I Forgot I Ever Loved You (Zoe and Hayden) novel Chapter 343

"You're an old man, why are you spouting such absolute nonsense? Who's trying to be your son?" Alistair shot back. "Zoe is my daughter. Did you get my permission to run around calling her your honorary granddaughter? When did this even happen? Why wasn't I informed?"

The two heavyweights completely ignored the crowd, arguing over Zoe like a pair of stubborn teenagers.

When Arthur had officially brought Zoe into the Kendall family, Alistair had been out of the country giving lectures.

Since no one in Alistair's immediate circle knew about his close bond with Zoe, he had been entirely kept in the dark.

Hardly anyone even knew he had returned to the country. His sudden appearance at the press conference had caught even Garrett off guard.

And now, Arthur and Alistair were locked in a heated standoff.

From a distance, Ethan and his group noticed the commotion. Things looked tense, with voices raised in what seemed like a bitter argument.

Sienna watched quietly. She recognized Professor Layne—the absolute titan of the AI world.

Zoe's speech on stage had covered the core of their project, but some of the technical depth had gone completely over Sienna's head.

Rather than admitting her own lack of knowledge, Sienna convinced herself that Zoe was just spewing pretentious jargon under Garrett's instruction to sound impressive.

The politicians and business moguls in the room weren't directly involved in R&D, so they wouldn't know any better. To the untrained ear, Zoe's fluff sounded brilliantly professional, especially when shielded by the Kendall family's halo.

But Alistair's presence changed everything. He was a human lie detector. Zoe's amateur hour must have deeply offended him.

Seeing him arguing fiercely with Arthur, Sienna was absolutely certain Alistair was tearing into the old man for his lack of integrity.

He had to be furious that Arthur was treating a woman with a ruined reputation like a prized treasure.

Ian cast a completely baffled look at Ethan, dismissing his words entirely.

What he was seeing was vastly different from Ethan's delusion.

From Ian's perspective, Zoe was clearly adored by this elite crowd. The top-tier politicians and business leaders were treating her with immense respect.

These were people the average person couldn't get within fifty feet of, yet Zoe had navigated their circle flawlessly for nearly half an hour. It was incredibly impressive.

Arthur and Alistair argued until they were red in the face, failing to reach a compromise, until the surrounding VIPs finally stepped in to play peacemaker.

The revelation only made the rest of the room admire Zoe even more. No wonder she had achieved so much at such a young age—she was Professor Layne's prized pupil, a woman he was fighting to call his own.