Chapter 900

Even if Gaylord hadn’t warned her, she wouldn’t have said anything.

She had learned her lesson the hard way. From now on, she was done meddling in other people’s lives.

Satisfied with Corinne’s promise, Gaylord turned on his heel and walked away.

Corinne watched him leave before shifting her gaze to Charlene, who was standing nearby. The second Charlene broke away from the crowd, Corinne stepped up. “Ms. Ross.”

Charlene paused, her expression completely unreadable. “Can I help you, Ms. Lancaster?”

Corinne lowered her head in a gesture of polite submission. “I was a poor judge of character before, and it caused you a great deal of trouble. That was my mistake, and I’m truly sorry.”

Charlene looked at her, her voice frigid. “Is that so?”

Without another word, she turned and walked away.

Staring at her retreating figure, Corinne whispered, “I’m sorry.”

Charlene didn’t stop, nor did she look back.

Stewart had noticed the entire exchange. When Charlene returned from the restroom, he asked, “Did she block your path just to apologize?”

“Yeah.”

Stewart arched an eyebrow. “Did you forgive her?”

“No.”

“Fair enough,” Stewart agreed. “You two are never going to be friends, and your paths will rarely cross. Whether you forgive her or not doesn’t really matter.”

After all, an apology wouldn’t erase the past. Corinne could do nothing to make up for the damage she had caused. To Charlene, a hollow apology was completely meaningless.

The next day.

Charlene and Stewart headed to their designated meeting spot to negotiate a collaboration with The Croft Family.

When they arrived, Maximilian was nowhere to be found.

He had warned them in advance that he had other matters to attend to, so Charlene and Stewart thought nothing of it.

First thing Monday morning.

After concluding the negotiations, Charlene picked Jasmine up and brought her to the Ross family estate to rest for the day. Early Monday morning, shortly after

Charlene arrived at Vel

Technologies, Stewart shoved her office door open with a loud bang. NovelPeak.org

Stewart slammed his hand down on her desk, a broad grin on his face. “The verdict for Hawkins Technology is out!”

Charlene paused. “That fast?”

She had assumed a case of that magnitude wouldn’t be resolved until the beginning

of the following month at the earliest.

“Yep.”

“And the result?”

“Two and a half billion dollars in damages. Not a penny less!”

Charlene offered a small smile, then fell silent.

Meanwhile.

The Hawkins and Spencer families were a picture of total defeat.

They had just received the news of the verdict themselves.

Even though they had anticipated this outcome on the first day of the trial, seeing

the official ruling in writing was too much to bear.

“This… I don’t believe this is real!” Leah Spencer’s eyes were red with frantic desperation “Uncle we hav to appeal! O otherwise all this money… how are we supposed to pay it?” NovelPeak.org

Naturally, they were going to appeal.

However, Axiom Flux Technologies had prepared flawlessly. Armed with airtight evidence, their strike had been devastatingly precise Eve with an appeal, the situation was unlikely to change.

Moran Albright had also learned of the court’s decision.

He immediately relayed the news to Granger Harden before calling Vesta. “I heard

the verdict. What are you planning to do? What did Thorne say?”

In his mind, given the gravity of the situation, Thorne surely must have discussed a counterstrategy with Vesta by now.

Hearing him mention Thorne, Vesta hesitated for a second. “We’re going to appeal. As for Thorne… I’ll get in touch with him later.”

“Okay. Let me know if you need anything,” Moran said. “I will,” Vesta replied.

Moran didn’t press the matter further and ended the call.