Once Celeste arrived at the base, she quickly dove into her work. The AI-human combat drill required data support to improve. The day after her arrival, another round of AI-human combat drill was scheduled. That evening, Celeste headed to the cafeteria quite late. By the time she got there, the cafeteria was almost empty. She had just grabbed her meal and was about to sit down when she noticed Caleb, who had also gotten his food. Pausing for a moment, Caleb smiled and walked toward Celeste. "When did you get here?""Yesterday," Celeste replied. "Just finished training?""Yeah, the training load's pretty heavy this year."The future of air combat would no longer just be a battle between humans—it would be a fight between humans and machines. So, the way pilots were being trained and how they approached combat had changed quite a bit over the past few years. "Was it stressful?" she asked. AI had incredible computing and data-analysis abilities, allowing it to quickly
However, Gideon didn't bother talking to Trevor. Celeste, too, remained silent. No one paid him any mind, yet Trevor wasn't bothered by it at all. He noticed that Celeste's tea was almost finished; he picked up the teapot and refilled both hers and Gideon's cups. Whether it was tea time or lunch, Celeste mostly chatted with Gideon and Jordyn. It wasn't clear if it was because Trevor sensed she didn't want to talk to him or if Trevor simply didn't feel like talking to her. When they were getting ready to leave the Yuvenhart manor in the afternoon, Celeste realized that she and Trevor hadn't spoken a word to each other even after being in the same room for nearly four hours. Gideon noticed it as well. But Trevor didn't seem interested in addressing it, and Celeste had let go of him. Gideon hadn't invited them here today to play the matchmaker. Since the two had nothing left to talk about, he figured there was really no reason for him to say anything either. Jordyn looke
"Did you run into him again this morning?" Matthias asked."Yeah," Celeste responded. Being stuck in the middle of a divorce and still running into your ex on a regular basis? Yes, it was exhausting. But with their companies now officially partnered, a few run-ins were inevitable. After two packed days at the office, Wednesday morning rolled around. Henry tagged both Celeste and Matthias in the group chat. Matthias was mid-flight to another province, so after getting briefed on the situation, Celeste gathered her things and headed to InnovaTech with a few engineers. It was her first time back at InnovaTech since Trevor had handed it over to Wynn. As she and the engineers got out of the car, she spotted Jorge stepping out of a vehicle as well. He had already been working with InnovaTech, and that wasn't about to change just because Trevor had handed the company over to Wynn. The only thing that had changed was who he dealt with—business used to be with Trevor, now it wa
When the elevator arrived at the floor Celeste wanted to go, she walked out without batting an eye at Wynn and the others. She didn't bother herself with the latter either. Instead, she buried herself in her work. Some time had passed, and she was having a conversation with Henry. Raising her head slightly, she found herself looking at Erin, Patricia, Lilian, and Linda. They were all standing at her department entrance. Henry saw them too. He noticed how Celeste glanced at them before turning her gaze away, and he thought that she didn't know who they were. Whispering, he said, "They are Ms. Locket's grandmothers and mother."Celeste lowered her gaze and hummed nonchalantly in response. Erin and the others also saw her. They were probably aware that YodaVision Co. had some collaborative projects with InnovaTech. So, they weren't surprised to see her showing up in the company unannounced. Erin and Lilian were indifferent when they saw Celeste. They quickly turned their gaze awa
If a party breached the contract for no good reason, that party was required to pay compensation as per the stipulations. Celeste wouldn't mind calling off the collaboration with InnovaTech if YodaVision Co. was compensated handsomely. "Why, you!" Linda would love to draft the violation of contract agreement. However, she didn't have the authority to make any decisions for InnovaTech. Even if she could do it on behalf of Wynn, Matthias had YodaVision Co.'s back. She was aware that Wynn and the others in the family wanted to keep an amicable relationship with him. If Linda rashly called the shots and terminated YodaVision Co.'s contract, she would definitely cross Matthias. This alone was enough to make Wynn think twice before agreeing to do it. For that matter, Patricia, Erin, and the others shared the same thoughts. Patricia found it distasteful when she saw how Linda was stumped. In fact, even Lilian's gaze turned colder when she looked at Celeste. None of them thought Celest
Lilian and Wynn's expressions shifted slightly when they heard what Celeste said. Normally, they would have made Linda apologize when something like this happened. They would never let the incident get worse and affect their reputation. However, Celeste said that they were free to terminate the contract with YodaVision Co. if they found her and her colleagues to be incompetent. Saying something like that shifted the Lockets and the Shaws' focus to the question of whether she had the power to call the shots for YodaVision Co.They instinctively thought that it didn't matter if Linda was in the wrong. They could still decide if they wanted to apologize to Celeste after they were done arguing with her. However, they didn't expect Celeste to capitalize on their careless mistake and steer the focus off track.Not everyone in the company had a clue about the feud between Celeste and the Lockets and the Shaws, be it YodaVision Co.'s technicians or InnovaTech staff. They were merely on
Celeste made some time in the afternoon and filled Matthias in about what had happened. "You'll have to shift the focus of the conflict for this."He paused briefly before he caught on to what she was hinting at. Grinning, he said, "Okay. I know what I have to do."Shortly after, Matthias received a call from Wynn. He answered it casually and heard her voice over the phone. "Mr. Yoder, I wonder if you're aware of the morning incident."He chuckled and said, "Ms. Locket, are you referring to the moment when your family ignored the truth and accused my staff of being incompetent? If I got it right, they also slandered my staff for not being committed to fulfilling the terms of our agreement."Wynn responded, "I'm sorry, Mr. Yoder. Linda is in the wrong this time. I will…"Matthias interrupted her and said, "Furthermore, it was made known to me that my staff told you about what happened and defended my company, but you accused her of blowing the incident out of proportion. Did some
When Wynn was on the phone with Matthias, she was sitting in a luxurious private room in a restaurant with Lilian, Erin, and the others, waiting for their dishes to be served.Lilian noticed the awful look on Wynn's face after the phone call ended. She asked, "What's the matter? What did Matthias say to you?"Wynn tightened her grip on her phone and responded, "Matthias is terminating the collaboration with us and demanding we compensate YodaVision Co. for damage of reputation.""What?" Lilian gasped, and so did Erin, Linda, and the others. Linda said angrily, "We have apologized properly for this incident. Didn't the bitch say that the whole thing will blow over once you get in touch with Matthias and tell him how sorry we are? "Why is he terminating the contract and demanding some kind of compensation?"Lilian wore an icy expression, but she caught on fast and chimed in, "Celeste did it on purpose."Linda didn't get it, though. "Huh?"Wynn said, "Celeste wanted InnovaTech a
Melissa likes Celeste? How is that possible?If what Miles said was true, then what she told Melissa yesterday…Thinking about how Melissa had left during their conversation yesterday, Wynn's heart sank.Perhaps noticing her change in expression, Trevor, concerned, asked, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"Wynn snapped back to reality, forcing a smile. "No, I'm fine."Later that day, she informed her family.Upon hearing that Melissa liked Celeste so much, even agreeing to let her be their daughter-in-law, both the Shaw family and the Locket family were in disbelief."Celeste is married with a child, and her family background is ordinary. But Matthias' family is well-off and successful. How could the Yoder family possibly agree to them being together? Did Mr. Quinton misunderstand?""That's right," Linda hurriedly added, "Or maybe that woman hid her past? The Yoder family doesn't know she was married, which is why they—"Wynn also couldn't understand why the Yoder family
The next morning, Trevor, Jordyn, and Wynn arrived early at the sports hall for Jordyn's competition.After they had been there for a while, Beck and Shanice arrived as well.Jordyn saw them and greeted, "Mr. Harper, Shanice, you're here."Shanice came over and shook Jordyn's hand. "The competition is about to start. Are you nervous, Jo?"Jordyn was very calm and shook her head. "No, I'm fine."Beck had some business to attend to, and he was just dropping Shanice off.Trevor knew Beck was in a hurry and said, "I'll take care of Shanice. You can go ahead with your things."Beck nodded. "Alright, I'll join you all for lunch later.""Okay."Their relationship seemed to be as good as ever. However…Wynn listened to their conversation, her gaze shifting between Trevor and Beck. If Trevor knew that Beck had developed feelings for Celeste, would their relationship still be as good as it was now?Beck noticed her gaze and gave her a slight nod. But he didn't speak to her, just turne
After Sebastian and Melissa left, Trevor asked, "Did you finish talking to Mrs. Yoder?"Wynn smiled slightly and nodded.Looking at Melissa's expression earlier, it seemed that she was becoming increasingly displeased with Celeste.…Melissa had actually known about the issues between InnovaTech and YodaVision long before. Matthias had already informed her in advance.When Melissa was talking to Wynn, she didn't really get a phone call—she had recorded their conversation.She walked a little further away, glanced at Trevor and Wynn, and then sent the recording to Matthias.Matthias and Celeste had not finished work yet. After listening to the recording, Matthias smiled and went to Celeste's office to inform her of the situation.After hearing the news, Celeste said, "Now I can be sure that we'll definitely win the lawsuit.""Exactly."Their insistence on suing for contract termination was not only because they really wanted to break the contract with InnovaTech, but also beca
Wynn had thought she would have to wait a few more days for news.However, that afternoon, Trevor called her and said, "Mr. and Mrs. Yoder will be attending an auction tomorrow. Would you like to go?"Wynn smiled and replied, "Sure."The next evening, not long after arriving at the auction, Trevor took Wynn over to greet Sebastian and Melissa. He introduced Wynn to them.Sebastian and Melissa knew about Trevor's relationship with Celeste and were aware of all the conflicts between Celeste and Wynn. However, when they saw Trevor, they didn't let their feelings about Celeste show.They smiled and shook hands with Trevor, greeting him warmly. When Trevor introduced Wynn, Melissa also smiled and politely shook Wynn's hand, saying, "Hello."The auction was filled with the elites from high society.After some casual conversation, Trevor and Sebastian, along with others, began discussing business matters.At this moment, Wynn saw an opportunity and started chatting with Melissa alone.
Caleb was still thinking about it when Jorge asked him again, "Caleb, besides your father and my old man, do you know anyone else who has Zachary's contact info?"Caleb replied, "No one else."Then, as if something occurred to him, he added, "But didn't you say Ms. Locket had met Zachary before? I imagine she should have his contact. "If talking to Mr. Newman could resolve things, wouldn't she have already reached out to him herself?"Jorge said, "I thought about that too. But since she's directly involved, unless absolutely necessary, it wouldn't be appropriate for her to contact Mr. Newman just to complain about Matthias, right?"He was actually being pretty considerate. Seems like he liked Wynn more than he realized.Jorge said, "Forget it, I'll try asking some other people.""Alright."The fact that Celeste was also one of Zachary's students hadn't been made public meant that it was to remain confidential. Since that was the case, it wasn't his place to share it with Jorge
Theodore refused to help, so Jorge immediately decided to contact Zachary himself.However, he didn't have Zachary's contact information.He messaged Theodore asking for Zachary's number, and Theodore simply replied with a single word. "Nope."Before he could even react, Theodore sent another message. "I've already spoken to Harold too. Don't waste your time."Seeing that, Jorge was genuinely a little angry.But when he tried calling Theodore again, the call went unanswered.Since Theodore and Harold were both at a dead end, he thought of Caleb.He remembered Caleb had mentioned before that he had some work-related interactions with Zachary. They'd even had a meal together.With that in mind, Jorge reached out to Caleb.Caleb didn't return his call until the evening. After hearing that Jorge was looking for Zachary's contact info, he said, "I don't have Mr. Newman's number.""You don't? Didn't you have dinner with him and my old man before? You guys didn't exchange contacts?"
Before Jorge could finish his sentence, Theodore cut him off. "You're trying to say that he's siding with Celeste again and bullying Ms. Locket, aren't you?"Jorge was surprised that Theodore hit the nail on the head. "Old man, how'd you know? Don't tell me you already know what happened?"Theodore replied, "I don't. I guessed."Back when Celeste and Matthias agreed to work with his foolish son for his sake, it was clear they wouldn't deliberately make things difficult for him in the workplace.His son also wasn't the kind to stir up trouble at work for no reason. So, even if they couldn't become friends, their professional relationship should have stayed smooth.If Jorge didn't clash with Matthias or Celeste personally, then the conflict likely involved someone he cared about—probably Wynn.Earlier that year, when he'd met with Kael, Celeste, and the others for dinner, they'd happened to run into Wynn at the restaurant entrance.At the time, seeing how attentive his son was to
Matthias crossed his legs. "Become what exactly? Blinded by lust? Or unable to tell right from wrong?"Both.Of course, Jorge didn't say that out loud.Matthias saw right through him and smiled. "But why do I feel like the one who's blinded and can't tell right from wrong isn't me, but someone else?"Before Jorge could respond, Matthias added, "Also, the student my mentor values most isn't me. It's someone else entirely. Mr. Robinson, you're giving me far too much credit."Jorge didn't expect that, even after bringing up Zachary, Matthias still showed no sign of remorse.But Matthias wasn't about to indulge him. He said directly, "If you can't bear to watch and want to seek justice on behalf of Ms. Locket, then you're free to terminate our contract."Of course, the condition is that you'll have to compensate YodaVision for the corresponding losses."Jorge thought he had approached Matthias politely and reasonably.But Matthias had been hostile from the beginning, and now, in a
Last week, Matthias' lawyer went to InnovaTech to negotiate the contract termination, but the talks fell through. That same day, they filed a lawsuit with the court.When Celeste had that confrontation at InnovaTech with Wynn and the others, Matthias was away on a business trip.Maybe because she couldn't meet Matthias, Wynn hadn't given up on the matter yet.On Monday, when Celeste arrived at work, she saw Wynn again. As before, when the two women saw each other, neither acknowledged the other.When Celeste got to the office, she found that Matthias was already there."You're here early."Matthias shrugged. "I came in over half an hour early just in case someone tried to intercept me."Celeste smiled at that.…Jorge happened to be in YodaVision that day to discuss something with Matthias. As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, he spotted Wynn.He had already heard about what happened between YodaVision and InnovaTech last week. So the moment he saw her, he immediately u