Chapter 404
Chapter 404:
He didn’t examine the supplier’s name closely. His mind was still reeling from the public humiliation at the school — a raw, distracting anger simmering just beneath the surface. He was too focused on the macro-level war to vet the vendor, and he trusted Belle to have done the basic due diligence. That was his fatal flaw.
“Ruthless,” Grayson murmured, closing the folder. “But effective. Good work p>
Belle smiled, a warm flush of pride spreading through her chest. She finally felt as though she was proving her worth to him.
“I want to personally oversee the factory operations,” she said eagerly. “I want to watch the first batch of modules come off the line p>
Grayson waved his hand. “Be my guest. Just make sure production starts immediately p>
Across the city, the atmosphere inside Carson Dynamics was entirely different.
The main engineering floor was dead silent. The staff stood gathered in a loose circle, their faces pale with anxiety. Rumors of the lost Leland contract had spread like wildfire, and every person in the room was quietly wondering whether they still had a job.
Isolde walked out of her glass office and stood at the top of the short staircase overlooking the floor, a digital tablet in hand.
“I know what you are all whispering about,” she said, her voice carrying clearly across the room. “We lost the Leland Industries contract p>
A collective groan rippled through the engineers. Several people looked down at their shoes.
у𝗈𝘂r 𝖽a𝗶𝗅𝘺 𝖽о𝗌𝘦 𝗈𝘧 𝘯𝗼𝗏еl𝗌 𝗼ո
Isolde smiled — sharp and brilliant. “This is excellent news p>
The groaning stopped. The engineers looked up, confused.
Isolde tapped her tablet. The massive digital screen behind her flared to life, projecting a highly classified vibrational stress analysis. The simulated alloy integrity line on the graph held steady for a moment before shattering into a spiderweb of red failure points.
“This is the molecular performance of Leland’s proprietary alloy under the unique vibrational frequencies of our engine,” Isolde explained, gesturing at the screen. “It passes all standard static stress tests. But our Phoenix engines generate a resonance that his metal simply cannot handle. It is a fatal, hidden flaw p>
A collective gasp moved through the room. The engineers understood the math immediately.
“InnoTech just bought fifty tons of it,” Isolde said, her voice dropping to a lethal purr. “They just filled their assembly lines with ticking time bombs p>
The shock in the room dissolved instantly into dark, relieved laughter. Engineers clapped each other on the back.
“We will use the secondary supply chain from the West Coast,” Isolde ordered, her voice cutting through the noise. “It will take four days longer to ship, but the metal is pure. When InnoTech’s drones fail during the Institute audit, we will be the only viable option left on the table p>
At the back of the room, Arland raised his coffee mug in a silent toast. “To patience,” he murmured.
That afternoon, at the Lancaster manufacturing plant, Belle walked onto the factory floor in a pristine white hard hat and a designer trench coat. She watched as massive forklifts unloaded crates of raw metal from the Leland Industries trucks, then crossed to an open crate and reached in to touch a thick plate of the alloy.
It felt cold. Solid. Heavy.