I Was His Wife, Then His Widow, Then No One's But My Own novel Chapter 177

Early the next morning, Nora brought Julian to The Medical Innovation Summit.

Felix Ford had his own connections to get in, so he didn't need to take up one of Nora's invitation slots.

Julian sat in the backseat of the car, his fingers anxiously picking at the edge of his phone case. He stared intently at the downloaded conference materials on his screen, but his eyes were entirely glazed over; he wasn't absorbing a single word.

This was his first time attending a summit of this caliber. Just the thought of a venue packed to the brim with elite academics in sharp suits and billionaire investors made him break into a cold sweat.

Nora glanced back at him from the passenger seat and offered a reassuring smile. "Don't be nervous. Just stick close to me once we get inside. I'm not bringing you here to network; I'm bringing you here to broaden your horizons. Watch, listen, and keep a low profile. No one is going to give a student a hard time."

Julian quickly looked up, met her eyes, and just as rapidly averted his gaze as a furious blush crept up his ears.

He muttered a quiet, "Thank you." Nora turned back to face the front, adding in a totally serious tone, "Professor Vance is a colleague of my mentor. That practically makes us family, so there's no need for you to be so formal."

Julian silently repeated the phrase in his head. We're practically family.

Family...

It was the very first time someone had ever directed a phrase like that at him, and a strange, unnamable warmth bloomed in his chest.

Pressing his lips together, he reached up to adjust his glasses. The frantic pounding of his heart that had plagued him the entire ride finally began to settle.

The woman sitting in front of him seemed to possess a naturally grounding aura. She didn't have to go out of her way to do anything—just sitting there calmly and throwing a few words his way was enough to pull him out of his spiraling anxiety.

Nora was looking down, flipping through the event brochure, when out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of an impossible-to-ignore figure deep inside the hall.

Dressed in an immaculately tailored black suit, Xander Harrison stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, deep in conversation with several middle-aged executives.

His posture was relaxed, one hand tucked casually into his trouser pocket while the other held a flute of champagne. He wore the requisite, polite smile for social functions, but none of the warmth reached his predatory eyes.

The aura of absolute unapproachability radiating from him was so potent that, despite the crowded room, no one dared to step up and interrupt his conversation.

He was endlessly unfathomable—like an ancient, dark well. The surface was flawlessly still, hiding dangerous, invisible undercurrents below.

Nora's grip tightened instinctively on the brochure. Just as she pivoted to find a different path and avoid him, Xander's gaze swept over the crowd and locked onto her. Across the sprawling hall, he caught her eyes with lethal precision.