They were actually discussing the academic viewpoints from a paper she’d written years ago.

Alexander leaned in, his breath warm against Elodie’s ear. “Your paper from five years ago-people are still pulling it out as a prime example. For a lot of folks, it’s still ahead of its time-there’s so much to learn from it.”

That was the thing about Elodie—her brilliance couldn’t be denied.

Otherwise, his old man wouldn’t have sworn off taking any more students after Elodie had turned down the offer to study under him and got married instead. Ever since, the professor refused to mentor anyone else, out of sheer frustration.

And here it was, at a major academic conference, her paper being showcased as a model for others to study.

Elodie’s eyes lingered on the words glowing on the large screen. Around her, the low hum of scholars debating the finer points filled the auditorium.

Up front, Jarrod glanced up at the citation, recognizing it as one of those rare works that gets dissected on its own, not just referenced.

Nearby, Steene was chatting with a few others. “Wasn’t this published several years ago? It’s incredibly forward-looking. I’d love to meet the author someday.”

“I read this back when it first came out,” someone else chimed in. “I tried to find out who wrote it, but nothing ever came up-never heard a peep about the author since. It’s kind of a shame.”

Steene nodded, genuinely intrigued. “With work of this caliber, you’d expect the author to be a big name in the field. Strange that they just disappeared after publishing it.”

It was as if the author had vanished into thin air.

Jarrod finally broke his silence. “So, what’s the consensus? Impressed?” Steene smiled. “Mr. Silverstein, it’s outstanding-top-tier scholarship.”

Jarrod nodded in agreement, listening to the animated discussion unfolding around them.

Sylvie, though, sat with a furrowed brow, her expression serious. She too recognized the exceptional quality of the paper.

It was introduced as a five-year-old publication, but the subject matter and

insights were still so innovative and bold-people were marveling at how ahead of its time it was.

But there was something else.

Sylvie found some sections dense and challenging—she couldn’t quite get her head around all of it. She’d need to revisit the sources and do some deep reading once she got home.

After half an hour of discussion, Sylvie felt like she only half-understood the arguments.

Finally, as the session was wrapping up, the author’s name appeared on the

screen.

El Thorne-

Both Sylvie and Jarrod saw the name. Jarrod’s eyes lingered on it, calm and unreadable.

Sylvie, on the other hand, frowned immediately.

In academic circles, this was not a familiar name. Aside from this one publication,

no one had ever heard of El Thorne in the field.

And yet… why did this name sound so much like Elodie’s?

Sylvie shot a sidelong glance at Elodie, her brow knit in suspicion.

Elodie, meanwhile, hadn’t

contributed a single thought during the discussion. She sat through the session in complete silence, as

though she understood nothint

and

couldn’t care less. She hadn’t even bothered to jot down any notes.

Her indifferent attitude and blank expression made Sylvie wonder how someone

like her had even made it into the conference. In Sylvie’s mind, she was just dragging down the average.

Sylvie quickly dismissed it, thinking, Well, if Elodie happens to share a name with a brilliant author, that’s just her luck.

When the conference ended, Alexander was in high spirits. A prodigy like him absorbed everything quickly, and he’d gotten a lot out of the session.

As Elodie stood to leave, she noticed Sylvie already striding purposefully toward the front, where Jarrod was. At least with Sylvie gone, Elodie wouldn’t have to ask her to move out of the way.

Alexander watched Sylvie’s proud, straight-backed walk and gave a soft, amused scoff. “She spent the whole morning bragging about. getting in because her own paper was accepted. Little does she know, she’s really here to study your work from five years ago.”

Having a paper accepted was just one hurdle-meeting Elodie was the real prize.

Whether Sylvie could even understand what she’d just heard was another question entirely.