Laura finally spoke up, her voice soft but pointed. "Ced, you''re being reckless. I
know you care about Ms. Liddell, but there should be limits.
"With so muchpetition in the industry, what if she identally leaks
confidential info? That could be a disaster."
Tommy quickly chimed in, backing her up. "Exactly. You shouldn''t let a woman get
in the way of work. That''s not like you, Mr. Greene."
Cedric gave everyone in the room a nce. "Didn''t you all want to meet the lead
engineer on the Al project? Well, I brought her with me tonight."
The room fell intoplete silence. Laura gripped her ss so tightly that her
knuckles turned white. She looked at Noelle, unable to believe what she had just
heard.
Tommy stared in disbelief and mumbled, "Mr. Greene... you''re saying the lead
engineer is SweetNelly, the gaming streamer?"
Cedric nodded once. "That''s right. It''s her."
"You''ve gotta be kidding. Are you seriously telling us a live-streamer is heading
your entire engineering division? She might be good at video games, but that''s a
whole different world from engineering."
Cedric tapped his long fingers on the table, his sharp gaze sweeping across the
room. The energy shifted immediately, and no one dared say another word.
Then, he spoke. "Do you really think I''d joke about something like this?"
Faces changed instantly. Everyone knew Cedric was not the type to mess around.
Still, it was wild to think the legendary engineer everyone had heard about was
not only so young but also a woman.
Tommy could not hold it in. "Mr. Greene, I''m sorry, but none of this adds up. She
doesn''t look anything like the person we''ve all heard about."
No one could wrap their head around it. The only exnation that made sense
was that Cedric had elevated Noelle just to impress her, maybe even date her.
Cedric turned his eyes on Tommy. "You judge too much by appearances. That''s
exactly how you got scammed out of your money by a womanst time."
Everyone around them burst intoughter.
Tommy''s face turned red, but he refused to back down. "That''s a low blow. I fell
for a ssic honey trap. And Mr. Greene, I gotta say, this looks kind of simr.
"We''ve all invested money in this project. What if you got scammed, too? Our
investments would be toast."
Noelle heard all of it. She turned slightly and nced at Cedric, noticing his cold
expression. Clearly, he was pissed.
Shepletely understood where
the crowd wasing from. After
all, she was young, and other than
the colleagues who had worked with
her at Maple Enterprise, no one
really believed she could hold that
title.
Cedric''s face was nk, his dark eyes unreadable. His fingers tapped the table
again, this time louder, sharper.
Then, he said tly, "In that case, we''ll terminate the partnership."
Laura jumped in quickly. "Ced, don''t
be mad. What you said was really
hard to believe. We''ve all known
each other for years. There''s no
need to ruin the business just
because of this."
Cedric turned to her. "I don''t think you were invited to tonight''s meeting, were
you?"
Laura''s expression froze, and her face turned visibly pale. "We''re all friends.
What''s wrong with stopping by to say hi?"
Noelle was a little surprised-was Cedric actually standing up for her?
The once-loud Tommy walked over,
wine ss in hand. "Ms. SweetNelly,
don''t take what I said too personally.
I had no idea you were so talented.
You''ve clearly mastered both men
and machines-I''m honestly
impressed."
Noelle nced down at the ss in his hand. "At least I don''t fake knowledge or
make up numbers just to sound smart."
Laura came over, trying to smooth things over. "Ms. Liddell, it was just a small
misunderstanding. Let''s not make a big deal-give us some grace, will you?"
Noelle''s tone turned icy. "Why should I? Are we even that close?"