Chapter 102

Chapter 102

Ophelia lifted her eyelids slightly, her gaze sweeping coolly over Finnian's deliberately sincere expression.

She felt nothing inside and even found it a bit ridiculous.

She'd long ago figured out that Finnian wasn't as honest as he appeared on the surface. Now, watching him change his tune faster than flipping a page, it only confirmed her suspicions.

"You're being too serious," she said calmly, her tone revealing no emotion. "Everyone saw what really happened. I have nothing to complain about."

She paused, her eyes landing on Marcella, who was still covering her face and crying, then added: "I just hope Marcella can behave herself from now on and stop creating these unnecessary scenes."

William stood nearby, silent the whole time, his cold gaze fixed on Finnian with a penetrating look that made Finnian's heart sink.

Only after Ophelia finished speaking did he put his arm around her shoulder, his tone brooking no argument as he protected his own: "Alright, that's the end of it. We're leaving now."

Without waiting for Xavier or Finnian to respond, he turned and left with Ophelia.

Walking out of the Brown Mansion, the evening breeze carried a slight chill. Ophelia instinctively moved closer to William.

William looked down at her and pulled her coat tighter: "Cold?"

"A little." Ophelia nodded, then couldn't help complaining about what just happened. "Marcella is such a troublemaker. She turned a perfectly good party into complete chaos."

William started the car, a mocking smile playing at his lips: "She's just stupid, blinded by jealousy."

"But her little schemes can't really cause any real trouble." He changed his tone, his voice growing heavier. "The one we really need to watch out for is Finnian."

Ophelia paused: "But doesn't he seem pretty honest?"

"Honest?" William scoffed, his eyes full of disdain. "That's just an act. Deep down, he's incredibly ambitious."

"I grew up with him. I know exactly what kind of person he is." He continued while driving, "He's never accepted me, always thinking I took the position that should've been his. Over the years, he's pulled plenty of tricks behind my back, but they just never worked."

Ophelia frowned: "Will he hold even more of a grudge against you because of what happened with Marcella?"

"He'll definitely have a grudge, but he won't dare do anything openly." William sounded certain. "But we need to be more careful from now on, especially with that new energy project overseas. He's definitely got his eye on it."

Ophelia nodded, making a mental note of his words.

The car soon pulled up to the villa. As soon as they got inside, William pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

His warm kiss was forceful and demanding. Caught off guard, Ophelia could only passively accept it.

After a while, he finally released her, pressing his forehead against hers, breathing a bit heavily: "Don't think about those messy people. They'll ruin your mood."

Ophelia's cheeks flushed. Looking into his deep eyes, the worries in her heart instantly disappeared.

"Got it," she said softly, wrapping her arms around his neck.

William looked at her flushed cheeks, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes. He scooped her up and headed toward the bedroom.

"You've had a long day. Get some good rest." His voice was low and husky, with a seductive quality.

Ophelia said nothing, just buried her face in his chest, her body heating up.

The next morning, William woke up first.

He looked at Ophelia, still sleeping beside him, his eyes full of tenderness. He carefully got up, washed up, and went to work.

When Ophelia woke up, the space beside her was already empty, only the lingering warmth reminding her of last night's intimacy.

She stretched, got up, and washed up. Just as she finished breakfast, she got a call from William.

"Ophelia," William's voice carried a hint of seriousness. "There's a problem with the overseas project. The core photovoltaic components that just arrived show serious performance degradation during testing. They might be defective products."

Ophelia's heart tightened: "How could this happen? Didn't we confirm the supplier beforehand?"

"Something must have gone wrong in the process. We can't rule out the possibility of sabotage." William's tone was calm, revealing little emotion. "I've already halted the project. I need to go deal with it right away."

Ophelia was silent for a moment: "Do you need me to come with you?"

"If you want a change of scenery, you can come along." William chuckled. "I know what's going on over there. If you come with me, just treat it as a trip abroad."

Ophelia heard the confidence in his tone. He didn't sound like he'd encountered an unsolvable problem, so she relaxed a bit: "Okay, I'll pack. When do we leave?"

"I'll have my assistant book the earliest flight. We can probably leave around noon. Wait for me at home, I'll come pick you up."

"Okay."

After hanging up, Ophelia immediately started packing.

She didn't bring much, just packed a few changes of clothes and necessities, then sat in the living room waiting for William.

About an hour later, William came back.

He still looked composed, completely unfazed by the sudden situation. Seeing that Ophelia had already packed, he smiled: "That was fast?"

"I didn't have much to pack, so it was quick." Ophelia stood up. "Are we leaving now?"

"Yes, the car's waiting downstairs. We'll go straight to the airport."

Ophelia and William grabbed their luggage and went downstairs, getting in the car headed for the airport.

On the plane, Ophelia leaned on William's shoulder and couldn't help asking: "Who do you think did this?"

William stroked her hair, his eyes deep: "Hard to say right now, but anyone who could tamper with the core components must be very familiar with the project process."

"Whoever it is, once we find them, they won't get off easy." His tone carried a hint of ruthlessness.

Ophelia didn't ask any more questions. She knew William had it figured out. She just needed to follow his lead.

After more than ten hours of flying, they finally arrived at the overseas project site.

Project manager Gregory Lopez was already waiting at the airport with technical staff. Seeing William, he immediately came forward: "Mr. Brown, Ms. Blake, you must be exhausted from the journey."

"What's the situation with the components?" William got straight to the point.

"Not good," Gregory's expression was grave. "We've tested samples, and the performance degradation far exceeds normal ranges. They're nowhere near the contract standards. This entire batch is unusable."

William nodded: "Let's go to the site first."

The group headed straight to the project warehouse, where technical staff were conducting detailed tests on the components.

William picked up a component and examined it carefully, then handed it to Ophelia beside him: "Look, the workmanship here is much rougher than the previous samples."