Chapter 68
Arthur's brow furrowed deeply, his aversion to Caroline intensifying.
Before he could speak, Gavin rushed forward like a man spotting salvation, eagerly grasping his arm.
"Mr. Windsor! Perfect timing! Allow me to formally introduce the cornerstone of our project—Dr. Hamilton!"
Arthur's gaze cut past Gavin like a blade, landing squarely on Caroline.
Ignoring the introduction entirely, he asked coldly, "Mr. Bennett, why is she here?"
Though seemingly cryptic, everyone understood the accusation in his question.
Heidi immediately stepped forward, naturally taking Arthur's arm and looking up with a practiced expression of gentle concern. "Arthur, don't be like this—you're frightening everyone. I was just having a little fun with my sister, wasn't I, Caroline?"
Caroline didn't respond, not even bothering to raise her eyes.
Gavin, completely missing the undercurrents of hostility, assumed this was merely familial banter.
"You misunderstand, Mr. Windsor! Dr. Hamilton is no outsider—she's the architect of our remarkable turnaround!"
His enthusiasm grew as he continued, his admiration for Caroline genuine and unfiltered.
"You know, Dr. Hamilton's achievements are a testament to her parents' exceptional guidance. I'd love to meet them someday—what visionary people they must be, to nurture such extraordinary talent!"
Gavin's heartfelt praise was met with another strange silence that settled over the room.
Caroline had never discussed her family at work.
When asked, she simply described them as "ordinary" without elaboration. During late nights at the office, she would sometimes gaze at photos of her children on her phone—one of her primary motivations to persevere.
Her so-called mother had left nothing but a cold, retreating shadow across her childhood. Exceptional guidance? What a cosmic joke.
She held her orange juice, her fingertips slightly pale, though her expression revealed nothing.
Arthur, however, was stunned into silence.
Caroline's mother was the White family's stepmother—that woman he'd met several times, always impeccably made up, clinging to Heidi's father, her eyes fixed only on designer bags and jewelry, her conversation filled with the hollow pretensions of high society.
Exceptional guidance?
With what? The emptiness constructed from luxury goods, or perhaps the techniques she used to navigate between different men?
This was the first time he'd heard anyone describe that woman as providing "exceptional guidance."
A massive puzzle began taking shape in his mind.
He looked at Caroline again. She stood quietly, as though Gavin's praise referred to someone else entirely.
As the celebration ended, the atmosphere in the car during their return journey was suffocatingly tense.
Heidi carefully observed Arthur's profile, his tightly clenched jaw radiating an unapproachable coldness.
She leaned toward him softly, attempting to take his arm, but he subtly avoided her touch.
"Arthur, are you still upset about Caroline?"
Arthur ignored her question, Gavin's phrase "exceptional guidance" echoing repeatedly in his thoughts.
Driving through the flowing traffic, he abruptly asked, "Your stepmother... was she good at raising children?"
Heidi started slightly before letting out a derisive laugh. "Her? What would she know? A woman who only entered high society on my father's arm—what occupies her mind besides bridge games and hunting for the latest designer bags?"
She paused, contempt saturating her tone.
"And exceptional guidance? With what resources? Teaching Caroline how to seduce men at cocktail parties? If you ask me, Caroline's current position probably comes from some man we don't know about. It certainly has nothing to do with her mother."
As her words hung in the air, the atmosphere in the car seemed to solidify.
Arthur's fingers tightened around the steering wheel until his knuckles whitened.
Help from other men?
He'd believed that before. But could someone who commanded genuine respect from a veteran like Gavin—someone addressed as "Doctor," who developed something called a "Glial Cell Microenvironment Simulation System"—really have advanced through mere relationships with men?
For the first time, he realized how little he knew about Caroline, his wife of three years. He couldn't even remember what she had studied, let alone recall the details of how she cared for their children.
In his perception, she had always been just a silent, unremarkable woman without demands.
How completely, utterly ignorant he had been.
Caroline's success landed like a boulder in the deep waters of Zenith Technologies, creating not only massive ripples around Gavin but also disturbing other forces lurking in the depths.
In the Vice President's office, Billy Cook violently slammed his pen onto the desk.
"Gavin's really coming up in the world, isn't he?"
Billy reclined in his leather chair, meticulously brushing imaginary dust from his sleeve cuff.
His confidant, bent forward pouring tea, immediately responded, "Indeed, Mr. Cook. He's stolen all the spotlight. If this project succeeds, the board will only have eyes for Gavin."
Billy raised his teacup, blowing gently on the surface without commenting further.
The next day, at the board meeting.
Gavin had just opened his report. "Regarding the next phase of the 'Glial Cell Microenvironment Simulation System,' I recommend—"
"Not so fast, Mr. Bennett." Billy interrupted, sliding a document to the center of the conference table.
"I've had this project evaluated. It's too idealistic—a bottomless money pit."
He spoke leisurely, his gaze deliberately drifting toward Caroline.
"There's no realistic path to monetization in the near term. We're not a research institute—we have responsibilities to our shareholders."
Caroline appeared not to notice, maintaining her professional composure in this setting.
Frank pushed his chair back abruptly and stood. "Mr. Cook, that's unfair! All cutting-edge technologies require incubation periods. Once we establish the technical barriers in this field, we'll set the industry standards!"
"Standards?" Billy smirked, turning away from Frank to address the Chairman directly.
"Standards don't appear on financial statements. I propose freezing all budgets for the next phase of this project and establishing a specialized team to reassess its commercial viability."
Gavin clenched his fists. "Mr. Cook, that's slander!"
"Mind your language, Mr. Bennett." Billy spread his hands in a gesture of bureaucratic neutrality.
"I'm acting in the company's best interest. Ladies and gentlemen, let's vote."
The result was predictable—the budget was frozen.
After the meeting, Frank couldn't contain his frustration, punching the wall with a dull thud. "This is outrageous! These finance people don't understand the first thing about technology!"
Gavin stood silently before the floor-to-ceiling windows, gazing at the surrounding skyscrapers.
After a long moment, he finally spoke, "He's not targeting the project."
Frank stopped pacing. "Then who? You?"
Gavin pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
"No. He's targeting Dr. Hamilton."