Chapter <b>165 </b>


    Damon: [Drinks tonight.]


    Caleb Goddard: [?]


    Nathaniel Preston: [You’ve been avoiding us like the guetely. What’s with the sudden enthusiasm? Got your heart broken?]


    Damon: [Shut up.]


    Nathaniel: [Alright, alright, I hit a sore spot. I’ll stop. There’s a new bar on North Saint Street. I’ll book a private room.]


    Damon: […]


    N had just returned to theb when Melody approached her, asking, N, why are you sote today? Hey… what happened to your hand? Did you cut yourself during an experiment?”


    N didn’t want too many people to know about yesterday’s incident, so she nodded along. “Yeah.”


    11


    “Then let me handle the operations for now. You can supervise,” Melody offered.


    “It’s fine. It doesn’t affect my work,” N declined.


    They chatted briefly before starting the morning’s experiment.


    The morning flew by.


    N took off her protective goggles and gloves, ready for lunch.


    Melody, staring at her phone, said, “N, a friend just told me severalpanies have terminated their contracts with Prospectus Technology. Even thepany she works for did. Do you think


    something’s going on with Prospectus Technology?”This is from N?velDrama.Org.


    N had a bad feeling. She asked with a frown, “Whichpanies exactly?”


    Melody listed severalpanies, all of which had close ties with Gen Pharma and the Rainford Group. It seemed Tom and the Rainfords had decided not to wait for her apology and had started targeting


    Prospectus Technology instead.


    N felt a pang of worry and considered texting Damon to ask but hesitated, remembering how he had told her not to appear before him.


    After a few seconds, she closed the chat window.


    Forget it. Going to him now would only annoy him.


    Elsewhere, Jacqueline sat on the ck leather sofa in Gen Pharma’s CEO office, looking at Tom with admiration.


    She gushed, “Tom, you’re amazing. So manypanies have terminated their contracts with Prospectus Technology. Damon must be really stressed right now.”


    She couldn’t believe that, with so manypanies pulling out, the Sumners could still allow N to remain hidden withouting forward to apologize.


    Tom, ncing at his phone, gave a perfunctory hum.


    He had coordinated the contract terminations to position himself to capture Prospectus Technology’s market share. The Sumners had dominated Saintornia for too long, and it was time for others to get a piece of the pie.


    Jacqueline’s issue just pushed up the timetable for his and the Rainfords‘ ns. It wasn’t primarily about her.


    3


    If Gen Pharma and the Rainford Group weren’t capable of standing up to the Sumners, the Rainfords would have been the ones apologizing for what Jacqueline had done.


    “Tom, will Ms. Weir be upset with you for helping me like this? She misunderstood usst time… Should I go exin to her?” Jacqueline asked.


    Tom frowned as he remembered how Vrie had berated him over the phone for supposedly orchestrating N’s humiliation of Jacqueline.


    His expression darkened. He had been busy with work these past few days and hadn’t contacted her. Yet, she hadn’t reached out either.


    This realization soured his mood even more.


    Seeing Tom’s displeasure at the mention of Vrie, Jacqueline quickly said, “I’m sorry, Tom. You don’t want to talk about Ms. Weir. I-”


    Before she could finish, Tom cut her off, “Enough. I have work to do. You should go.”


    Jacqueline bit her lip. She was disgruntled but knew this Tom wasn’t the same boy who used to worry over her every frown. She didn’t dare act out.