Chapter 175

Chapter 175

Abigail stayed in the car without getting out. She closed her eyes for a moment, then decided to call the police.

There was nothing she could say right now. When people were this worked up, all you could do was wait for things to cool down, or try to reach a settlement with the patient's family.

Either way, Abigail's reputation had already taken a hit.

"Okay."

Aiden gave Abigail a worried look but did what she asked.

The crowd outside kept gathering, and some of the more agitated people started banging on the car.

Luckily, the car Aiden was driving today had been modified — it was built tough, and the windows were bulletproof.

Otherwise, the windows might have already been smashed through.

He felt relieved about that, and kept glancing at Abigail through the rearview mirror.

Seeing how exhausted she looked, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

It was sad to see a good person get targeted like this.

Earlier, while waiting for Abigail, Aiden had come across some clips from the patient's family's livestream.

Watching Abigail in the video, looking so worn out, genuinely tugged at his heart.

Anyone reasonable could tell that Abigail probably hadn't done anything wrong. But there were always people who were easy to stir up, ready to jump on any excuse to cause trouble.

Still, saying any of that now wouldn't help.

Eventually, a police car arrived. The officers got out to control the crowd, then took Abigail to the station to give a brief statement. That was how they finally got out of there.

By the time she headed home, streaks of color had spread across the sky and the sun was going down.

Meanwhile, Serenity was listening to her subordinate's report with a smug look on her face.

Her smile grew wider, her expression full of satisfaction.

That person's worthless life had actually come in pretty useful.

She had taken down Abigail, her biggest rival, without much effort at all.

Destroy her reputation, and you destroy her footing in the Smith family — it was that simple.

Thinking about how her plan was falling into place step by step, Serenity felt completely at ease.

Just a little longer, and she could show up in front of Trent again — in an even better position than before.

The thought of Trent made her cheeks flush, her eyes lit up with a look of certainty.

But her good mood didn't last long. The moment her phone rang, Serenity snatched it up.

"What?"

She slammed her hand on the desk and shot up from her chair, her face a mix of shock and fury.

"Are you serious? The Powell Construction overseas project was actually stolen?"

The terrible news her subordinate reported struck right where it hurt Serenity most.

The Powell family knew they couldn't compete for a big share of the domestic market, so they had set their sights on overseas opportunities instead.

Serenity had just come back from studying abroad, and she'd wanted to use this project to secure more power for herself — so she had personally guaranteed its success and taken it on.

And now her subordinate was telling her someone had stolen the overseas project right out from under her?

"Who has the nerve to do this? Someone actually dared to touch something belonging to the Powell family? Do they have a death wish?"

Serenity's voice was vicious, her face twisted with rage, as if she couldn't wait to drag the person behind this in front of her and make them pay.

Before her subordinate could even finish the report, her office door swung open.

When she saw Philip Powell standing there, Serenity froze completely.

"Grandpa, what are you doing here?"

How had Philip gotten here so fast?

Seeing how flustered Serenity looked, Philip let out a cold grunt and walked in, leaning on his cane.

Without a moment's hesitation, he raised the cane and brought it down hard on Serenity's arm.

"Look at what you've done. You stood up at the shareholders' meeting and promised me you could land that overseas project. And now it's gone."

Serenity felt the sting on her arm and swallowed down her frustration, putting on her most agreeable face for Philip.

"Grandpa, I honestly don't know what happened. We're still looking into it. There might still be a way to turn things around."

She didn't even know yet who was working against her.

Seeing Philip storm in ready to lay into her, Serenity had no choice but to explain herself.

But Philip wasn't interested in her explanations.

"Useless. You can't even handle something this small, and now I have to step in myself."

Philip scoffed and dropped himself onto the sofa.

He looked at Serenity standing across from him, all meek and eager to please, and something sharp flashed in his eyes.

"I already gave you a chance. You just couldn't hold on to it."

Those words made Serenity tense up immediately.

"Grandpa, what do you mean by that?"

"You made me a confident promise, so I handed you that project. But you couldn't deliver. So don't blame me for taking back the authority I gave you."

Serenity's heart sank.

"Grandpa, the other side hasn't fully taken over the project yet. We might still be able to get it back."

She pushed back, "And I still don't have the full picture of what happened. There could still be room to fix this."

Philip let out a dismissive laugh.

"You don't know what you're up against."

He looked up at her, open mockery in his eyes.

"I always said a girl like you couldn't get things done. Looks like I was right."

Philip was using her gender against her again, and it lit a fire in Serenity's chest.

But facing the real power behind the Powell family, she had no choice but to keep that anger buried.

"Grandpa, just give me one more chance. I promise I'll handle this. I won't let you down."

She had already tasted the benefits of having power — there was no way she was giving it up without a fight.

But Philip had no intention of giving Serenity another shot.

"Enough. There's no point talking about this now. It's already done."

Serenity's heart dropped when she heard that.

Philip said, "If you really can't fix this, then don't bother."

That sounded like there might still be a door open, and Serenity perked up immediately.

"Grandpa, don't worry. If I still can't pull this off, I'll fully support whatever decision you make."

Philip had thought it over more than once before deciding to give Serenity another shot.

He gave her a long, steady look. "Fine. You said it yourself."

"Thank you, Grandpa. Thank you for giving me another chance."

Watching her try so hard to please him, Philip waved her off.

"Save it. Just focus on figuring out how to fix this mess."

He stood up to leave. Philip waved his hand, and Serenity stopped herself from following him to the door.

"Serenity, I've given you the chance. If you still can't make it work, that'll just prove you don't have what it takes to do business."

Serenity lowered her eyes slightly, hiding the resentment buried beneath them.

"Grandpa, I won't disappoint you again."