Chapter 4

Hearing this, Linda pointed at Draco and snapped, "Draco! You heartless, ungrateful man! You're just like your father. You climb to the top by relying on women, and once you get what you want, you abandon them without hesitation!

"Do you really think you are anything special now? Without Erica, what are you even? You…"

"Shut up!" Draco snapped. His face turned ashen in an instant, and the veins on his forehead bulged visibly.

He kicked Linda hard, sending her flying. She crashed heavily onto the floor with a dull thud.

Linda had been with Draco's parents for years.

How could he do that?

Just as I was about to rush over and help her up, Avery suddenly screamed, "She has acid in her hand!"

She grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and smashed it viciously against Linda's arm.

With a sharp crack, Linda's agonized scream pierced everyone's ears. When I saw her arm bleed heavily, my mind went blank, and fury was all that remained.

I grabbed the trophy beside the trash can and charged straight toward Avery.

"Erica! Stop right there!" Draco barked, positioning himself between Avery and me.

"If you dare touch her, I'll fire Linda immediately. I'll also accuse her of stealing confidential data and destroy her reputation," he said coldly.

"You…"

My hands trembled as I stared at him, unable to believe what I was hearing.

As he saw my reaction, Draco gave a cold, dismissive smile.

"Erica, you brought this on yourself."

After a moment, he went on. "You will hand over all the core technical materials of the Alphalink Project to Avery so she can present them at the exchange conference the day after tomorrow."

He gestured toward Linda on the ground and added, "In return, I will cover her medical expenses and allow her paid leave to recover. What do you say?"

"Not a chance." I refused without hesitation. "This is the result of more than 20 years of work from me and my team. I'll never hand it over to this thief."

Draco let out a cold laugh. "You refuse? Very well. I will dissolve the Alphalink Project team immediately. All members will be terminated on the spot."

His gaze darkened as he added, "I will also issue a company statement claiming they were dismissed for fabricating experimental data. Let's see which company would dare hire them after that."

At his words, all color drained from everyone's faces.

"Ms. Gunner…"

"Please, Mr. Faraday, no…"

"We didn't do anything…"

Their voices shook with fear. Most of them had worked with me for years. Some had joined straight out of school and poured the best years of their lives into this project. If they were branded with such a stain, their scientific careers would be completely ruined.

Linda struggled to her feet and weakly shook her head at me. "No, Erica… You can't agree…"

After a long silence, I finally said, "I agree."

Avery stood beside Draco with a triumphant smile. After I transferred all the materials to her, I submitted my resignation. At the exchange conference, Avery took the stage and delivered her presentation confidently.

The media immediately praised her as a "returnee genius" who had "achieved revolutionary breakthroughs," while neither the team nor I was mentioned.

Meanwhile, I began reaching out to those willing to stay with me and helped them prepare for what was ahead.

As I was contacting a new company that day, Draco's call suddenly came through.

As soon as I picked up, his enraged voice burst through the line. "The second clinical trial has resulted in severe side effects. Several patients are now in critical condition. Get to Rosenhalt Hospital immediately. This isn't something you can walk away from. You're responsible for dealing with it."

I waited until he finished, then responded calmly, "Mr. Faraday, you must've dialed the wrong number. I've already resigned. If there are any technical issues at the company, you should go find Avery, who now holds the shares and has returned from studying abroad."