The next morning, after waking up and having breakfast, Celeste headed out for work as usual.At noon, while she was having lunch, Jordyn's call came through. This was the first time Jordyn had called her since secretly sneaking away from the hot spring retreat.Celeste answered."Mom…""Mm." Celeste responded and asked, "Have you eaten?""Just finished!"That morning at the hot spring retreat, she had received a call from Wynn, who told her that Trevor was taking her out for fun and asked if she wanted to join them.She immediately agreed and sneaked away while Celeste wasn't paying attention.They had a great time and only returned to the city yesterday afternoon. However, they didn't go home last night.This morning, after returning to school, Jordyn thought of Celeste and felt a little guilty. She was worried that she might be angry. That's why she decided to call.But when she heard her mom ask if she had eaten, she felt that she wasn't mad about her sneaking off that da
By the time Celeste, Matthias, and their group had their tickets checked and entered the exhibition hall, it was already quite packed.The hall was massive, showcasing exhibits such as drones, flying cars, and humanoid robots.There were numerous exhibits, each with its own focus on core technologies. As soon as Celeste and the others entered, they were overwhelmed by the dazzling array of innovations.Matthias was quite well-known. Shortly after they arrived, people started coming over to greet him one after another.He also introduced Celeste to some connections.While she was smiling and greeting someone, she happened to be facing the entrance of the exhibition hall. Her gaze unexpectedly met Wynn's as she and her group walked in.Wynn paused. She didn't expect to see Celeste here.After all, this exhibition was a dream networking event for top tech elites. Each invitation was extremely valuable.Matthias was a major shareholder of YodaVision. It was one thing for him to bri
Matthias glanced at Celeste and, sensing that Cole seemed to look down on Wynn, asked, "Mr. Turner, do you have a grudge against the Locket family?"Cole shook his head. "I wouldn't call it a grudge, but… Stella Smith—the lady who had an argument with Ms. Locket last night—is the daughter of an old friend of mine."I've known her since she was little. She can be a bit impulsive, but she's not unreasonable."Her fiancé, that kid from the Lowe family, John, got quite close to another girl two years ago—so much so that he was on the verge of breaking off his engagement with Stella."But then, somehow, that girl ended up getting acquainted with Trevor, and suddenly, she and John weren't in contact anymore…"From Cole's words, the implication was clear. Wynn had previously interfered in Stella's relationship with her fiancé. However, after Wynn managed to climb to a higher status, she withdrew herself.But what really frustrated Cole wasn't the past—it was last night's incident at the
Celeste withdrew her gaze as Yandel and the others called her over to help answer some technical questions. Without giving Trevor another thought, she turned away and walked over to them.Just as she turned, Miles noticed her.At that moment, Wynn had walked over to Harvey, separating from Trevor.Miles nudged Trevor in the side with his elbow and motioned in Celeste's direction. "Over there—your wife is here too."Trevor followed his gesture and looked over. He spotted Celeste.She was holding a tablet and standing slightly to the side while explaining the technical concepts of an exhibit to Yandel and the others.Celeste and Yandel were deeply engaged in their discussion. They were completely unaware of Trevor's gaze.Miles paused for a moment before commenting, "Who are those people with your wife? Is she explaining the core technology of the exhibit to them? Is your wife actually this skilled?"Trevor kept his gaze fixed on Celeste, neither looking away nor speaking.At th
Harvey and Lennox's purpose in attending the tech expo was to build connections.Of course, after Trevor arrived, Harvey and Lennox kept an eye on him while networking, curious to see how he would react upon seeing Celeste.However, they realized that when Trevor saw Celeste… he had no reaction at all. It was as if he were looking at a stranger. He didn't even bother to glance at her again.Rumor had it that years ago, Celeste had used underhanded tactics to force Trevor into marriage. He had no feelings for her whatsoever.Even after marriage, he rarely stayed at home. All he had for Celeste was disgust.It seemed the rumors were true.As the expo's main conference was about to begin, event staff notified the key company representatives to head to the conference hall for the summary meeting.Representing YodaVision at the conference were Matthias and Celeste.They walked ahead.Seeing that Celeste was allowed into the conference hall, Wynn and Lennox were quite surprised.Le
Zachary's name was renowned worldwide, yet he was still quite young—just in his early forties.Tall and lean, he wore frameless glasses. As soon as the host finished speaking, he walked onto the stage amid thunderous applause.Reaching the center of the podium, he cast a calm glance over the audience, and the entire hall instantly fell silent.He slowly began, "Thank you very much to the organizers for the sincere invitation…"After briefly exchanging formalities, he gave a concise summary of the exhibits at the expo, offering recognition and insights. He then answered several questions from company representatives in the audience.Many wanted to ask questions, but time was limited. After about half an hour, Zachary stepped down from the stage.The conference continued with other segments, and as Zachary left the stage, he walked toward the front-row seat that had been reserved for him by the organizers.As he walked past, the business executives seated in the front row all stoo
As soon as people received the news, many rushed toward the front rows.However, by the time those seated further back managed to squeeze their way forward, Zachary was already surrounded by the prominent figures who had been seated in the front row.Wynn was also in the front row, but she didn't attempt to speak with Zachary.Seeing this, Lennox grew anxious and waved her over.Wynn noticed and walked toward her. "Aunt Lennox."She understood what Lennox meant, so before her aunt could even speak, she said, "Mr. Newman is currently surrounded by influential figures. Even if I squeeze in to talk to him, I wouldn't get much time. Trevor said it's better to find another opportunity to speak with him privately later.""That's true…" Lennox finally realized she had been too impatient.The people around Trevor were all top-tier business magnates whom they normally wouldn't even have the chance to approach. Wanting Wynn to expand her network, Lennox gave her a little push, urging her
Matthias and Celeste immediately felt a chill down their spines.Matthias quickly said, "We're already preparing a new product. We should have a prototype by next year.""Mm." Zachary responded indifferently, then added, "Until you have it ready, don't come see me again.""Understood…""Send me a review by tonight."Celeste and Matthias instantly realized that Zachary was referring to a technical summary of today's expo."Understood…"After a brief pause, Matthias hesitantly said, "Uh… Mr. Newman, finishing it in one night… might be a bit difficult."In reality, "a bit difficult" was a huge understatement. It was practically impossible.Then, he continued, "Would… one month be okay?"With so many exhibits and technologies to analyze, he estimated that the summary would be at least tens of thousands of words; if not, over a hundred thousand. How could they possibly complete it in one night?Zachary didn't respond. He simply stared at them.Though he always appeared refined a
As soon as Celeste returned to her office, her phone rang.It was a call from Jordyn.Thinking back to what Trevor had said in the conference room—about having dinner and bringing Jordyn along—she looked at the call and didn't answer it.Jordyn called her three times in a row. When none of the calls were answered, she sent a message a moment later."Mom, I have a fencing competition next month. Can you come with me to training tomorrow?"When Celeste saw the message, her hand holding the phone suddenly froze.Ever since Trevor had taken Jordyn to Andostan over two years ago, she had missed out on many aspects of Jordyn's life.For instance, she didn't really know what classes Trevor had arranged for Jordyn, or what extracurricular activities she'd been enrolled in during those two years.Before she had brought up the idea of divorce, Celeste had tried to ask Jordyn about these things, but Jordyn didn't want to talk to her.If Jordyn hadn't mentioned it just now, she wouldn't e
Beck came back to his senses, looked at Celeste with a smile, and shook his head. "It's nothing."After finishing the business discussion with Beck that afternoon, Matthias called Celeste.Matthias said, "I just got word from the lawyer—Wynn still refuses to terminate the contract. She's willing to pay a substantial compensation fee for damage to our reputation, but I didn't agree. "Since negotiations failed, I've asked the lawyer to proceed with legal action."Celeste replied, "Alright, got it."After that, Matthias added, "Trevor is coming to the company tomorrow to discuss some matters. Joseph can handle the first part of the meeting, but there's one document that needs your confirmation, so—"In other words, she would have to meet with Trevor tomorrow.Celeste understood what he meant and said, "Alright, understood."…The next day, Trevor and Jacob arrived at YodaVision in the afternoon.As Matthias had said, Joseph was the one who received them initially. Midway throug
It turned out that Matthias was away on business.Wynn was lost in thought when Kieran asked nonchalantly, "Anything else?"She shook her head and asked, "It's been a while since you started working at YodaVision Co. Is everything going well for you?""It's been good," he responded. "If that's all, I'll be heading up then."Then, Kieran turned and left. Wynn frowned slightly as she watched his retreating figure. There was no hesitation in his footsteps. Kieran was upset at her for revealing his whereabouts to the Gibsons. So, he hadn't answered any of her recent phone calls. Then, she ran into him today. When he finally responded to her, she thought he was done being upset at her. However, he was still much colder to her than before. Wynn grinned. He probably just needed more time to calm down. A phone call interrupted her thoughts. It was a number she didn't recognize, and the person said that he was an attorney representing YodaVision Co. He was acting on Matthias' orde
Linda was completely dumbfounded. She hadn't expected that even Trevor couldn't resolve the incident.She said frantically, "I still don't get it. T-This was obviously a trivial matter. Can Celeste and Matthias take us to court and terminate the collaboration just because they couldn't let go of a jibe? S-Surely, something like that is not feasible."Wynn responded, "I got my lawyer to go through and confirm the clauses in the collaboration agreement between InnovaTech and YodaVision Co. The stipulations clearly stated that either party has the right to terminate the collaboration if the other party damages its reputation.""B-But, it doesn't matter if this incident damages their reputation. It's not going to have a big impact on them."Wynn said, "It would barely scratch their reputation. Ordinarily, if something like this happens, we just have to eliminate the impact this matter brought to YodaVision Co., apologize, and give them some gifts as compensation. That would've been eno
"He called me several minutes ago." Celeste said.Matthias snickered. "I knew it. You were the first person he called."Both of them had predicted that Wynn would seek Trevor's help and that he might want to screw with the Rodriguez family for her sake.Meanwhile, Trevor also predicted that they might threaten him to back off with the latest collaboration between Fleming Tech and YodaVision Co. That was why he got in touch with Celeste first. He wanted to see if he could work things out with her. However, she didn't give him a chance to do it. So, he contacted Matthias instead. Matthias dealt with Trevor because he was the official person in charge of YodaVision Co. It was more appropriate for him to have the conversation with the latter. This also led Matthias to see that Trevor intended to set Celeste up for Wynn's sake because Trevor mistakenly thought that she was meek and gullible. The notion filled his heart with rage. At the same time, he was concerned about Celeste a
On the same afternoon, Celeste received a phone call from Trevor not long after she arrived at YodaVision Co. InnovaTech would suffer a huge loss if they were to terminate the collaboration.When she saw his name on her phone screen, she knew why he had called. So, she didn't answer. He gave her two more calls, but she didn't answer any of them. Then, he dialed Matthias' number instead. Needless to say, Matthias also knew why Trevor was calling him, but he answered it. He went straight to the point and said, "Is this about InnovaTech?"Trevor responded, "Yeah. Mr. Yoder, name your terms.""I'm sorry, Mr. Fleming. Ms. Locket crossed a line, and I'm not going to waver this time." Then, Matthias added coldly, "Is there anything else you want to talk about?"Trevor asked, "Is there no way we can turn this around?""No," Matthias said. "My lawyer and I will follow up with this matter closely. I don't want you to pester my company staff. Otherwise, it just tells me that you're the s
Wynn had the same idea, but the thing was that they started the whole mess to begin with. She had maintained a gentle demeanor around Trevor to this point. If he learned about this incident, she wasn't sure if he would think that she and her family had been picking on Celeste. That, in turn, would affect her image in his heart.Needless to say, Lilian understood Wynn's concerns. She knew better than anyone how important it was to maintain one's image. After all, that was the key to making a man love a woman forever. Erin also understood it. Trevor loved Wynn deeply because she was very special to him. If they handled it carefully, it might not have a lasting effect on Wynn. However, it was still not a good move for her. She glanced at Linda and said nonchalantly, "Linda, you're a grown-up. You really have to mind what you do and say in the future."If they failed to handle this incident with finesse, it might prove to be a fatal blow to their families. "But, I…" Linda trailed
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
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