Chapter 119
Joseph's tears dried up completely.
He knelt there, his expression shifting from pleading to despair, muttering incoherently under his breath.
Valencia turned around, took Wesley's arm, and walked out without looking back.
Wesley hadn't said a single word the entire time, but his face was dark as a storm cloud.
At the door, he paused and glanced back at Joseph.
The glance was brief—barely a second.
But what Joseph saw in that one look left him utterly hollow, collapsing onto the floor like a deflated balloon.
The door closed behind them.
Joseph was left alone in the rest room.
He knelt there, his knees numb, staring blankly at the closed door.
It was over.
This time, there was no coming back.
When Lucinda stepped out of the elevator, the open-plan tech department was still buzzing with a kind of post-crisis energy.
A few employees huddled together, whispering. When they saw her, they scattered immediately—but their eyes still drifted toward her.
Lucinda paid them no mind and walked straight to Gaia's workstation.
Gaia was hunched over her desk, scribbling on a piece of paper.
"Gaia." Lucinda called her name.
Gaia's head snapped up. She stood quickly. "Ms. Wipere—"
"Did you rerun the data?"
"I—I did." Gaia's voice was still tight. She fumbled through the papers on her desk and pulled out a thick stack of printouts, holding them out with both hands. "These are the latest calculations. I re-optimized the parameters based on the direction you pointed me toward, but—"
She paused, biting her lip, her voice dropping. "But I don't know if they're still usable. After all, the original data was already leaked..."
Lucinda took the stack of papers, glanced down, her eyes lingering on a few key numbers. Her lips curved slightly. "They're usable."
She set the papers down on the desk with a light thud, then turned to address the entire tech department. "Everyone, drop what you're doing. Small conference room in five minutes. I have new data to share."
Five minutes later, the conference room was packed with the core members of the tech department.
Everyone had a notebook and pen in front of them. The grim expressions from this morning had shifted to cautious hope.
Lucinda stood in front of the projection screen, tapping a few keys on her laptop. A dense string of data formulas appeared on the screen. "This is the updated technical proposal. All parameters have been optimized, and the core algorithm has been adjusted. Efficiency is up by twelve percent. Most importantly, I've completely rebuilt the core module. It's nothing like the old version."
The room fell silent for a moment. Then a wave of barely contained excitement rippled through the crowd.
A middle-aged engineer in the front row's eyes went wide, his voice trembling. "Ms. Wipere, are you saying... you rebuilt the entire core module by yourself?"
Lucinda didn't answer the question. She swiped the touchpad and moved to the next slide. "For the next week, everyone will proceed according to this new proposal. Forget the old data. Everything starts from today's version."
A young woman in the corner raised her hand tentatively, her voice small. "Ms. Wipere, I heard this morning that Mr. Miller said... that we plagiarized data from the competitor company. Even though Mr. Miller's been arrested, the fact is that the data really was identical to our original proposal. Even if it was ours to begin with, it's already been leaked. What if they register the patent first, or turn around and sue us for infringement—"
"They won't get the chance." Lucinda cut her off, her voice calm. "I've already handled the data leak. What they received was a faulty draft with incorrect parameters. The core algorithm was completely replaced. If they try to manufacture anything based on that data, every product will be defective trash."
The room fell silent again. Then someone started clapping.
The applause grew from scattered to unified and thunderous, the entire conference room filled with near-euphoric energy.
"Ms. Wipere is incredible!"
"I knew our data was fine!"
"Let those bastards steal it—all they got was garbage!"
Lucinda stood at the front, watching the energized faces below her. Her lips curved slightly. She raised a hand to quiet them down. "Alright, enough clapping. Get back to work. Within one week, the new proposal needs to pass the first round of testing."
The crowd filed out. As each person passed Lucinda, they instinctively slowed their steps.
Lucinda was the last to leave the conference room. She leaned against the window in the hallway and pulled out her phone, dialing a number.
It rang twice before someone picked up. "Boss, what do you need?"
"The Wipere family is selling property. You know about that?"
"I do. Word's already out. Preston's listing his most valuable villa in Seaside City—asking price one hundred million dollars. Rumor is they're scrambling to pay off debts. The bank's pressing hard. If they don't pay up soon, it'll go to auction."
Lucinda's gaze drifted to the sky outside the window, her voice flat. "Spread the word. No one is to buy any property from the Wipere family. Anyone who does is crossing me."
There was a second of silence on the other end, then a voice came through—firm and unhesitating. "Understood. I'll notify all our partners immediately."
Lucinda hung up, leaned against the window frame, and closed her eyes briefly.
Just then, her phone buzzed again.
She glanced down. It was the research institute. "Ms. Wipere, there's an issue with the central lab's system. We need you to come take a look. A few parameters keep coming up wrong, and we've been troubleshooting all morning with no luck."
"Got it. I'll be there in a bit."
She hung up, scrolled through her contacts, and called Valencia.
The call connected after two rings. Valencia's gentle voice came through. "Cindy? What's wrong?"
"Mom, I won't be home for dinner tonight. There's something at the institute. I have to work late."
Valencia's voice immediately turned anxious. "Working late again? You've barely rested these past few days. You got home so late last night, and now today—"
"Mom, it's fine." Lucinda cut her off, a trace of helpless amusement in her voice. "I just need to adjust a few parameters. I'll come home as soon as I'm done."
Valencia was silent for two seconds on the other end, then sighed, her voice softening. "Alright. But don't push yourself too hard. Come home as soon as you're done. I made soup for you. I'll wait for you to drink it."
"I know." Lucinda hung up, slipped her phone into her pocket, and turned toward the elevator.
At the Douglas Estate, Valencia stood in the middle of the living room, phone in hand, her face full of heartache she couldn't hide.