Chapter 317
For a brief moment, the massive conference room fell dead silent.
Nancy’s usual gentle expression froze in sheer disbelief. She stared directly into Ariel’s calm, indifferent gaze, which left her with no room for retreat.
After a long pause, Nancy’s expression finally eased.
Well, she hadn’t misjudged Ariel’s nature after all.
Ariel actually dragged personal grievances into such an important meeting and resorted to petty threats just to protect her precious ego.
Nancy leaned back in her chair with a quiet scoff. She was clearly done talking.
All of a sudden, it hit her just how sad it was that Ariel had poured so much into a relationship and received nothing back.
What was even the point of fighting with her?
Just then, Ariel’s gaze drifted to the door and met a pair of sharp, steady eyes. He was watching her, something unreadable behind his gaze.
Jayson stood there with Chad behind him.
Ariel hadn’t expected to be caught by Jayson at such a critical moment.
Her eyes were frosted with calm defiance as she met his gaze head–on. She didn’t seem to care what he thought.
Unless Jayson was ready to confront her now out of pity for Nancy, the last shred of pretense between them would finally fall apart. If not, then no matter how unhappy he was, it wouldn’t matter.
Chad’s expression was interesting. He had definitely heard Ariel’s sharp little speech from the hallway.
This lady’s got thorns now. Anyone who pissed her off was bound to bleed.
If it weren’t for the setting, he would have applauded her.
“What happened?” Playing dumb, Chad pushed open the door and made a welcoming gesture toward Jayson. “Mr. Larkin, come on in.”
Jayson’s expression didn’t show much. His gaze slowly shifted away from Ariel.
Nancy turned to look at him. Her expression held a trace of indescribable resignation, but in the end, she chose to be gracious and said nothing more.
“Jayson, you came to keep me company?” she asked.
He didn’t answer, but he did take the seat beside her.
“You all go ahead. Matt invited us to lunch after this. We’ll head over once the meeting wraps.” Jayson’s voice was indifferent.
He didn’t even mention Ariel’s earlier “threat” as if it had never happened.
Just like that, the tension snapped. Nancy didn’t take a single word Ariel said to heart.
If Ariel could really call the shots, would they even be here right now?
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Chapter 317
+25 BONUS
“Okay. I should be done soon anyway. Thanks for coming out here just to keep me company.” Nancy smiled faintly. Her tone carried a touch of intimacy meant to shut others out.
Jayson gave a light nod.
Ariel didn’t spare them so much as a glance. She just found it all amusing.
Jayson, who was always so busy, had actually taken time out of his day to accompany Nancy to this meeting. Was he afraid she would get taken advantage of at Faye Technologies?
He came in person to shield her and protect her like she was something precious.
Ariel couldn’t care less if he had overheard what she had said earlier. And she didn’t worry for a second that he would come at her with some “we’re divorced, you have no right” speech.
She had already made her point. She had humiliated Nancy, put her in her place, and reminded her she was nothing more than the other woman. That was enough.
At one point, Ariel leaned toward Chad and whispered, “Is Jayson allowed to sit in?”
Chad replied just as quietly, “He set up half the elite management team at Veyo Solutions. He’s basically a co- owner. Yeah, he can be here.”
Ariel frowned but said nothing more.
Of course, she didn’t look at Jayson once after that.
This meeting was just a conceptual briefing a necessary formality. It wouldn’t touch on any core technologies.
The meeting lasted a little over an hour.
Nancy had no objections.
But when a few of Faye Technologies‘ core engineers showed up, she got up and walked over to chat with them about technical details.
