Caleb Croft had actually always admired Vincent Grant, but right now, his expression was thunderous as he faced him.

"President Grant, even if my son was foolish enough to hire Stellaron to launch his rocket, you can’t just shirk all responsibility."

"The rocket has been malfunctioning for days, and you’re only telling us today?"

"What do you take the J Family for? Someone you can just mess with for fun?"

He then turned his glare on Joanna Sherman. "What kind of trash do you hire! Useless at everything except causing trouble!"

Caleb Croft came from a military background and was quite crude; when he started cursing people out, he didn’t care if you were a man or a woman.

It was likely the first time in her life Joanna Sherman had been cursed at so horribly. Her face went deathly pale, and her fingers dug into her palms.

"President Croft, this is my responsibility. I will see it through to the end." Vincent Grant took all the blame, subtly shielding Joanna Sherman behind him.

Sophia Shaw quietly watched Vincent Grant’s small gesture.

’If Vincent Grant had known about the rocket earlier, he wouldn’t have had time to come apologize to me this morning.’

’There was only one possibility: Joanna Sherman had acted on her own.’

’Even so, Vincent Grant was willing to protect Joanna Sherman unconditionally.’

Levin Sawyer looked at her with some concern.

Sophia Shaw gave a faint smile and shook her head.

’She had drawn a clear line with Vincent Grant long ago. If he wanted to dote on Joanna Sherman, she’d just watch the show.’

Levin Sawyer saw the peace in her expression, the way her beauty mark trembled slightly, and knew she had truly let go. Only then did he feel completely at ease.

Vincent Grant’s cooperative attitude managed to quell some of Caleb Croft’s anger.

He pointed at Sophia Shaw and said, "I’ve specially invited a top expert from Lead Aerospace to come over. We’ll settle the score with you after the rocket is fixed!"

Vincent Grant’s gaze fell upon Sophia Shaw.

His eyes were deep and unreadable.

Joanna Sherman looked past Sophia Shaw to Levin Sawyer. "Then we’ll have to trouble you, President Sawyer."

Levin Sawyer scoffed.

’When it came to fixing this rocket, he wasn’t the star of the show.’

Vincent Grant picked up the intercom and ordered, "All Stellaron personnel, withdraw. Be on standby 24/7 and give your full cooperation to the Lead Aerospace engineers repairing the rocket!"

Then he turned to Caleb Croft and said, "Stellaron will unconditionally cover any and all expenses requested by Lead Aerospace."

As expected of a man who ran a major enterprise, Vincent Grant’s presence was extraordinary.

Caleb Croft’s foul expression softened considerably because of Vincent’s attitude. He bowed to Sophia Shaw. "Please."

Sophia Shaw was a bit flustered by his grand gesture. Levin Sawyer gave her a gentle push. "Let’s go."

Seeing both Caleb Croft and Levin Sawyer prioritizing Sophia Shaw, a flicker of something passed through Joanna Sherman’s cold, aloof eyes.

She remarked, as if nonchalantly, "It’s clear President Sawyer really admires Sophia Shaw."

Elias Underwood, covered in grime, emerged from the maintenance bay to a bizarre scene.

Caleb Croft was half-bowed, inviting Sophia Shaw in, while Levin Sawyer willingly followed behind her.

"What an act!" Elias Underwood scoffed. He had also just overheard Joanna Sherman’s comment and muttered, "Levin Sawyer must be out of his mind. Wasting all that talent just to prop up some useless person."

"We’ll see what she’s really made of soon enough!"

"Does she even dare?"

The details of Sophia Shaw’s conversation with Yuval the day before hadn’t been disclosed; no one knew what they had discussed.

Elias Underwood didn’t believe she had the skill to earn Yuval’s admiration. He was convinced Yuval had just felt sorry for her and exchanged a few ordinary pleasantries.

’It must have been Bartholomew Chamberlain who deliberately edited the video, splicing in some of Yuval’s completely unrelated comments to make it look like he was praising Sophia.’

’Anyway, Yuval had already returned to his country, so there was no way he’d see the video himself.’

’As for Bartholomew Chamberlain, he must have pulled some strings simply because Levin Sawyer had taken a liking to Sophia Shaw and was willing to go to great lengths to please her.’

’In short, Elias Underwood felt that Sophia Shaw was a complete fake, inside and out. It was absolutely disgusting!’

Elias Underwood didn’t mention her by name, but everyone present could tell he was targeting Sophia Shaw.

The rumor about Levin Sawyer bribing Bartholomew Chamberlain was circulating throughout the entire company, so no one found his comments jarring.

Jack Holloway’s eyes flashed as he stepped out from behind Vincent Grant.

"Miss Shaw!"

Sophia Shaw had just put on her hard hat when Jack Holloway blocked her path.

Seeing the hard hat on her head, a sarcastic smile touched the corners of his lips, but what he said was, "I know you’re still upset about being fired, Miss Shaw. President Grant has already apologized to you, so why do you have to be so relentless?"

Sophia Shaw looked down, pulling on her gloves, and asked calmly, "Tell me, Assistant Holloway, how have I been relentless toward President Grant?"

Jack Holloway sneered. "You deliberately came here with President Sawyer, didn’t you? Just to laugh at President Grant and Ms. Sherman’s expense."

"Back then, I was the one who didn’t pass your evidence to President Grant and Ms. Sherman. I was also the one who arranged for the apology in your name. If you’re angry, Miss Shaw, direct it all at me. Don’t drag President Grant and Ms. Sherman into this!"

"If that’s really the case, shouldn’t you be apologizing to me right now, Assistant Holloway?"

Sophia Shaw tilted her head, her clear, cold gaze scrutinizing Jack Holloway.

The question stopped Jack Holloway dead in his tracks.

"You were the one who made the mistake. You were the one who got me framed. You were the one who forced President Grant to take all the responsibility for the sake of the company’s image."

"So, Assistant Holloway, where do you get the nerve to stand here and righteously accuse me when you’re clearly the one in the wrong?"

Sophia Shaw remained gentle, not even raising her voice.

But her words were like a vicious slap across his face.

Jack Holloway was rendered speechless, his face burning hot.

He stared at Sophia Shaw as if paralyzed.

’In his memory, Sophia Shaw had always been meek and timid. When had she become so eloquent and sharp-tongued?’ 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Your work ethic is questionable, Assistant Holloway, but your skill at shifting blame is quite impressive." Levin Sawyer slowly emerged to stand beside Sophia Shaw.

"Sophia’s time is for important matters. Why would she waste it on watching small-timers like you make a scene?"

With that one sentence, he had relegated even Vincent Grant and Joanna Sherman to the status of small-timers.

"Listen up. You’re not even worthy of her holding a grudge against you!"

After speaking, he looked gently at Sophia Shaw. "Let’s go."

The two returned to the inner bay without giving Jack Holloway so much as a second glance.

Only after they were out of Jack Holloway’s line of sight did Sophia Shaw let out a soft sigh.

"What’s wrong? Feeling soft-hearted now that you know Vincent Grant wasn’t the one who did it?" Levin Sawyer asked.

Sophia Shaw shook her head.

"No."

’Jack Holloway is Vincent Grant’s subordinate. Vincent’s indifference is the main reason Jack dared to treat me that way.’

’Besides, it’s an undeniable fact that Vincent Grant favors Joanna Sherman.’

"Let’s get to work."

Sophia Shaw switched into work mode in a second.

Her lips pressed together, her gaze focused. The small beauty mark beneath her eye was perfectly still, lending her an air of intense seriousness.

It made Levin Sawyer feel as if all the unpleasantness from just a moment ago had been a figment of his imagination.

「The overhaul lasted from ten in the morning until midnight.」

Vincent Grant, Joanna Sherman, and Elias Underwood didn’t leave, waiting patiently outside.

Lunch and dinner containers lay on the floor. Aside from a few engineers who had taken a few bites, no one had touched the food.

When Justin Hughes arrived and heard that Joanna Sherman hadn’t eaten a single bite, he grew anxious and tried to persuade her several times.

"You haven’t eaten for fourteen hours. How can you possibly hold up?"

"Joanna, please just eat something."

Justin Hughes placed the food he’d bought from The Centenary in front of Joanna Sherman, practically on his knees begging her to eat.

Jenson Forrest had also arrived.

However, he was there to provide technical support.

He was off to the side, discussing modeling solutions with Vincent Grant.

The Stellaron staff couldn’t go inside; they could only watch the video feed of Sophia Shaw and Levin Sawyer from the monitoring equipment.

Seeing Sophia Shaw pretentiously busying herself, tapping on this and that with a serious look on her face, Justin Hughes was so disgusted he practically wanted to spit.