Institute either for tax benefits or to enhance their cor- porate image. 

They might not care about the profits, but they certainly didn’t want to take on the risks. 

This was one of the reasons Mitchell had her act as the project liaison. He thought Damian would be willing to invest 

for her sake. 

But Mitchell had completely overestimated their marriage and her place in Damian’s heart. 

“Mr. Barrette, please take a look at the return analysis in the proposal. Once the database is successfully established and launched, you will receive 30% of the profits. Additionally, you will have the naming rights to the database.” 

Damian said, “But before the database is established, I have to bear enormous risks.” 

The two sides reached an impasse. 

Claudine looked at the man in front of her. 

She knew exactly what Damian was thinking. She also knew that if she agreed not to divorce, he would sign the pro- posal. 

She understood that Damian was forcing her to give in. 

At that moment, the door to the inner room of the hospital ward was pushed open, and Audrey came out, pushing her 

IV stand. 

Damian stood up and walked over to Audrey’s side. 

“Why are you out here? The doctor told you to rest.” 

Audrey insisted she was fine, but her body leaned toward Damian, and to the others, it looked as if she was nestled in his arms. 

Lindsay instinctively glanced at Claudine, feeling indignant on behalf of “Mrs. Barrette.” 

Damian helped Audrey sit down on the sofa. 

Claudine and Lindsay stood directly across from them. 

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This situation… 

Lindsay looked sympathetically at “Mrs. Barrette” beside her. 

Audrey glanced at the project proposal on the table and reached out to pick it up, but Claudine was quicker and put the proposal away first. 

Audrey’s hand grasped at nothing, hanging awkwardly in the air. 

“Is this prepared by Ms. Hogan? Sorry, I didn’t mean to look.” 

After speaking, she turned to look at the man beside her. 

“Dami, am I interrupting you and Ms. Hogan?” 

Lindsay rolled her eyes inwardly. 

Sometimes she really wondered, could men truly not see through this kind of act? 

Before Damian could respond, Audrey continued speaking. 

“Ms. Hogan, please don’t blame Dami, it was me who begged him to stay. 

“I didn’t want to be alone in the hospital. In Bronzevale, Dami is my only friend, so I could‘ only ask him for help.” 

Claudine put the proposal into her bag, and as she heard Audrey’s words, a trace of self–mockery flickered in her eyes. 

“Yes, being alone in the hospital is truly hard to bear.” 

When Damian heard this, it felt as if something had fiercely gripped his heart. 

He looked up at the woman standing before him. 

Claudine wasn’t angry or aggrieved; she simply stood there calmly, her eyes dim. 

Suddenly, Damian remembered that when Claudine lost her child, she was alone in the hospital too. 

She endured the pain of surgery and the agony of losing her child all by herself. How unbearable must that have been for her… 

Damian’s heart felt as if it was being flooded, leaving him breathless. 

He looked at Claudine, his throat working several times before he found his voice. 

“Give me the proposal.” 

*** 

When she left the hospital, it was noon. The sun was high, and unlike the chill of morning and evening, but Claudine felt no warmth from head to toe. 

She looked at the signed project proposal in her hand, and unconsciously, her other hand rested on her lower ab- 

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domen. 

There, once, had been her child. 

She had used that child once again… 

Perhaps the child chose to leave because they knew she and Damian were never meant to be proper parents. 

Claudine’s heart had long since grown numb from pain. 

The people at the Antique Restoration Research Institute were thrilled to hear she had secured the proposal so quick- ly, and excitedly asked Mitchell to take them out to celebrate. 

Mitchell was also elated, saying Claudine was the lucky star of their project team. 

They thought Damian and Claudine had a deep marital bond, which was why he agreed to sponsor the project so quickly. 

They had no idea what Claudine had sacrificed, and Claudine certainly wasn’t going to tell them. 

But she had no desire to celebrate with her colleagues; it felt like eating a blood–soaked bun made from her own chid. 

She knew it was a problem with her own mind. 

Of course, she wouldn’t spoil everyone’s mood, so she made an excuse about having other matters and didn’t join her colleagues and professors for dinner. 

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