I Was His Wife, Then His Widow, Then No One's But My Own novel Chapter 60

Taking off her reading glasses, she placed them on the desk with a slow, heavy sigh. "My guess is Mr. Harrison is trying to clean house. He probably realized someone was exploiting this charity for their own gain."

Nora stood by the window. "Exactly. So missing out on the grant isn't something we should beat ourselves up over. Mr. Harrison has already injected so much capital and equipment into the medical field; he's practically a saint."

Zelda nodded, her eyes softening as she looked at her two favorite students. "Don't let this get to you. I'm sure there will be other opportunities."

"I'm not upset at all," Nora said, turning around as the morning sun traced a golden halo around her profile. "I just feel bad for Mr. Harrison. He's been throwing his money to a pack of wolves all these years."

Leaning against the doorframe, Felix let out a cynical laugh. "I'd love to see how he plans on gutting his inner circle."

The three of them shared a knowing smile, leaving it at that.

Slipping her glasses back on, Zelda waved them off. "Alright, get back to work."

Nora left the office and walked back to her cubicle.

Her desk was buried under a massive stack of lab data, completely covered in red annotations. She had just sat down and picked up her pen when a shadow fell over her, blocking the overhead light.

Looking up, she found Seraphina standing in front of her desk, looking absolutely livid.

Nora slowly set her pen down and leaned back in her chair, staring at her in perfect silence.

Seraphina completely bypassed the pleasantries. "You knew the funding was going to be canceled, didn't you?"

Knew it early or knew it late? Nora found the accusation utterly laughable.

Why on earth did she owe Seraphina an explanation? Offering a cold, dismissive glance, Nora didn't say a single word. She just picked her pen back up and returned to her data.

The suffocating rage in Seraphina's chest boiled over. The humiliation of being unceremoniously thrown out by Xander's assistant last night still burned, and Nora's blatant disrespect was pouring gasoline on the fire.

Glancing around the office, she instinctively raised her voice. "Are you really this petty, Nora? Sabotaging the entire institute's hard work just to get back at me—is that really worth it?"

Several colleagues instantly snapped their heads up.

Seraphina wasn't done. "Does the future of this institute mean absolutely nothing compared to our personal grudge?"

The moment the words hit the air, the stares directed at Nora turned sharp and suspicious. A few colleagues began whispering among themselves, their eyes filled with intense scrutiny.

Nora realized what was happening in a heartbeat. Seraphina was trying to manipulate public opinion to crush her.

Seraphina panicked. "That's not what I meant! I was just saying there's no need to air our personal grievances in front of the whole office."

Nora smiled, the warmth completely failing to reach her eyes. "Well, it certainly looks like you're the one dragging our dirty laundry out into the open. I haven't done any such thing."

Seraphina was completely silenced.

A heavy quiet settled over the room as the surrounding colleagues quickly pretended to go back to work, though every single ear was pinned to the conversation.

Finn stayed silent for a long moment before finally speaking up. "Nora, we're all family. There is no point in obsessing over trivial misunderstandings."

His stance was painfully clear. He wasn't interested in right or wrong; he just wanted to bury the incident while subtly shielding Seraphina from any further humiliation.

Without another word, he took Seraphina's hand and led her toward the exit.

Sitting at her desk, Nora watched their backs disappear through the office doors.

The fake smile slowly faded from her lips, her heart sinking like a stone. Of course. No matter the situation, Finn would always choose Seraphina.