My Coldhearted Husband'S Regret novel Chapter 30

30 A Prodigy’s Unexpected Introduction

30 A Prodigy’s Unexpected Introduction

Elara took a slow, steadying breath as she stood in the center of the crowded event hall. The encounter with Vivienne in the powder room had shaken her more than she wanted to admit. The calculated malice in her half-sister’s words lingered like a bitter aftertaste.

“Here,” Julian said, pressing a fresh glass of champagne into her hand. “You look like you need this.”

She accepted the drink gratefully. “Is it that obvious?”

“Only to someone who knows you well.” Julian guided her toward a quieter corner of the room. “Want to talk about what happened?”

Elara shook her head. “Not here.” She took a sip of champagne, letting the bubbles dissolve on her tongue. “Let’s focus on why we came. The investors, remember?”

Julian studied her face for a moment before nodding. “If that’s what you want.”

“It is.” Elara straightened her shoulders, smoothing down her blue dress. She refused to let Vivienne and her thirty-million-dollar gown derail this evening. “I’m fine, Julian. Really.”

Julian smiled, though concern still shadowed his eyes. “In that case, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

He led her across the room, weaving through clusters of tech industry elites engaged in animated conversation. Elara kept her gaze deliberately away from the corner where Damien and Vivienne held court.

“Professor Leonard!” Julian called out to a distinguished-looking man with salt-and-pepper hair. “I was hoping to catch you tonight.”

The man turned, his expression brightening. “Mr. Croft! A pleasure to see you again.”

“Professor Bryson Leonard, allow me to introduce Elara Vance,” Julian said, gesturing toward her. “Co-founder of YodaVision and our chief innovation officer.”

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30 A Prodigy’s Unexpected Introduction

Professor Leonard shook her hand with a polite smile. “Ms. Vance, nice to meet you.”

“Likewise, Professor.” Elara detected the slight hesitation in his greeting – the polite interest of someone making conversation but not expecting much from the interaction.

Julian leaned in with a conspiratorial smile. “Professor Leonard has been working on a language programming project that’s hit a wall. Been stuck for months, from what I hear.”

The professor’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Yes, that’s true. How did you-”

“What’s the issue?” Elara asked, professional curiosity piqued.

“It’s a semantic processing problem,” Professor Leonard explained, his tone academic. “We’re trying to create more natural language recognition patterns, but the current architecture doesn’t support the contextual flexibility we need.”

Elara nodded thoughtfully. “Are you working with nested recognition patterns or parallel processing streams?”

Professor Leonard blinked, clearly surprised by her technical question. “Nested patterns, primarily. We found parallel streams created too much noise in the final output.”

Julian cleared his throat dramatically. “Professor Leonard, I don’t believe I mentioned that before co-founding YodaVision, Elara was Zachary Newman’s star pupil at MIT.”

The professor’s eyes widened. “Zachary Newman? The pioneer of contextual language processing?”

“The very same,” Julian confirmed, a hint of pride in his voice. “And if I’m not mistaken, wasn’t he your mentor as well, Professor?”

“He was,” Professor Leonard admitted, now looking at Elara with genuine interest. “You studied under Newman? When?”

“About twelve years ago,” Elara replied. “I was part of his advanced language architecture program.”

Julian’s smile grew wider. “Tell him about LinguaFlex, Elara.”

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Professor Leonard’s jaw dropped slightly. “LinguaFlex? You were part of that team?”

“She wasn’t just part of the team,” Julian interjected before Elara could respond. “Her team developed it eight years ago. LinguaFlex was primarily Elara’s brainchild.”

The professor stared at Elara with newfound respect. “You’re that E. Vance? The core developer of the most influential programming language of the decade?”

Elara felt a flush of pride rise to her cheeks. It had been years since anyone had recognized her for that work. “Yes, though it was a collaborative effort.”

“Newman always said the breakthrough came from you,” Professor Leonard said earnestly. “He spoke about your work at conferences for years afterward.”

Elara hadn’t known that. After marrying Damien, she’d stepped away from that world entirely, focusing instead on being the perfect Thorne wife. The knowledge that her mentor had continued to credit her work sent a pang of longing through her for the career she’d set aside.

“Your semantic processing issue,” she said, steering the conversation back to safer ground. “Have you considered hybrid architecture? Using nested patterns for primary recognition but implementing parallel streams for contextual verification?”

Professor Leonard’s eyes lit up. “That’s… that’s brilliant. We never considered separating the functions that way.”

Julian stepped back slightly, giving them space as they fell into a rapid technical discussion. Elara felt herself coming alive, her mind racing through possibilities and solutions. This was where she belonged – in the world of innovation and ideas, not playing second fiddle to anyone.

“The key would be implementing a filtering algorithm at the junction points,” she explained, grabbing a cocktail napkin to sketch a quick diagram. “See, if you place the contextual verifiers here and here, you can preserve processing speed while eliminating cross-talk.”

Professor Leonard studied her sketch with growing excitement. “This could work. This could absolutely work!” He looked up at her with genuine admiration. “Where have you been all these years?”

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30 A Prodigy’s Unexpected Introduction

The question, innocent as it was, sent a ripple of complex emotions through Elara. Where had she been? Living in a gilded cage, shrinking herself to fit into a role that was never meant for her.

“Taking a detour,” she replied simply. “But I’m back now.”

“And the tech world is better for it,” Julian added, rejoining the conversation. Professor Leonard nodded enthusiastically. “Indeed. Ms. Vance, would you consider consulting on our project? Your insight could save us months of trial and error.” Before Elara could respond, Julian tensed beside her. She followed his gaze across the room and spotted Vivienne making her way toward them, golden dress shimmering with each step.

Julian’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. “Professor, if you’ll excuse us for just a moment, I need to quickly discuss something with Elara.”

But it was too late. Vivienne had already reached them, her perfectly painted lips curved into a polite smile.

“Mr. Croft,” she greeted Julian, her voice smooth as silk.

Julian’s normally expressive face went carefully neutral. “Ms. Dubois.”

Elara watched the interaction with interest. She’d never seen Julian and Vivienne interact before, but there was unmistakable tension in the air between them. Julian, usually so affable, had become remarkably still, like a prey animal sensing danger. Vivienne turned her attention to Professor Leonard. “Professor, how lovely to see you again. I believe we met at the MIT alumni dinner last spring?”

“Dr. Dubois, yes, of course,” the professor replied, clearly impressed by Vivienne’s academic credentials. “I remember your presentation on comparative economic systems was quite illuminating.”

Vivienne’s smile widened. “You’re too kind.” Her gaze slid to Elara, then back to Julian. “I don’t mean to interrupt. I just wanted to say hello.”

The simple statement sounded innocent enough, but Elara detected an undercurrent of something else-curiosity, perhaps, or assessment. Vivienne was studying Julian

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30 A Prodigy’s Unexpected Introduction

with the same calculating look she often directed at Elara.

Julian inclined his head slightly. “No interruption at all. Professor Leonard and Elara were just discussing a fascinating technical solution to his language programming challenges.”

Vivienne’s perfectly sculpted eyebrows rose a fraction. “Is that so?” She glanced at Elara with what might have been surprise. “How interesting.”

Professor Leonard nodded enthusiastically, oblivious to the undercurrents. “Indeed! Ms. Vance has offered some revolutionary insights. Did you know she was the architect behind LinguaFlex?”

“I wasn’t aware,” Vivienne replied, her tone carefully neutral. “How accomplished.”

The faint note of surprise in Vivienne’s voice confirmed what Elara had always suspected-her half-sister had never bothered to learn anything substantial about her beyond her connection to Damien.

Julian shifted slightly, positioning himself more firmly at Elara’s side. “Professor, perhaps you and Elara could continue this discussion over lunch next week? I’m sure YodaVision would be interested in a potential collaboration.”

“Absolutely!” Professor Leonard agreed eagerly. “That would be marvelous.”

Elara nodded, grateful for Julian’s intervention. “I’ll have my assistant contact you to set up a time.”

Vivienne watched this exchange with narrowed eyes before turning her attention fully to Julian. “Mr. Croft, I understand congratulations are in order. The latest round of funding for YodaVision was quite impressive.”

Julian’s expression remained carefully controlled. “Thank you.”

“Damien mentioned your company might be pioneering some interesting new developments in predictive AI,” Vivienne continued, her tone casual yet probing.

Julian’s eyes hardened slightly. “Did he? I wasn’t aware Mr. Thorne followed our work so closely.”

“Oh, he follows everything of value in the tech world,” Vivienne replied smoothly.

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Unexpected Introduction

“Especially when it involves… former connections.”

Her gaze flickered briefly to Elara, the implication clear. Damien was monitoring YodaVision because of Elara’s involvement.

Julian’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “How attentive of him.”

Across the room, Elara spotted Damien in conversation with several investors. As if sensing her gaze, he looked up, his dark eyes meeting hers for a brief, electric moment before returning to his discussion.

Vivienne noticed the exchange and her smile tightened almost imperceptibly. “Well, I should return to my date. It was lovely catching up, Professor Leonard.” She turned to Julian, extending her hand. “Mr. Croft.”

Julian hesitated for the briefest moment before accepting the handshake. Elara

watched with fascination as something unspoken passed between them-a history or knowledge she wasn’t privy to.

“Ms. Dubois,” Julian replied formally.

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