The Genius Bride He Underestimated Chapter 03

The Genius Bride He Underestimated Chapter 03 Not a Good Match

When Leo looked up and saw the woman standing in the doorway, he froze for a beat. He didn’t recognize her at first—until she spoke.

“Professor Grant.”

Leo smoothed his expression without a trace and said, “You’re here.”

Sloane took off her mask and walked into the office.

“Professor Grant. Long time no see.”

Leo smiled gently. “Long time no see. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

Sloane hooked her lips in self-mockery. “With how I look now, I almost didn’t have the nerve to come see you.”

Leo stood and came around from behind the desk. “It’s normal for your figure to change during pregnancy. Once you have the baby, it’ll get better.”

“Sit.”

Sloane sat on the sofa.

Leo poured her a cup of warm water. “Warm up.”

Sloane took it. “Thank you.”

Leo glanced at her swollen belly. “How many months?”

“Twenty-five weeks,” Sloane said.

Leo said, “Then when school starts at the end of January next year, you’ll be right at your due date.”

Sloane pleaded, “I want to ask you for help, Professor. Can I delay enrollment?”

Having a baby was unavoidable, but she really didn’t want to miss this chance.

Leo’s face turned serious. “Why do you want to go?”

Sloane lowered her eyes. “After the baby is born, Jaxson is planning to divorce me. I don’t want to keep this twisted connection going either. I want to start over and live my own life.”

Six months wasn’t long. It wasn’t short. But for her, it felt as long as an entire lifetime.

Leo couldn’t help frowning. The sunny, lovable girl from back then had changed beyond recognition in such a short time. You could imagine what kind of torment—body and soul—she’d been through.

“I’m relieved you’ve thought it through and decided to pull yourself together,” he said. “You and Jaxson really aren’t a good match. From now on, you’ll definitely meet someone who truly loves you.”

Sloane kept her eyes lowered and nodded.

Back then, Leo had opposed her going to Jaxson’s side as his assistant. But she insisted. In the end, she crashed headfirst until she was bleeding.

She suddenly asked, “In your eyes, Professor Grant, what kind of person is Jaxson, really?”

Leo fell silent for a moment, then said slowly, “Someone who will do anything to reach his goals. Profit above everything else. He probably won’t have love.”

“Is that so?”

Yet the tenderness he showed that girl couldn’t be fake. Maybe only someone who loved to the point of ruin would lower himself like that.

Only a beautiful, stunning woman was worthy of him.

Sloane didn’t ask anything else.

“Since you’ve decided,” Leo said, “when the time comes, I can help you apply to delay enrollment.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

Leo had her fill out an application form.

Sloane finished filling it out.

“After the baby is born, will you leave her with the Cole family?” Leo suddenly asked.

Sloane tugged her lips helplessly. Even if she wanted to take the child, it would be impossible. She could only be the one who let this child down. “The Cole family should take good care of her.”

Leo didn’t press further. “I happen to need an assistant. Just for a month. Want to try?”

Sloane agreed without hesitation.

“Okay.”

Ever since she got pregnant, Jaxson’s side had transferred her to an insignificant position in the secretarial office. Overnight, she fell from CEO assistant to a nobody, and all her effort turned to foam.

She really did need a new job to distract herself, to make her life move again.

It would also be the perfect way to prepare in advance for further study later.

And she’d taken the day off anyway.

Sloane stayed on and began working as the professor’s assistant. She had been Leo’s student originally, and after those months of intense, high-pressure work at Jaxson’s side—even though she’d spent the last few months in a fog—she still picked things up quickly. Handling the tasks came easily.

For the first time in a while, Sloane felt a flicker of clarity, like she’d found herself again—found the real value of her own existence.

Just like Leo always said, she was meant to thrive in a professional setting. Love was never supposed to be the only thing in life.

That night.

Jaxson didn’t come home. Same as always—he only showed up once in a while.

Only this time, she didn’t care anymore.

The next day.

She drafted her resignation letter ahead of time.

Jaxson oversaw the Cole Group’s financial sector, including its banks and investment funds. In an industry soaked in betrayal and cutthroat ambition, where reputation and wealth were everything, the fact that he’d inherited the Cole family’s core enterprises—and kept acquiring and expanding without pause—proved not only that he had an exceptional mind and ruthless instincts, but that he also possessed a cold, unyielding heart.

Sloane arrived at the office and happened to see Jaxson stepping out of his car.

Tall, broad-shouldered, dressed in a sharp suit—devastatingly handsome, commanding. Wealth and status only sharpened his appeal, giving him a mature, almost magnetic presence.

“Mr. Cole.”

Employees lowered their heads in respect as he passed.

Sloane snapped out of it and quickly dipped her head too, stepping back a pace.

The man walked past as if she weren’t there and strode into the building.

Sloane handed her resignation letter to Thea.

Thea was Jaxson’s secretary.

She used to be Sloane’s subordinate.

Funny how things turned out.

Now Sloane reported to her.

When Sloane had been abruptly demoted, the whole department had been stunned. Right after college, she’d been made the CEO’s assistant.

That role demanded more than competence—appearance mattered too. And Sloane, whether in looks or figure, was unremarkable. Yet she’d still been chosen, which said something about her ability.

The CEO, notoriously hard to please, had even praised her more than once.

But Thea knew the real story.

Sloane was just a frog dreaming of swan meat—trying to sleep her way up. No matter how capable, she still wasn’t decent.

That was exactly why.

Mr. Cole despised her down to his bones.

Thea glanced at the resignation letter, her eyes flicking over Sloane’s pregnant belly. Her lips curled. “People should learn their place. Take a good look in the mirror. Don’t think carrying a baby buys you a ticket up. Do you even know what kind of family the Coles are? What kind of standing you have?”

The fact that she and Jaxson were already legally married—no one in the company knew.