Chapter 264
Isolde slammed her hand down on the table. The sound cracked through the room like a gunshot.
“Anyone who walks out that door,” she said, her voice dripping with venom, “will be permanently blacklisted from every project I ever run.”
Grayson shook his head. “Isolde, this is just a market correction. It is survival of the fittest. Why can’t you accept reality?”
Isolde marched straight up to him and stared directly into his eyes. “A market correction?” she hissed. “You call stealing my family’s data and handing it to your mistress a market correction?”
She turned and shoved the USB back into the laptop, hit a few keys, and projected the file properties onto the massive screen on the wall. “You think Arland gave this to me?” Isolde pointed at the screen. “Open your eyes, Grayson. Look at the author signature.”
𝘑𝗼i𝗇 𝗼ur co𝘮𝗺u𝗻𝗂𝘵у o𝗇 g𝗮𝗅n𝘰ve𝗹s.𝘤𝘰𝗺
Grayson turned his head.
In the bottom right corner of the metadata, written in stark black text, was a single word: Sophia.
Grayson froze. His breath hitched in his throat. The name sent a jolt through him — a mix of disbelief and professional awe. He stared at the screen, his mind racing. The files had to be illegally acquired; Arland must have pulled them from some dark corner of the defense industry. The alternative — that Isolde could legally possess this level of technology on her own — was inconceivable.
“Stop this charade,” Grayson said, his voice cold, though a flicker of uncertainty crossed his eyes. “Even if Arland stole these files for you, you don’t have the technical comprehension to build it. These are military-grade schematics, not a toy.”
Isolde stared at him. The absolute, impenetrable wall of his arrogance was staggering.
She picked up the desk phone and pressed the intercom button. “Security. Escort Mr. Lancaster out of the building immediately. If he resists, call the police and press charges for corporate espionage.”
Grayson’s jaw dropped. He looked at her, genuinely stunned — she was actually throwing him out. Two Carson security guards appeared in the doorway.
Grayson’s face darkened with fury. He adjusted his coat, wincing as his ribs flared with pain. “You are going to regret this, Isolde.”
He turned and walked out, his bodyguards trailing behind him.
Grayson sat on the edge of his hospital bed, his chest heaving with exertion.
The trip to Carson Dynamics had been a disaster. His ribs felt like they were on fire, but the burning in his chest was nothing compared to the fury in his mind. She had actually called security on him.
Belle hurried into the room carrying a fresh pitcher of ice water. She took one look at his pale, sweating face and rushed over.
“Gray! Why did you leave?” Belle cried, setting the pitcher down. “The doctors said you need strict bed rest!”
Grayson yanked off his wool overcoat and threw it onto the chair. “Isolde has completely lost her mind. She is trying to use that bankrupt shell of a company to compete with InnoTech.”
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