Lahat ng Kabanata ng Dead at Heart: Kabanata 371 - Kabanata 380

Jackson was in his 80s, but his voice still carried loud and clear. The second he asked the question, the air around them seemed to go still for just a second.People from all around turned to look in their direction. Their eyes eventually landed on Jayson with growing suspicion.The looks he received were filled with shock.Jayson, however, didn't seem the least bit caught off guard. He casually tapped the back of Jackson's chair. "My wife?"Even Ariel was taken aback by the sudden question.Why would Jackson bring that up out of nowhere?Even if she hadn't signed that confidentiality clause in their divorce agreement, she had no intention of exposing their past marriage. She frowned, and a shadow of irritation crossed her eyes.As she glanced up, she met Jayson's gaze across the room.He looked at her, almost like it was accidental. But something about that look made her fingers curl instinctively into a fist.She hated this. Hated being dragged into the spotlight without wa

Betty was suddenly at a loss for words. She glared at Jayson for a long moment, but no words came out.Jayson didn't speak harshly. After making himself clear, he smiled lightly, and his tone grew gentle once again. "Alright, Grandma. Let me take you home. That's enough for tonight. I'll handle my own business."It was a clear signal that he wouldn't let Betty interfere any further.Betty parted her lips. "You…"But no words followed.She slapped his hand away. "I don't need you here! Go be with Ari!"Jayson glanced at the fuming Betty. With one hand casually tucked in his pocket, he gave a helpless shake of his head and chuckled.Matt and Perry approached, one after the other. They hadn't overheard the conversation, so they looked puzzled."Why would Mr. Spencer ask that out of the blue? If the truth really came out, Nancy would get torn apart by the gossip."Jayson didn't answer. It was hard to tell what he was thinking.Perry looked at Matt, then slowly turned to Jayson. A

Chad couldn't help but let out a chuckle at that. So that was what Nancy was after.Nancy looked at him and said, "Mr. Hockney, in our line of work, others may not understand, but you do. We put in endless late nights and countless hours, pouring ourselves into data and technical proposals. That's why we should all be protecting intellectual property, shouldn't we?""Have you done your investigation properly?" Chad didn't bother to answer her. He went straight to the point. "As of now, the accusations are coming solely from Veyo."We won't accept being labeled based on a one-sided claim. Ms. Stanton, please send me your detailed evidence. We'll conduct a thorough investigation and respond accordingly."Terrance, being a foreigner, only understood bits of the conversation as they were talking in Crausian, but everyone at the table was fluent in Merinian.Smiling, he said, "I can provide the contents of my email as proof. Mr. Hockney, Ms. Walker, if you need it, I can send it to you

Ariel didn't know the details of Veyo Solutions' new system yet.But with engineers from multiple countries assisting Nancy, it was no surprise they had results to show.That much, she didn't find suspicious.Chad scoffed. "Jayson really did clear the path for Nancy. Just as we hit a bump, Veyo gets to bask in the spotlight."Ariel didn't respond. She didn't care what Jayson did.Right now, what mattered was finding solid proof and calming down their business partners. These were no small tasks.After wrapping up a meeting with one of their partner companies, Ariel felt a dull ache forming behind her eyes. It wasn't that she was overwhelmed, just drained.All the unexpected chaos had forced her to burn through more energy than usual. Now, even standing upright felt like a challenge.Chad noticed. "It's lunchtime. Let's go eat first."Ariel didn't argue.They chose a restaurant nearby in the World Trade Center. It was a members-only establishment. Chad, being a black-card memb

Jayson's gaze shifted from the laptop screen to Matt.Frowning, Nancy asked, "Matt, what did you just say?"She thought she had misheard.Likewise, Matt thought he hadn't slept well last night and was seeing things. He held his phone out toward Jayson and Nancy."Faye Tech's statement didn't address the plagiarism accusation at all. It simply states that Ariel developed the flight control system independently, and that it wasn't a product of the Faye Tech team."Nancy glanced down at the screen. Her expression quickly darkened. She found this statement absurd."You were just telling Mr. Hockney he could offer up a scapegoat, and he didn't seem to like that idea. Then he turns around and throws Ariel under the bus?" Matt said, incredulous.At this point in the scandal, anyone pushed to the front would be forced to take the fall.Nancy forced herself to calm down and quickly tried to figure out what Chad was getting at.Chad and Ariel were so close. He gave her everything to hel