Chapter 213: Chapter 213: Thanking the Villain for the Grace of Humiliation

For the past three days, Joanna Sherman had personally led her team, inspecting every single component and welded joint.

She had just returned from the base and was already in another meeting.

Her eyes were bloodshot and she was on edge. Every minor issue provoked a furious outburst.

The entire conference room echoed with her roars.

"President Grant."

Joanna Sherman’s assistant stood outside the door. Seeing Vincent Grant approach, she looked as if she’d just seen her savior.

"Please, you have to talk to Chief Engineer Sherman. She’s had us all working around the clock for three days straight. If this keeps up, even someone made of iron would collapse."

Vincent Grant peered through the window for a moment. "How’s the project coming along?"

The assistant shook her head, finding it hard to speak. "It’s a total mess."

Vincent Grant then walked in and stopped Joanna Sherman.

He walked up to her and said in a low voice, "Everyone’s exhausted. Why don’t we get something to eat and rest for the night? We can get back to work tomorrow."

"We can’t." Joanna Sherman stared at the thick stack of papers in her hand. "These problems have to be solved right now!"

’This time, there can be absolutely no mistakes!’

’It has to be flawless!’

Joanna Sherman was burning with a need to pay Sophia Shaw back for the humiliation she had suffered.

"Don’t worry about me. I can handle it."

The assistant standing nearby opened her mouth to speak, but ultimately said nothing.

Joanna Sherman might be willing to push through, but the others weren’t necessarily on board.

All this extra work existed for one reason: Joanna Sherman’s reckless decisions had caused the rocket to explode, forcing them to start everything from scratch.

With so many people paying the price for her mistake, it was no wonder morale was at an all-time low.

Vincent Grant could see it too, but he didn’t call her out on it. Instead, he said, "You can’t build Rome in a day. Everyone’s been working nonstop for three days. They’re drained. If we keep pushing like this, we’re bound to make even more mistakes."

Elias Underwood, who was standing nearby, commented coolly, "The rocket launch was a failure, yet we haven’t even held a debriefing. We haven’t learned our lessons, and the person responsible hasn’t been punished. Now we’re rushing to launch the next three satellites? Are we playing house?"

"Wouldn’t it be better to redeem ourselves by successfully launching the remaining three satellites?" Joanna Sherman retorted, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Elias Underwood sneered, despising Joanna Sherman’s attitude of deflecting blame.

"You haven’t learned from your past mistakes. Who’s going to believe you can do better next time?"

"Besides, the work you’ve scheduled over the past three days has been a chaotic, disorganized mess. Even if you worked around the clock for another thirty days, you wouldn’t see any improvement."

"You might as well just go home and sleep!"

Elias Underwood was the only one in the room who dared to be so blunt, but everyone else silently agreed with him.

Publicly rebuked by Elias Underwood, Joanna Sherman’s face went deathly pale. She clutched the papers in her hand so tightly they crumpled.

"I’ve already arranged for dinner. Let’s all go eat," Vincent Grant interjected, ending the argument.

Vincent Grant had booked a large restaurant not far from the office. Though exhausted, everyone was willing to go for his sake.

Joanna Sherman and Vincent Grant walked at the back of the group.

She seemed to do it on purpose, her high heels clacking loudly on the floor. Her tied-up curly hair whipped behind her as she walked.

’No matter how great the failure, I will never show any sign of defeat!’

’Because I am Joanna Sherman!’

Just as they crossed the lobby, they heard a lively commotion.

Everyone turned to see the hotel’s largest first-floor ballroom packed with people.

The crowd was giving a thunderous ovation to the people on stage, their cheers shaking the room.

The people on stage were all familiar faces.

Sophia Shaw, Levin Sawyer, and Old Master Sloan in a wheelchair.

Joanna Sherman stopped in her tracks. Vincent Grant realized at the same moment that Lead Aerospace was holding its celebration gala here tonight.

From the audience, a large group of senior engineers led by Samuel Goldman rushed onto the stage to present flowers to the trio.

As they reached Sophia Shaw, each one declared, "Boss, you’re our eternal goddess!"

For these tech guys, who weren’t known for eloquent speeches, this was the highest form of praise.

Zachary Hale and a few other junior members were even tearing up. "Boss, it’s only because we followed you that a few rookies like us got to be part of the unprecedented five-satellite launch. To be honest, I never would have even dared to dream of something like this."

Samuel Goldman couldn’t stand their sappiness and pushed them aside. "Boss, what is your brain made of? The concept of a five-satellite launch is just inhuman. Lend me a piece of that brain, will you?"

His words sent a wave of laughter through the crowd, both on stage and off.

Levin Sawyer glanced warmly at Sophia Shaw. At a signal from Old Master Sloan, he wheeled him to the side, leaving the entire stage to Sophia.

The crowd below chanted, "Boss, you have to share your experience with us today! Don’t even think about leaving the stage for at least an hour!"

"Isn’t... isn’t this the same stage where Sophia Shaw was humiliated while trying to accept her award?" Timothy Morgan, who was also present, remarked pointedly.

A look of deep mockery surfaced in his eyes.

’How the tables have turned,’ he thought. Back then, Sophia Shaw had been awkwardly chased off this very stage.

Now, everyone was clamoring to hear her speak.

Hearing this, the color drained from Joanna Sherman’s face.

She hadn’t forgotten, of course, that just a few months ago, she had been the one standing resplendently on that stage.

Back then, Sophia Shaw had been like a stray dog in the rain, completely at her mercy.

The others in Joanna’s group also saw Sophia and couldn’t help but stop and stare.

"I can’t believe it. It turns out Sophia Shaw was the real queen all along."

"If I remember correctly, a few months ago she went up on stage for the Most Valuable Employee award, but then they called someone else’s name. I thought it was weird back then. I mean, no matter how shameless you are, you wouldn’t go up there just to be humiliated if you knew you hadn’t won, right?"

"I thought it was strange, too. Every time Sophia Shaw came to the base for interviews, her questions were always incredibly professional, and her videos were high-quality. At the very least, she was way better than that Zhu... something-or-other."

"That Zhu girl didn’t even know what to ask during her interviews. Sophia had to feed her lines the entire time. I have no idea what blind fool chose her for Most Valuable Employee."

"..."

Every single word, though not mentioning her by name, was like a heavy slap across Joanna Sherman’s face.

Timothy Morgan glanced at her.

’After bullying people so much in the past, she’s finally getting what she deserves.’ 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

On stage, Sophia Shaw herself had only found out a short while ago that the gala was being held here.

Standing on this stage again after several months, she took a deep breath.

The despair from that day still lingered, a sharp sting in her nose.

But at least her heart no longer ached.

Sophia Shaw gripped the microphone and began to speak, her words slow and deliberate. "A few months ago, I came onto this very stage for the Most Valuable Employee award. It was a recognition I had been waiting five years for. I stood before the presenter, my hand outstretched to receive the trophy."

"But at the last second, he gave the trophy to someone else. In that instant, I became the laughingstock of the entire company."

"When I tried to argue my case, all I got was a check, handed to me as if I were a beggar they wanted to get rid of."

At this, she gave a small, soft laugh.

"Back then, I felt so small and pathetic. But looking back now, I actually want to thank the people who treated me so cruelly. If it weren’t for their injustice, I never would have found the courage to leave and rediscover my true passion."

"And there would be no satellite ’rideshare’ and no five-satellite launch!"

Levin Sawyer spotted Vincent Grant and Joanna Sherman standing in the back. He deliberately raised his voice and declared, "Let’s thank those petty people for the ’gift’ of their insults!"