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At that moment, Claudine could hear the voices of several senior colleagues on the phone, saying they were waiting for her to come back.
Claudine could no longer hold back.
Her voice trembled, “Thank you, Prof. Hutchinson, and… to all the senior colleagues. I will clear my name, and yours, and the Antique Restoration Research Institute’s.”
After hanging up, Claudine buried her face in her arms and cried her heart out.
She had been suppressing her feelings for far too long.
She didn’t know when she would be able to break free from this cage.
But she knew in her heart that if she stayed in this cage any longer, it would be the end of her!
Now, she was no longer willing to be a caged canary.
She had already grown wings; if she stayed in this cage, her wings would break, her body would be hurt, and her in- sides would bleed…
She had to escape…
Even if it meant risking her life!
Even if it meant perishing together with this cage!
Damian wanted to protect Audrey, but she was determined to push Audrey into the spotlight, so everyone could see who Damian truly cared about!
Claudine picked up her gift and headed to Adriana’s exhibition hall.
As Adriana’s only doctoral student this year, Audrey was certain to attend the exhibition.
Since Audrey had spread rumors online, Claudine was going to make sure everyone knew whether Damian was pro- tecting his current wife or the pitied ex-wife!
As soon as she arrived, Claudine saw Audrey.
She was standing at the entrance of the exhibition hall, welcoming the guests and visitors.
Claudine sat in her car, gripping the steering wheel tightly.
Thinking about all the things Audrey had done, Claudine’s hands clenched so hard that the veins on the back of her hands stood out.
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She truly hated Audrey!
She had never imagined she would one day hate another woman so much!
It wasn’t because Audrey wanted to win Damian back, but because Audrey was truly malicious!
Audrey wanted Damian, but every action she took was a knife aimed at Claudine!
She probably didn’t realize that the man she longed for was already rotten in Claudine’s eyes!
Claudine took out her phone and sent a message to Theodore.
“Find a way to let Damian know I’m here to cause trouble for Audrey!”
At that moment, Theodore was in the Barrette Group’s meeting room. He instinctively glanced at the man sitting at the head of the table, a look of amusement flickering in his eyes.
“No problem!”
After sending the message, Theodore lazily raised his hand.
“Let me interrupt for a moment!”
He propped his legs up on the conference table and looked at Damian. “Damian, my friend saw… both your wives at an antique exhibition.”
Damian’s cold gaze fell on Theodore, and the atmosphere in the meeting room grew even more tense.
Several board members became even more dissatisfied with Damian.
Damian’s father slammed his hand on the desk.
In front of all the board members, he pointed at Damian and scolded him.
“Damian, look at the mess you’ve made! What do you think the Barrette Group is-a tool for you to play with wom- en!”
Damian stood up, straightened his back, and faced his father.
He looked at his father, then swept his gaze over every board member in the office.
“Gentlemen, I’ve held this position for seven years. The dividends you receive each year are the best proof of my ca- pabilities!
“Now, what I need is for all of you to work with me, to weather the storm together, not to kick me when I’m down!”
His gaze settled on his father.
“Today’s incident is indeed my fault. If you have any objections, I accept them!
“If you think that because of today’s events, you want to remove me from my position in this meeting room!
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“Then I agree!
“I also hope you can immediately find a suitable candidate to take my place!”
Several board members lowered their heads to discuss among themselves, but none dared to respond.
Damian threw the documents heavily back onto the table.
“If you don’t have a suitable candidate, then stop scheming about how to make trouble for me, and start thinking about how to run the company well!”
With that, Damian gave his father one last look and left the meeting room!
Outside the exhibition hall.
Claudine pushed open the car door and walked straight toward Audrey.
Audrey also saw Claudine.
Their eyes met, and Audrey’s gaze was filled with pride and provocation!
As a renowned professor in academic circles, this exhibition was Adriana’s last showcase in her decades-long career.
She publicly announced that from now on, she would devote herself to mentoring her final and most cherished stu- dent, Audrey.
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Even this exhibition was entirely organized and managed by Audrey.
Today, Audrey was undoubtedly the center of attention.
Everyone knew that throughout her life, Adriana valued her students’ professional abilities and character above all else. For Audrey to be held in such high regard by Adriana, she must possess extraordinary qualities.
As a result, all the guests present today treated Audrey with great respect.
Even many esteemed professors were quite satisfied with Audrey, despite her being much younger.
Claudine walked up to Audrey.
“Impressive tactics, Ms. Lavigne!”
Audrey responded with a smile.
“Ms. Hogan, today is Prof. Nixon’s exhibition. You wouldn’t be planning to cause trouble for Prof. Nixon here, would you?”
Claudine stepped up onto the platform. She was slightly taller than Audrey, and her cool, commanding presence over- shadowed Audrey.
She leaned in slightly, smiling as she whispered in Audrey’s ear.
“Who knows!
Letting Prof. Nixon see your true colors here might not be such a bad idea!”
With that, Claudine straightened up, gave Audrey a meaningful smile, and turned to enter the exhibition hall.
Watching Claudine’s retreating figure, Audrey’s eyes were filled with unwillingness and jealousy, but deep down, there was also a trace of fear.
She had thought that the online news would leave Claudine devastated, too ashamed to go out, or at least force her to clarify things online.
If that happened, Audrey would have the chance to escalate the situation, letting Damian see that not only was Clau- dine unable to help him, but she would also bring harm to him and the Barrette Group.
Meanwhile, Audrey would use her status as Dr. Adriana’s doctoral student to earn everyone’s admiration.
She would make Damian realize that she was the one most suited to be “Mrs. Barrette!”
But what Audrey hadn’t expected was that, even in the midst of such a scandal, Claudine still dared to show up!
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She had witnessed Claudine’s methods before-just thinking about the time Claudine brought people to empty out her house still sent shivers down her spine.
Audrey had no idea what Claudine might do next!
By now, the exhibition hall was already filled with quite a few people.
There were Adriana’s former students, other professors from the field, and many antique enthusiasts.
As soon as Claudine entered, several of her former classmates spotted her.
Given how much attention the online incident had attracted, of course they had all seen it.
If netizens claimed that Claudine wasn’t valued by the Barrette family, they might believe it. But when those same ne-
tizens questioned Claudine’s professional abilities, none of these “insiders” could agree.
After all, even back in graduate school, Claudine’s professional skills had far surpassed all of theirs.
“Claudine! Over here!”
A few old classmates reached out to Claudine.
Claudine smiled and walked over to them.
No one brought up those trivial online matters, but they were all very interested in Mitchell’s database project.
Maurice Lester was now working at the National Antique Museum.
He spoke up.
“Claudine, you really are a top student. We all read the project proposal you wrote.
When our director found out you were my classmate in graduate school, he even wanted me to introduce you!”
With Maurice’s words, the others looked at Claudine with even more admiration and envy.
After all, Claudine had just joined Mitchell’s team and was already able to independently write a project proposal and successfully secure the project.
Such opportunities were not available to every doctoral student!
“But I heard that the doctoral student Prof. Nixon recruited this year is also quite impressive! Apparently, she just re- turned from the Brythonian Museum!
Prof. Nixon thinks very highly of her!”
As the topic shifted to Audrey, everyone became more talkative.
“We used to say Claudine was Prof. Nixon’s favorite student, but now, Claudine, it looks like you’re being replaced!” They didn’t know Audrey’s true identity and were just joking.
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