Bones Learn To Listen When Silence Speaks by Ryn Miles 251

Chapter 251 

Aurelia finally looked up at the two of them. 

If she remembered correctly, Stephen owed the Locke family a favor. 

‘So Cassian is planning to use that favor to pave the way for Tessa?‘ Aurelia thought. 

‘He’s really playing it smart,’ she mused. 

E 55 vouchers 

Stephen had already figured out what Cassian was up to, but he didn’t bother to sugarcoat it. He just came right out and asked, “So, Mr. Locke, are you planning to pull some strings?” 

Tessa’s face fell instantly. 

She hadn’t expected Stephen to be so blunt. 

She quickly tried to explain, “Professor Horton, you’ve got it wrong. Cassian just meant that since I already earned my PhD from Whitvale School of Management overseas, maybe I could skip some of the usual hoops and make things a little simpler.” 

Stephen looked even more baffled. “Ms. Rowe, you already have a PhD. Why bother with my master’s program? It’s not exactly the hottest ticket out there.” 

“Professor Horton, you’re being too humble,” Tessa said. “I’ve always focused on international finance, so I barely know anything about how things work here. Since coming back, I’ve hit a lot of snags because of that. 

“I just want to start fresh and learn from the ground up. There’s always more to learn, right? I hope you’ll give me a shot.” 

Tessa really did sound humble, like she was genuinely here to study. 

Stephen’s attitude softened. “Wanting to learn is great, but you’ll have to show what you’ve really got.” 

With things at this point, Tessa could only go with the flow. “Of course. I’m happy to let my skills speak for themselves.” 

Aurelia raised an eyebrow but didn’t say a word. 

Gideon handed her a peeled chestnut. 

As she took it, she caught Cassian watching her out of the corner of her eye 

But he shifted his gaze away, as if nothing had happened, and let his eyes slide right back to Tessa. 

At that moment, Tessa turned to meet Cassian’s eyes, and the chemistry between them was so thick that one could practically see sparks flying. 

“Cassian was just worried I’d get tired, that’s all. You know how it is. When you care about someone, you get a little overprotective. I hope you understand, Professor Horton,” Tessa said, trying to sound casual. 

Aurelia popped the chestnut into her mouth and commented, “Wow, this is sweet.” 

Everyone turned to look at her, even Cassian and Tessa. 

Tessa was caught off guard. 

Aurelia grinned and added, “I meant the chestnut. It’s really sweet.” 

Tessa’s face flickered with irritation for a moment, but she quickly composed herself, maintaining her usual aloof demeanor. 

2 

1 

G 

||| 

O 

< 

10:40 Thu, Jan 1 

Chapter 251 

Cassian, meanwhile, looked amused and even added, “Then have some more.” 

Gideon immediately rolled up his sleeves. “I’ll peel them for you.” 

“Thanks, Gideon,” Aurelia replied. 

56 vouchers 

The easy back–and–forth between Aurelia and Gideon made Tessa’s gaze grow stormy, her nails digging into her palm. 

Cassian and Stephen got into a discussion about current economic trends, and Tessa kept chiming in, clearly trying to prove herself. 

Gideon just kept peeling chestnuts. 

Aurelia stayed quiet the whole time. 

‘Smart move, Tessa thought. ‘She knows she can’t keep up, so she’s just using the food as a shield.’ 

‘Honestly, this stuff is way over her head. She probably has no clue what they’re talking about,’ Tessa scoffed to herself. 

Once Aurelia finished off the last chestnut, she brushed off her hands and said, “Looks like it’s about time. I’ll get out of your 

hair now.” 

As she stood up, Gideon immediately got up too. “I’ll walk you out,” he offered. 

“No need, I drove myself. You should hang out with my mentor a bit longer,” Aurelia replied. 

‘Someone’s got to keep the old man company,’ Aurelia thought to herself. 

Tessa scoffed inwardly. ‘She’s got the nerve, doesn’t she? So sly. Just parroting Gideon, but now it looks like she’s trying to pass herself off as Professor Horton’s student.‘ 

“Honestly, is she even worthy of that?‘ she thought. 

Sure enough, Stephen let out a cold snort. “Are you really my student? Don’t call me ‘mentor‘ unless you actually are.” 

‘Did she forget about the three conditions we agreed on?‘ Stephen thought. 

He’d only let Aurelia be his student again if she managed to get into his master’s program. 

Aurelia didn’t bother arguing. The old man had been on herbal medicine lately, and he was always in a bad mood, throwing barbs with every word. 

Tessa, standing off to the side, almost burst out laughing. 

Seeing Aurelia totally unfazed, Tessa just sneered inwardly, ‘She’s really thick–skinned. 

Aurelia slung her bag over her shoulder and said casually to Stephen, “You’re almost out of those herbs, right? I’ll drop off some more for you tomorrow.” 

“Just go already!” Stephen snapped, his face darkening in an instant as he started shooing her away. 

“We were having a decent chat. Why’d she have to bring up those weird herbs again?‘ Stephen muttered to himself. 

‘What a buzzkill, he thought. 

Seeing Stephen’s reaction, Tessa curled her lips into a smirk, her eyes flashing with scorn. 

“There she goes again, trying to butter people up, Tessa scoffed to herself. 

10:40 Thu, Jan 1 Maj MJ 

Chapter 251 

80 

55 vouchers 

‘Too bad Professor Horton isn’t falling for it, she thought with a sneer. 

Aurelia couldn’t care less about Tessa’s opinions or attitude. She walked out without even glancing back at either of them. 

Gideon went out with her, and he didn’t show up again for a good while. 

Cassian got up to leave and said goodbye to Stephen. 

Tessa blinked in surprise. She’d been hoping to squeeze in a few more minutes with Stephen. 

But with Cassian heading out, she couldn’t really stick around. So she had to get up and say her goodbyes too. 

When they stepped outside, they saw Gideon standing in the yard, talking on the phone. 

Seeing them leave, Gideon gave a quick nod in greeting and continued his call. 

Once they stepped out of the Horton house, Tessa finally turned to Cassian and asked, “Are Gideon and Aurelia a thing?” 

Cassian paused for a moment, then said, totally indifferent, “No idea.” 

Tessa could tell he didn’t pay any attention to Aurelia, much less care who she was seeing. 

That put her mind at ease. 

The only thing that still bugged her was that Gideon actually had a thing for Aurelia. 

‘Seriously? He could’ve liked anyone, but it just had to be Aurelia,’ Tessa griped to herself. 

‘Why her, of all people?‘ she thought bitterly. 

***** 

Once the InquireMind team was assembled, they entered the main phase of their IPO journey. 

Aurelia finally got a breather and, taking advantage of the downtime, headed to the hospital to pick up Stephen’s medicine. 

On her way back, out of the blue, a car blew through a red light and came charging straight at Aurelia’s ride. 

Good thing Walter was quick on the uptake. He jerked the wheel and crashed into the curb, barely dodging what could’ve been a nasty wreck. 

Aurelia was chilling in the back seat, working on her tablet, when the car suddenly lurched. She was thrown around, smacking into the seat and the door a couple times. 

Then the side airbag in the back popped out, keeping her from getting banged up any worse. 

Once the car finally stopped, Walter immediately turned to check on Aurelia. “Ms. Corin, are you alright?” 

“I’m fine,” Aurelia replied. 

Walter finally let out a sigh of relief. 

When they got out, they saw that the medium–sized truck had crashed into a concrete platform behind them, the whole thing was completely torn apart. 

Some passersby had already stopped to see what happened to the truck. 

Walter went over to take a look too. 

10:40 Thu, Jan 1 

Chapter 251 

MJ 

When he came back, he told Aurelia, “The truck driver was killed instantly. Didn’t make it.” 

Aurelia was still rattled, her legs so shaky she had to plop down right on the curb. 

Her brain just short–circuited for a second. 

80 

55 vouchers 

She couldn’t even wrap her head around it. If Walter hadn’t reacted so fast, it wouldn’t have been just the trucker who got 

killed. 

Walter called Miranda, asking her to come pick up Aurelia and take her to the hospital for a check–up, while he stayed behind to work with the traffic police on the accident investigation. 

By the time Miranda showed up, the scene had already been taken care of. But when she heard the truck driver had died on the spot, she went pale. “Good thing your driver is a professional race car driver. Otherwise, things could’ve gone really bad today.” 

Miranda was the one who hired him. After that kidnapping in Grendel City, she was dead set on getting Aurelia a personal driver and bodyguard. She scoured the job market over and over before finally landing on this guy. 

田