Vesta was on the phone while sitting with Maureen, Katie, and the others in a fancy private dining room, waiting for the waiter to bring their food.


    When Vesta hung up, her face looked troubled. Maureen noticed and asked, "What''s going on? What did Stewart say?"


    Vesta gripped her phone tightly and replied, "Stewart wants to terminate our contract and is demanding wepensate for hispany''s reputational damage."


    "What?!"


    Maureen, Katie, and Leah were all taken aback.


    Leah, visibly upset, burst out, "We''ve already apologized for the whole mess.


    Didn''t Charlene say to contact that guy, Davis, and sincerely apologize to get this sorted? How did it escte to contract termination and a demand for


    Maureen, keeping her cool, quickly deduced, "She did it on purpose."


    Leah was puzzled. "What do you mean?"


    Vesta exined, "Charlene wants our twopanies to sever ties to slow down theunch of our self-driving cars."


    With numerouspanies around the world developing self-driving technology, any dys could significantly affect their product''s futurepetitiveness.


    Ending the contract with PrimeStar meant they''d need to find a new partner, and matching PrimeStar''s tech prowess wouldn''t be easy. Plus, finding a new partner would cost a fortune. Canceling the contract costs money, and finding a new partner costs money. If their self-driving cars be lesspetitive in the market, the financial loss would be unimaginable.


    Leah was stunned, having never imagined the situation could get this dire. Vesta and the others were equally blindsided. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have naively thought a phone call apology, maybe even some cashpensation, would suffice.


    Leah mmed her hand on the table, "We can''t let this contract end! Absolutely not!"


    Everyone knew that terminating the contract wasn''t ideal. But whether the contract ended or not was no longer in their hands.


    Katie, with a serious expression, suggested, "We should find another opportunity to talk to Stewart. We could renegotiate the contract terms, maybe offer him somepensation. Business is business-he wouldn''t turn down money. Besides, breaking the contract with us means be loses money too. If we can make apelling offer, he might reconsider."


    Vesta remained silent. It wasn''t that she didn''t want to talk to Stewart; she just wasn''t confident that any offer they made would sway Stewart would incur losses by breaking the contract, but the fact that he was willing to do so for Charlene''s sake suggested he cared a lot about her.


    Maureen had considered this angle as well. However, she thought it through and said, "This issue is significant, but there''s room to maneuver. Even if PrimeStar sued us to terminate the contract, they might not win."


    Leah''s eyes lit up, "Exactly! If they can''t win, they''ll have no choice but to keep working with us."


    Vesta wasn''t as optimistic. She pointed out, Lawsuits are time-consuming and troublesome Even if they can''t win, they''ll have already slowed us down. And if they do win? By the time we find a new partner, we''d have missed even more opportunities."


    Leah was at a loss for words.


    Georgina looked equally grim, "She always seemed like such a pushover, but turns out she''s got a devious mind. We really underestimated her!"


    Thorne had always supported their side, having invested far more into bothpanies than Charlene ever had. Vesta had assumed Charlene was powerless, yet she managed to pull off this unexpected move.


    No matter what, avoiding awsuit and keeping the contract intact was in their best interest.


    With that in mind, Maureen turned to Vesta and said, "Let''s talk this over with Thorne."