Sophia Shaw peeked out from behind her computer, watching him quietly.

Levin Sawyer said, "Leah Evans passed her assessment and is officially an employee now."

Sophia Shaw didn’t seem particularly happy. "Don’t rush her onboarding. Let’s add another written test and an interview."

"Are you worried I went easy on her?"

Sophia Shaw lowered her eyelids. "Although the finance department isn’t a core role, I still want the employees we hire to be the very best."

"I also don’t want people thinking later that Leah Evans got in because of her connection to me."

Levin Sawyer pursed his lips.

Sophia Shaw had always despised nepotism. She was strict with others, but even stricter with herself.

At the company, the hiring process was only this complicated for manager-level positions and above.

But it was precisely these high standards of hers that allowed Lead Aerospace to achieve extreme goals in a very short amount of time.

"Fine, I’ll add them."

"And what’s the other piece of good news?" Sophia Shaw asked.

Levin Sawyer’s smile deepened. "According to a reliable source, late last night, Vincent Grant rushed Joanna Sherman to the hospital."

"The official story is that she fell ill from overwork, but the lights were on at the Stellaron Base late into the night. The whole thing seems fishy."

Levin Sawyer looked at her intently.

Sophia Shaw admitted it willingly. "I was the one who deleted the database."

"You absolutely did the right thing!"

Levin Sawyer was thrilled just hearing about it. He gave her a thumbs-up.

"That Grant fellow and Joanna Sherman have been walking all over you. You’d be failing yourself if you didn’t teach them a lesson!"

If it weren’t for the need to keep Sophia Shaw’s identity under wraps, he would have gone and set off firecrackers outside Joanna’s hospital room.

What goes around comes around!

Sophia Shaw just smiled.

She really hadn’t intended to cause them any trouble with the rocket project, but the Shermans had shamelessly and repeatedly crossed her boundaries.

So they had no one to blame but themselves.

In truth, she had already set her boundaries very low.

’What kind of vicious, shameless genes did the Shermans have, allowing them to bully others so unscrupulously and without any limits!’

Levin Sawyer had always known the reason for Sophia Shaw’s forbearance.

She was still hung up on having gone into the wrong room all those years ago, feeling that she had wronged Vincent Grant and wanting to make it up to him.

That was also why she had helped him build the database.

Afraid she might go soft again, he said,

"You’ve already wasted six years on Vincent Grant. Whatever debt you felt you owed has been more than paid off."

"Besides, he shares responsibility for what happened back then."

All Sophia Shaw did was go into the wrong room. It’s not like she held a knife to his neck.

"Mm."

She had always felt something was off about that night, but she wasn’t brazen enough to discuss it with Levin Sawyer.

Because of the additional tests, Sophia Shaw went to speak with Leah Evans personally.

She had expected it would take some convincing for Leah Evans to accept the news, but Leah was much more agreeable than she had imagined.

"Bring on the tests!"

"I only got the chance to interview at Lead Aerospace because of my connection to you. I can’t afford to give anyone a reason to doubt my professional competence!"

"If I can’t pass the additional tests, that’s on me for not being good enough. I won’t blame anyone!"

Sophia Shaw was quite happy for Leah Evans to see she had that kind of spirit.

After they parted ways, Sophia Shaw turned and saw Joanna Sherman stepping out of the elevator.

Joanna didn’t even spare her a glance as she swept past like a gust of wind.

Sophia Shaw knew why she was at Lead Aerospace.

’The database is destroyed. They landed a huge order but can’t start the work. Their only choice is to seek another collaboration with Lead Aerospace.’

’She was just in the hospital last night, and today she’s already rushing over to find Levin Sawyer.’

’I have to admit, Joanna Sherman is certainly driven.’

’And also very desperate.’

Sophia Shaw briefly savored the anxiety hidden beneath Joanna Sherman’s calm facade before returning to her office and burying herself in work again.

She didn’t look up until Levin Sawyer knocked on the door.

When she did, she saw the city lights blazing outside the window.

’Is it dark already?’

Levin Sawyer placed the food container he was holding on her desk. Seeing her dazed expression, he shook his head in resignation.

"It’s a good thing I was passing by and decided to check on you. Otherwise, you might starve to death one of these days without even noticing."

Having been busy all day without so much as a sip of water, the aroma of the food made her realize she was famished—her stomach felt like it was glued to her spine.

She didn’t stand on ceremony, immediately unwrapping the container and digging in.

As she ate, she started a video call with Bun.

Seeing this, Levin Sawyer knew she was planning to pull an all-nighter.

"The work can wait. Go home and spend time with your child."

Sophia Shaw wanted to be with Bun, too, but she hadn’t finished the task her mentor had assigned her.

This was her best chance to mend her relationship with her mentor.

The sooner she finished, the sooner she could see her mentor.

Knowing he couldn’t change her mind, Levin Sawyer simply sat down and started working on the project with her.

It was a sleepless night.

「The next day.」

Sophia Shaw gazed at the completed project framework, her eyes bright and full of energy.

Levin Sawyer ordered breakfast and made her get up from her desk.

"Eat breakfast, then go home and get some proper sleep. There’s no need to rush back to work."

Sophia Shaw didn’t feel the least bit tired. Besides, she couldn’t let this project interfere with her regular work.

Still, she decided to go home for a quick shower and a change of clothes, taking the opportunity to see Bun.

After a full day and night away from the little one, she missed him dearly.

After finishing breakfast, Sophia Shaw practically flew downstairs, wishing she had wheels on her feet.

But she ran into Joanna Sherman again. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Levin Sawyer hadn’t mentioned Joanna Sherman last night, but it was obvious the deal for a collaboration had fallen through.

’She still hasn’t given up!’

Joanna Sherman usually ignored her, and Sophia Shaw, treating her as if she were invisible, prepared to walk right past.

"Sophia Shaw," Joanna Sherman said, stopping her.

Her aloof gaze fixed on Sophia. "You’re the one who instigated Levin Sawyer to refuse the collaboration with Stellaron, aren’t you?"

"You were the one who ruined Vincent Grant’s marriage, so why bother playing the victim now? Why use Levin Sawyer to crush Stellaron?"

Sophia Shaw let out a soft laugh.

’Joanna Sherman really is as cunning as she is shameless.’

’She doesn’t say a single word about how she’s hurt me, just uses Vincent Grant to hold over my head.’

"If you were truly capable, why would you be afraid of my influence?"

Sophia Shaw looked quietly at Joanna Sherman. The beauty mark beneath her eye seemed to shimmer, but her words were sharp as a needle.

"Levin Sawyer treasures talent. He would go to great lengths, visiting someone time and again, to recruit a truly gifted person. Miss Sherman, perhaps you should reflect on why you fail to inspire that level of eagerness in him."

The words were a vicious slap across Joanna Sherman’s face.

"Such a sharp tongue!" Joanna Sherman’s face flushed with anger, and she opened her mouth to humiliate her in return.

But Sophia Shaw suddenly changed the topic.

"Did I really ruin Vincent Grant’s marriage?"

"You never actually planned to marry him back then, did you?"

Joanna Sherman’s pupils constricted, and the color drained from her face, turning it from red to a deathly white.

Sophia Shaw took it all in and continued, "You wanted to pursue your graduate studies, but you were afraid that if you were gone too long, Vincent Grant would have a change of heart. The only way to keep a tight grip on him was guilt!"

"A very, very deep sense of guilt!"

"So you deliberately engineered his ’betrayal,’ setting him up to sleep with someone else."

Sophia Shaw was no fool.

That night, Vincent Grant had clearly been drugged; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so out of it that he couldn’t even tell the woman in his arms wasn’t Joanna Sherman.

"You just never expected that person would turn out to be me. And you certainly never expected the whole affair to be exposed, or that I would end up marrying Vincent Grant because of it."

Sophia Shaw’s voice was soft, but her words were like a knife, splitting open the deepest secret in Joanna Sherman’s heart!

Joanna Sherman’s palms were slick with sweat. The cold composure in her eyes shattered, her gaze wavering violently.

Realizing Sophia Shaw had no proof, Joanna shot her a pitying look. "I think you’re the one who’s lost her mind. You should see a doctor and stop making such bizarre accusations!"

Then she turned to leave.

Sophia Shaw stared coldly at her retreating figure.

’Is she panicking?’

She had started to suspect this six years ago, but her reasons hadn’t been solid enough at the time.

Over the long six years that followed, she came to understand the dynamic between Joanna Sherman and Vincent Grant much more thoroughly.

Coupled with how easily Joanna had reconciled with Vincent Grant upon her return and used his influence to successfully launch her rocket, all the pieces that had never quite fit suddenly clicked into place.

In matters like these, Sophia Shaw could only admit that she was no match for Joanna’s ruthlessness.

’No matter what, she could never bring herself to send the man she loved to another woman’s bed for the sake of her career!’

After changing her clothes, Sophia Shaw returned to Lead Aerospace, only to be stopped at the entrance.

"Faye, long time no see."

The moment she saw the man before her, a firestorm of rage erupted in Sophia Shaw’s chest.

’She wished she could burn him to ashes!’

Chad Jennings!

The man she had once respected and loved most in the world, whom she now hated to the very marrow of her bones!

Seeing her glare, Chad Jennings looked slightly displeased. "What’s the matter? Has it been so many years that you don’t even recognize your own father?"

"Are you worthy of the title?" Sophia Shaw snarled, her whole body trembling uncontrollably as she clenched her fists.

She would never forget it. The first time Joanna Sherman had hit her, her father, who had always protected her, had flown into a rage—at her.

"She’s just a kid who transferred to your school! Why are you picking a fight with her?!"

"Can’t you be a little more magnanimous? Did you have to hit her back? Look at the state you left her in!"

She was clearly the victim, yet Chad Jennings had forced her to apologize and admit she was wrong.

Their injuries were comparable, but he had run around getting medicine and bandages only for Joanna Sherman.

Back then, she didn’t know about Chad Jennings’s relationship with Joanna Sherman and couldn’t understand why her own father had suddenly become such a stranger.

Later, Joanna Sherman’s bullying escalated. With Sharon Sherman’s help, she successfully framed Sophia, the real victim, as a "bad kid" who liked to bully others in the eyes of their teachers.

Unwilling to suffer in silence, she had secretly bought an electronic device to record video evidence to give to her teachers, but Chad Jennings had found it and taken it away.