Chapter 103
At that point, Jack paused for a moment, but then quickly spoke up again.
"All things considered, we feel Ms. Johnson is still a bit too inexperienced, so let's hold off on the partnership for now."
"Every dollar that goes out is real money, and we can't afford to bet the company's future on Ms. Johnson's abilities."
His words were dripping with contempt and dismissiveness, but Charlotte didn't react at all. Her expression stayed completely calm, like still water with no ripples.
Jack frowned slightly when he saw her reaction.
He had expected Charlotte to lose her temper after hearing all that.
But she didn't react at all, which made him feel like he'd thrown a punch at a cotton wall — nothing to push back against.
"Mr. Collins makes a very good point. Business isn't child's play, and every decision affects the company's future."
Just as he was puzzling over this, Charlotte spoke up and nodded in agreement.
Before he could respond, she pulled out her tablet again, unlocked it, and placed it on the desk in front of Jack.
"That's exactly why I think we should let the data speak for itself, rather than making judgments based on someone's resume or age."
"So my team put together a presentation. I'd ask Mr. Collins to hear it out before making any decisions."
Charlotte had come fully prepared.
Over the next stretch of time, she walked through the presentation in detail — survey data, in-depth interviews, and a technical compatibility analysis comparing the two companies across every dimension. The conclusion was clear: they were the best possible partners for each other.
Most importantly, Charlotte presented a project risk assessment report, which rated it as a top-priority, S-level project.
As she laid everything out in front of Jack, the arrogance and contempt on his face vanished, replaced by the awkwardness of someone who'd just been called out.
His mind raced, searching for some argument to shut Charlotte down.
But no matter what he came up with, it fell completely flat against the hard data in front of him.
"Ms. Johnson... I'll admit what you're saying makes sense, but..."
He trailed off mid-sentence, his eyes shifting, his expression turning uneasy again.
He picked up his coffee and took a long sip, as if trying to hide what was going through his mind.
"Regardless, this decision has already been made. It's not changing."
"Some things aren't entirely up to me. Please don't put me in a difficult position."
Charlotte caught the hint in his words immediately, and her frown deepened.
She leaned forward and said slowly, word by word: "Not up to you?"
"Mr. Collins, as far as I know, you've been in charge of this project from the start, and the board only looks at the final numbers."
"When it comes to choosing a partner, your opinion has always been the deciding factor."
"So I'd like to know — what exactly is it that could change your mind and make you walk away from such a promising project?"
Charlotte's words cut right to the point. Jack's face went pale and he waved his hand.
"Ms. Johnson, please stop asking. I can't tell you the reason — I'm not able to."
"The partnership is ending. That's final and it won't change."
Jack waved his hand again, and the resolve in his eyes confirmed what Charlotte had suspected — someone behind the scenes was pulling the strings.
Watching Jack turn away with that closed-off look, Charlotte knew there was no point pushing further.
She let out a cold laugh, her eyes hardening, the air around her turning sharp.
"Fine. Since Mr. Collins has made up his mind, let's talk about something else."
"I'm just going to lay out the facts for you — no spin, no explanations."
"The reason Mr. Collins feels so comfortable breaking this contract — is it because you've already lined up another partner? Innovatech, ranked second in the industry? Or Northstar, ranked third?"
"If I remember correctly, Innovatech's current sensor power consumption is thirty percent higher than ours. That means even if you manage to develop a product together, the user experience will take a serious hit."
"Northstar's power consumption is close to ours, but their accuracy falls short — they can't even do real-time, precise heart rate monitoring at a basic level."
"And even if Mr. Collins is willing to overlook all of that and lower the bar, have you thought about the cost of starting over?"
"You'd need time to integrate new technology and design new products — that's three months down the drain. Are you not worried about getting left behind?"
Jack sat quietly listening to Charlotte's analysis, his expression gradually darkening.
His lips were pressed tight, and the slight flicker in his eyes gave away the turmoil inside him.
But Charlotte gave him no room to breathe and kept going.
"Maybe you think that once the Langley Group is out of the picture, the project will likely stall."
"I'll admit — that's a real possibility."
"But our losses wouldn't be that bad. We'd just move to Plan B and push the product launch back by a few months."
"If you walk away from this partnership, though, you're walking away from the most high-end customer base in the country and the most established luxury sales channels in the market."
"With your technology alone, finding another commercial platform at the same level would be nearly impossible."
As she spoke, Charlotte stood up and walked over to Jack's desk, looking down at him.
"Put another way — if word got out that Sunrise Tech walked away from a deal for no real reason, how would people read that?"
"A leadership failure? A serious internal problem?"
"Either way, I'd imagine it would do quite a number on your stock price next quarter."
That did it. Jack shot up from his chair and stared hard at Charlotte.
"Are you threatening me?"
"No." Charlotte held his furious gaze without flinching. "I'm simply stating the facts."
"Mr. Collins is a smart man. I'm sure he knows how to weigh his options."
The office fell into a dead silence.
Jack's jaw was tight, his face cycling between pale and ashen, his bloodshot eyes full of conflict and hesitation.
He knew Charlotte was right. These were things he couldn't ignore.
After a long moment, Jack seemed to deflate completely, sinking back into his chair like all the fight had been drained out of him.
"What... what exactly do you want?"
His voice came out rough, and he looked utterly defeated.