My Coldhearted Husband'S Regret novel Chapter 40

< 40 Beyond Expectations, Beneath Scrutiny

40 Beyond Expectations, Beneath Scrutiny

Elara’s first day at YodaVision was nothing like her years at Thorne Industries. Here, the whispers weren’t about her marriage or her husband. They were about her capabilities, her qualifications-or perceived lack thereof.

She sat alone during lunch, perfectly content with her solitude. The other employees kept a polite distance, casting curious glances her way. She didn’t mind. She wasn’t here to make friends. She was here to reclaim her passion, her purpose beyond being Damien Thorne’s wife.

At her workstation, Elara immersed herself in code. The complex AI neural network problem that Julian had assigned her felt like a puzzle waiting to be solved. Her fingers flew across the keyboard, her mind working through algorithms and solutions with a precision that surprised even herself.

“How’s it coming along?” Yandel asked, stopping by her desk late in the afternoon.

Elara looked up and smiled. “I’m almost done.”

Yandel’s eyebrows shot up. “Done? That’s a ten-day project.”

“I’ve made some modifications to the approach,” she explained, turning her monitor toward him. “See here? The traditional architecture was limiting our processing capabilities. I restructured the framework.”

Yandel leaned closer, his eyes widening as he scanned her work. “This is… remarkable. You’ve completely revolutionized the baseline architecture.”

“I also added self-learning parameters,” Elara continued, clicking through several screens. “The system can adapt to new data patterns without manual recoding.”

“You did all this in one day?” Yandel’s voice held a mixture of disbelief and grudging admiration,

Elara nodded, her confidence growing with each passing moment. “I’d like to present it to the team if that’s okay.”

An hour later, Elara stood before the AI division, walking them through her solution.

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The room was silent, all eyes fixed on her presentation. She could feel their skepticism melting away, replaced by genuine interest.

“The self-learning module is particularly impressive,” commented Dr. Chen, one of the senior developers. “Where did you study? MIT? Stanford?”

“Caltech,” Elara replied. “Undergraduate program.”

A ripple of surprise moved through the room.”

“Just undergraduate?” someone asked. “Most of us have PhDs.”

Elara’s smile didn’t falter. “I had planned to pursue my doctorate, but personal matters

intervened.”

Personal matters. Such a simple phrase to describe the years she’d spent trying to make Damien love her. Years she’d wasted, hoping he would see her value.

“Well, doctorate or not, this is exceptional work,” Yandel said, breaking the awkward silence. “I think we can all agree that Julian made the right choice bringing you on

board.”

The meeting concluded with handshakes and genuine smiles. As people filed out, several colleagues stopped to introduce themselves properly. The ice was breaking, faster than Elara had anticipated.

Julian appeared in the doorway, a satisfied grin on his face. “I heard you made quite an

impression.”

“Word travels fast,” Elara said, gathering her notes.

“In this industry? Absolutely.” Julian crossed the room to her. “Ready to call it a day? I’ve made reservations at Altura. We should celebrate your first triumph.”

“Altura?” Elara hesitated. “That’s rather upscale.”

“You’ve earned it,” Julian insisted. “Besides, their chef just earned a Michelin star. We’d be fools not to try it while we still can get a table.”

Outside, the evening air was crisp with early autumn, Julian’s driver waited by a sleek black car, As they rode to the restaurant, Elara felt a lightness she hadn’t experienced

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in years. This day-her accomplishments, the respect in her colleagues’ eyes-

belonged to her alone. Not to Elara Thorne, wife of Damien, but to Elara Vance, brilliant in her own right.

Altura was housed in a renovated historic building, its elegant facade lit with subtle spotlights. As they approached the entrance, Elara’s heel caught on an uneven stone. She stumbled slightly, her balance faltering.

Julian’s arm shot out instantly, catching her around the waist. “Careful there,” he said, his hand steady against her side.

The touch was brief, professional, yet as Elara regained her footing, she caught sight of a familiar figure in her peripheral vision. Her stomach dropped.

Damien stood near the restaurant’s entrance, watching her with Lucas Sterling by his side. His face was impassive, but his eyes followed her movements with an intensity that made her skin prickle.

Elara deliberately turned away, pretending she hadn’t noticed him. “Thank you, Julian,” she said, her voice carrying slightly. “Shall we head upstairs?”

Julian nodded, offering his arm as they climbed the stone steps. Elara took it, her chin lifting slightly. She didn’t glance back, didn’t acknowledge Damien’s presence in any way. But she could feel his gaze boring into her back as they disappeared through the

restaurant’s doors.

Inside, the hostess led them to a secluded table by the windows, offering a spectacular view of the city lights below.

“You saw him, didn’t you?” Julian asked after they’d ordered drinks.

Elara’s fingers played with the edge of her napkin. “Yes.”

“And you chose not to say hello.”

“There’s nothing to say,” Elara replied, her voice carefully neutral. “We’re getting

divorced. We don’t need to exchange pleasantries.”

Julian studied her face. “It’s strange, seeing you like this. The Elara I remember from college would have been devastated by such an encounter.”

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“That Elara is gone,” she said, looking out at the glittering cityscape. “She disappeared somewhere between year three and year four of my marriage.”

“I’m not sure I believe that,” Julian said softly. “The brilliance you showed today? That fire when you’re solving problems? That’s the same Elara I knew at Caltech. She wasn’t gone. She was just… waiting.”

Elara’s eyes met his. “Perhaps you’re right.”

The waiter arrived with their drinks, breaking the moment. As they clinked glasses, Elara pushed thoughts of Damien from her mind. Tonight was about celebrating her new beginning, not dwelling on her past.

Downstairs, Damien’s jaw tightened as he watched Elara disappear into the restaurant

with Julian Croft’s hand at the small of her back.

“Well, that was interesting,” Lucas remarked, glancing sidelong at his friend. “She completely ignored you.”

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