The Wife He Forgot to Marry (Winona and Yule) novel Chapter 372

Zack had previously crossed paths with Quentin during an overseas lab exchange with his mentor, so the two were acquainted.

Quentin offered a polite nod. "I heard from some colleagues that you recently cracked a major technical hurdle and won the Riverton Tech Innovation Award. Congratulations."

Zack smiled humbly. "Thanks."

Since they were both in R&D, the conversation flowed easily, shifting toward cutting-edge industry problems. Quentin found several of Zack's perspectives highly original and didn't hold back his praise.

Being straightforward to a fault, Zack quickly clarified, "I can't take credit for those concepts. They were actually developed by a senior colleague of mine."

Intrigued, Quentin asked, "Oh? Who is it?"

"You might not know her. Her name is Winona Jowett."

At the sound of her name, the warmth drained from Quentin's face. Tallulah had thoroughly poisoned the well, telling him that Winona slept her way up the corporate ladder and regularly 'borrowed' academic concepts from her mentor, Jericho Harper, to pad her own resume.

To Quentin, the fact that Zack admired a woman like that meant the kid was either naive or foolish. He instantly lost all interest in continuing the conversation.

"I actually have somewhere to be. Excuse me," he said coldly.

Zack was left standing there, entirely bewildered by the abrupt shift in mood. Shrugging it off, he turned back to his private room. But reflecting on their brief chat, it hit him—Quentin's academic viewpoints were actually surprisingly outdated compared to Winona's. It seemed the famous researcher had hit a professional plateau over the last couple of years.

Quentin's reserved room happened to be in the same direction, putting him just a few steps behind Zack. As he walked past Zack's door, he instinctively glanced inside and saw Winona sitting there.

A sneer curled his lips.

Tallulah had been right. This Winona woman really knew how to string along every type of man. No wonder sweet, innocent Tallulah had suffered so much at her hands.

"Mind if I take a look?" he offered. Since his own projects were all based overseas, there was no conflict of interest. Plus, Tallulah trusted him implicitly, knowing he would never sabotage her.

Quentin scanned the proposal. As he read, his expression shifted from casual interest to absolute awe.

"Well? What do you think?" Tallulah asked.

He looked up, his eyes shining with admiration. "Did you write this? The methodology is absolutely groundbreaking. It blew my mind."

Remembering how Quentin had also praised Winona's work, a petty streak of jealousy flared in Tallulah's chest. But this proposal belonged to her now. Without missing a beat, she lied, "Yes, I wrote it."

"Tallulah, you're a genius. Your talent is completely wasted at the Locke Group. If you joined a top-tier international lab, you'd be world-renowned in no time," Quentin praised earnestly.

Beneath her pleased smile, a bitter, sour feeling twisted Tallulah's stomach. Was Winona really that brilliant?