Jacobs was standing backstage. He followed Levin Sawyer’s gaze and saw the two of them as well.
He understood imdiately.
He quickly raised his fist high. "We thank the scoundrels for their humiliation! We thank the scoundrels for their humiliation!"
Everyone was already filled with righteous indignation after hearing Sophia Shaw’s story. Hearing Jacobs shouting so loudly, they imdiately joined in, "We thank the scoundrels for their humiliation! We thank the scoundrels for their humiliation!"
As Jacobs yelled, he jutted his chin toward the area behind the crowd.
The crowd turned and looked at Vincent Grant and Joanna Sherman in unison. "We thank the scoundrels for their humiliation! We thank the scoundrels for their humiliation!"
Timothy Morgan stepped aside, allowing the pair to fall into everyone’s line of sight.
He scoffed under his breath.
’Calling her a scoundrel is an insult to scoundrels,’ he thought. ’Soone like Joanna Sherman should be called a bitch!’
This was the first ti in her life Joanna Sherman had ever been cursed at by a crowd. Her face alternated between flushed red and deathly pale, the sha stinging more than a slap.
She was humiliated and furious.
Vincent Grant, however, silently clenched his jaw, watching Sophia Shaw on stage as if he had a toothache.
Sophia Shaw saw them too.
Her gaze t Vincent Grant’s directly—unflinching, unevasive, neither humble nor arrogant.
She had only been speaking from a mont of raw emotion today, with no intention of targeting anyone specifically.
But since Vincent Grant had walked right into it, there was no need to play the saint.
Vincent Grant was the first to look away. He said to Joanna Sherman, "Let’s go."
The two of them left from the other end of the hall.
Sophia Shaw personally presented awards to every employee who participated in the project. In addition to a trophy, there was also a generous cash bonus.
Every employee who received a bonus was grinning from ear to ear.
Sophia Shaw also gave everyone half a month of paid leave. Furthermore, all Lead Aerospace employees could take their entire families on a trip anywhere in the world, with all travel expenses reimbursed.
This news sent everyone into a frenzy of joy. It felt like the entire hall was about to erupt.
Upstairs, in stark contrast, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
They had originally co to this dinner out of respect for Vincent Grant, and they were already forcing themselves to eat.
But after witnessing the extraordinary excitent at Lead Aerospace, everyone felt like they’d swallowed a fly, leaving an awful taste in their mouths.
This was especially true for a few engineers who had dealt with Sophia Shaw in the past. They exchanged glances, their feelings a complicated mix. Although Sophia Shaw hadn’t nad who had switched the nas at the last minute, the only one presenting the award back then was Joanna Sherman!
’She acts so high and mighty and flawless all day, but she’s actually this vile to the core!’
Suddenly, they felt ashad to even be sitting with her.
Halfway through the al, they made an excuse to go for a smoke and left the private room.
Outside the door, they gathered and muttered in low voices, "Back then, everyone said Sophia Shaw was still a Level 1 employee after five years because she wasn’t a hard worker. Now, it’s painfully obvious it wasn’t her fault."
"Is there any doubt? She’s a rocket genius. You think she couldn’t even handle basic promotional work? Obviously, so people with ill intentions were exploiting her, and worse, so others were blind and chose to ignore it."
"To think they could pull sothing so disgusting. The Grant Group is rotten to the core!"
"A mont ago, I thought the people around Sophia Shaw were being too harsh with their insults. Now I see it’s all well-deserved! They had it coming!"
Joel Hale was standing right behind them. Listening to their discussion, cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
He and Jack Holloway were the ones who had suppressed Sophia Shaw and prevented her from being promoted.
Jack Holloway was already gone, which ant he was the one who would be held accountable!
* * *
After handing out the bonuses, Sophia Shaw had two glasses of wine and went out to look for Old Master Sloan.
Old Master Sloan hadn’t fully recovered yet. He had co today solely to support his two apprentices.
Ms. Warren hadn’t dared let him stay inside for too long and had wheeled him out for so fresh air.
Sophia Shaw had never been much of a drinker. After just two glasses, her cheeks were flushed, as if rouged, adding a touch of allure to her gentle elegance.
Passersby couldn’t help but turn their heads for a second look.
She stopped in the outer hallway, closed her eyes, and took a few deep breaths.
When she turned, she saw Vincent Grant standing not too far away, the corners of his lips curved into a slight smile. "Did that feel good, all that cursing just now?"
’Vincent Grant was still Vincent Grant, always able to adapt and roll with the punches.’
Even after being so disgracefully cursed out just monts ago, there wasn’t a trace of discomposure on his face.
’No wonder a man like this could be so successful in the business world.’
Sophia Shaw’s expression turned cold. "If you were the one who had been humiliated back then, would you still be able to ask such a question?"
Not wanting to deal with him, she turned to leave.
"What will it take for you to feel better?"
Vincent Grant’s low question ca from behind her.
His playful tone was gone, replaced by utter seriousness.
Sophia Shaw smiled.
’He was Vincent Grant, a man who could admit his mistakes and bear the consequences.’
’He was willing to offer any terms to appease her.’
’How magnanimous of him.’
’But who even cared?’
Vincent Grant’s gaze remained dark and brooding long after Sophia Shaw’s figure had disappeared.
Standing behind him, Joanna Sherman bit her lip tightly, her reddened eyes burning with intense resentnt.
’All the humiliation she had suffered today, she would one day—one day—pay it back double!’
Joanna Sherman’s phone rang. It was Chad Jennings.
The ringing of the phone startled Vincent Grant.
He turned and looked at her.
Joanna Sherman rejected the call and walked toward him. "Vincent, the only reason I changed her na back then was because she was just a Level 1 employee. If word got out, it would have been an embarrassnt to the company!"
"You know her reputation at the company has always been bad. I thought Timothy Morgan only gave her the spot out of consideration for you."
"I’ll handle this," Vincent Grant cut her off.
Joanna Sherman’s heart skipped a beat. "How are you going to handle it?"
"She’s beco this incredible rocket genius now, looking down on everyone. What if she uses this opportunity to ask you for a divorce?"
Vincent Grant’s lips thinned slightly.
"Even if she weren’t a rocket genius, I never thought about divorcing her."
THUD. Joanna Sherman’s heart sank to the abyss.
She had worked so hard for so long, given up so much, all for the ultimate goal of getting this man, of marrying him comfortably and with her head held high.
But even now, at this stage, he still didn’t want a divorce!
"But you two have already..."
Joanna Sherman couldn’t bring herself to say the word "divorce." In the end, she just said, "I’m going to return a call."
She clutched her phone and hurried away.
Once her back was to Vincent Grant, she gripped her phone so hard it seed her lips would bleed from how hard she was biting them.
After a long mont, she finally answered the call Chad Jennings was making again.
On the other end, Chad Jennings’s voice was frantic. "Joanna, what’s going on? Why didn’t you pick up for so long?"
"What is it?" Joanna Sherman was in a terrible mood. "If it’s not important, let’s talk later."
"It is important! A huge deal!" Chad Jennings’s voice was thick with panic; he was in a desperate situation. "Joanna, you have to find Vincent Grant right now! Tell him to figure sothing out and get the Grant Group’s stock price back up, fast!"
"Do you have any idea? Because I listened to you, my stocks have been cut in half! Half the money I invested is gone!"
The Grant Group’s stock price was already high to begin with. For it to be cut in half, one can only imagine how massive the loss was!
Chad Jennings was now regretting his decision to his very core. "If I had known this was going to happen, I should have listened to Sophia Shaw."
The few stocks Sophia Shaw had ntioned back then had all skyrocketed, their prices soaring to incredible heights.
Lead Aerospace’s stock had also shot up like a rocket thanks to the five consecutive successful launches, hitting the daily limit up for several days in a row.
The montum was so strong that the price wasn’t likely to drop anyti soon.
The Grant Group, on the other hand, had suffered heavy losses from the failed Zenith satellite launch, and its stock price had been plumting as a result.
Watching the stock price plumt like a rock off a cliff these past two days, Chad Jennings felt like he could just die.
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