My CEO Husband Says I'm Irreplaceable

Chapter 32: Chapter 32: The Same Goal

Half an hour later, Vesper Grayson pulled into Vaudin’s outdoor parking lot.

The moment she stepped into the lobby, a well-dressed man in a suit approached her, the ID card around his neck clearly visible.

Vesper glanced at it impassively.

Assistant to the President: Alan.

"Are you Miss Vesper Grayson?"

"I am."

"I’m Alan, Elena’s assistant. The president asked me to receive you. This way, please." He made a gentlemanly gesture with his hand, his tone courteous.

Vesper followed him into the president’s private elevator. After Alan swiped his keycard, the elevator ascended smoothly, stopping moments later on the top floor.

Walking down the spacious and quiet corridor, they came face-to-face with Valen and Gwen Grayson. By now, Gwen had lost all of her earlier smugness. Her face was drawn tight, her features twisted in a dark scowl she couldn’t hide.

The instant she saw Vesper, her brow furrowed fiercely, her voice filled with shock and rage.

"Vesper Grayson, what are you doing here!"

Vesper stopped and looked up, her expression serene.

"My reason for being here is the same as yours, sister."

"Impossible!" Gwen abruptly grabbed her arm, her rounded nails nearly digging into Vesper’s flesh. Malice churned in her eyes. "Was this your doing?"

She had been sure of her victory, but when Elena reviewed her proposal, she’d coldly dismissed it with a few words—all flash and no substance, completely unfeasible.

Vesper frowned, shaking off her sister’s grip with a flick of her hand. Her tone was cool.

"Sister, don’t blame your failures on others. Instead of wasting your energy on hysterics, perhaps you should reflect on your own shortcomings."

With that, she raised her eyes, a faint smile on her lips, and looked at the man beside Gwen.

"Isn’t that right, Mr. Valen?"

Valen’s expression was just as grim. He had just been dressed down by Elena. ’If it weren’t for a favor I owed someone,’ he thought, ’why would I have taken on such a thankless job?’

Gwen’s blind self-confidence while arguing with Elena had been utterly idiotic.

Seeing Alan standing beside Vesper—a clear sign that Elena herself had arranged this meeting—Valen grew even more flustered. He quickly grabbed Gwen’s arm and pulled her aside.

"Let’s go!"

"Mr. Valen, why are you dragging me? I’m not done talking to her!" Gwen struggled to break free.

"Shut up!" Valen hissed, tightening his grip on her arm and dragging her into the elevator by force.

Only when the elevator doors slid shut did he abruptly let go, the impatience and fury in his eyes finally erupting.

"You idiot, you’re going to be the death of me!"

Gwen stared at him, dumbfounded and incredulous.

"What did you just call me?"

"A fool! An idiot!" he seethed, repeating himself. The disdain in his voice was palpable. "Understand now?"

"Bastard! You’re the idiot!" Gwen shrieked, kicking him hard just as the elevator doors opened. She shoved him aside and stormed out.

「In Elena’s office」

Elena gestured for Vesper to take a seat, and Alan immediately presented the prepared contract.

"Your sister was just here. I imagine you must have run into her," Elena said, breaking the silence. Her tone was neutral.

Vesper nodded. "I did."

"I’ve seen her proposal. It looked ornate, but it was all style and no substance, completely unfeasible. Compared to yours, the difference is night and day. I’ve already refused to sign with her, and she didn’t seem to take it well."

Vesper inclined her head slightly, her tone deferential.

"My apologies. My sister has been spoiled by our family since she was a child. Everything has always come easily to her, so she’s never learned to handle setbacks. Her personality is inevitably a bit entitled. If she was rude to you just now, I apologize on her behalf."

"You don’t need to apologize. It’s not your fault."

Elena waved a dismissive hand and pushed the signed contract in front of her. "Take a look at the terms. If there are no issues, we can finalize our partnership today."

Vesper took the contract and reviewed it carefully, page by page. After confirming there were no issues, she signed her name. Elena promptly added her own signature and official seal, then pushed a copy of the contract back to her, a smile gracing her lips.

"Vesper, our company cafeteria is quite good. Why don’t you stay and try it?"

Vesper looked up with a faint smile and readily agreed.

"Of course. It would be my pleasure."

...

From the recent drone development project to the current proprietary chip project, every core proposal Luke Lockwood put forward had been publicly vetoed by Ivan, the President of Zenith.

This relentless targeting meant that not a single one of Zephyr Technologies’ projects had moved forward since the company went public.

Luke had long suspected Ivan was doing this deliberately, but he could never figure out why.

’Zenith has already acquired half of Zephyr’s shares,’ he mused. ’Our interests are tied together. So why does Ivan keep rejecting profitable proposals, so intent on running Zephyr into the ground?’

He sank into his office chair, his face grim. The oppressive atmosphere around him was almost palpable.

Lately, it wasn’t just Zenith holding him back at every turn. Even established companies that had been partners with Zephyr for years were suddenly finding excuses to terminate contracts or even pull their funding.

The office door was suddenly thrown open. Harold Warner stumbled in, his expression frantic. He met Luke’s heavy, cold gaze and barely managed to steady his voice.

"President Lockwood, we have a problem!"

"Stellaris sent a formal notice. They’re terminating all financial support for Zephyr, effective immediately! The next round of strategic investment we had secured is canceled, too!"

"And several of our major long-term clients in industrial manufacturing just sent messages, too. They’re pausing our AI projects. Their reasoning is that with Stellaris no longer backing Zephyr, they need to re-evaluate the risks of our partnership!"

’Stellaris Technologies...’ It was a true tech giant in Ashmore, one of the very foundations of Zephyr.

When he first founded Zephyr, his first round of seed funding had come from Thomas Sutton, the President of Stellaris.

At the time, Thomas Sutton had said he valued Luke’s talent and admired his ambition, and that he was willing to give him a chance to prove himself and climb the ladder.

Luke’s face was as dark as a thundercloud. He pulled out his phone and called Thomas Sutton directly, only to be met with a cold busy signal.

’He blocked me!’

He shot to his feet, grabbed his jacket from the sofa, and strode out without a word.

’I have to find Thomas Sutton and get a straight answer today, no matter what,’ he thought.

But when he arrived at Stellaris Technologies, he couldn’t even get a meeting with Thomas Sutton. Even the receptionist, who had always been polite and respectful in the past, was now openly impatient and evasive.

Luke sat on a sofa in the reception area, seemingly shrouded in a heavy shadow.

With no other options, he contacted Thomas Sutton’s vice president, with whom he’d previously been on good terms.

The vice president on the other end of the line sounded deeply troubled.

"Luke, I honestly don’t know the specifics. The order came down suddenly from President Ivan this afternoon. You should think carefully... Did you happen to offend President Ivan recently?"

"I always thought you were a sharp, respectable guy. How could you just throw away a girlfriend who stood by you for three years?"

"There’s an old saying for a reason: fortune won’t bless a man who wrongs his wife."

With that, the line went dead.

Luke’s knuckles tightened, his grip on his phone so fierce the joints turned white. The chill emanating from him became absolute.

’Ever since Vesper left,’ he realized, ’not a single thing has gone right.’

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