Kevin let out a sharpugh, more out of anger than amusement. Rubbing his hands together, he stood up and walked over to Selena.


    "Well, Ms. Langley sure has some nerve, doesn''t she?" he said.


    The room stilled as Kevin raised his hand and pped Selena across the face.


    "Since Mr. Langley doesn''t seem capable of teaching his daughter, I guess I''ll do it for him," Kevin said coldly.


    The smack was loud and crisp, echoing in the tense silence.


    His expression darkened as his sharp, icy gaze locked onto Selena. "Who do you think you are, yelling at us like that?


    "Back when we were helping Mrs. Langley Senior build thispany from scratch, you were still swimming around in amniotic fluid.


    "What''s the matter? Did Diana drink too much alcohol while she was pregnant with you and mess up your brain development? It''s no wonder Mrs. Langley Senior didn''t give you any shares.


    "Look at yourself. Don''t they have mirrors in your house? Or if you don''t have a mirror, surely you can find a puddle somewhere to check your reflection.


    "You have time to doll yourself up beforeing here, but not the self-awareness to see what kind of clown you look like right now?"


    Kevin''s fiery temper had always been well-known. He had been by Grace''s side from the very beginning, even back when Langley Group was just a small, strugglingpany.


    Unlike others who made lofty promises, Grace had always been honest with him. She hadid out the risks clearly, making no guarantees of sess.


    Her integrity and straightforwardness had left asting impression on Kevin, so he decided to throw his lot in with her.


    Over the years, Langley Group had grown from a fledgling business to Amberton''s top corporation. That sess wasn''t just Grace''s, it was the result of the tireless efforts of countless people.


    As the secondrgest shareholder in thepany after Grace, Kevin had earned his ce through hard work and loyalty.


    Over the years, Kevin hadn''t visited Langley Group often, but he had never stopped caring about thepany.


    At his age, he could have retired and enjoyed a quiet, peaceful life, but Langley Group was like a child to him. He was willing to let it grow and thrive on its own, yet he couldn''t resist asionally checking in, just to make sure everything was on the right track.


    A few years ago, when Langley Group faced a major crisis, Grace had arranged a private meeting with Kevin and the other key shareholders.


    To everyone''s surprise, she had brought Natalie with her. It was during that time that Natalie took the lead, working alongside them to steer thepany out of trouble.


    Later, the truth came to light.


    While it seemed as though Victor was running Langley Group, with Grace making decisions behind the scenes, many of thepany''s key strategies and sesses had actuallye from Natalie.


    Grace and Natalie had deliberately kept this a secret, never allowing anyone to give Natalie the credit she deserved.


    Because of this, Victor foolishly believed that Langley Group''s sess was entirely his doing and that thepany had flourished under his management.


    During that private meeting, Grace had been direct with Kevin and the other shareholders.


    She warned them that Langley Group would eventually be ruined if it remained in Victor''s hands. She made it clear that Natalie was the true heir to thepany.


    Grace had instructed them to follow Natalie''s leadership when needed.


    However, if Natalie ever failed to meet their expectations and thepany began to decline, they, as shareholders, had the authority to hold a meeting and appoint someone with real ability to take charge.


    As for Victor, Grace had advised them to treat him as nothing more than a figurehead—a joke, even.


    For the past few years, the shareholders had yed along, ttering Victor on the surface to avoid conflict. But in truth, none of them took him seriously.


    Recently, however, Victor''s behavior had be increasingly erratic.


    He began making unteral decisions, pushing through his ideas without consulting anyone else. Even worse, he kept these actions hidden from the other shareholders.


    It was only after his orders had been carried out that the shareholders learned what had happened.


    Strictly speaking, Victor had been the one to vitepany policies first.


    As for Selena, her position in thepany was entirely arranged by Victor.


    When HR initially raised objections, Victor hadshed out, yelling at them to either do their jobs or leave. After that, no one in HR dared to speak up again.


    Having been shuffled around so much in her life, Selena hadn''t evenpleted her schooling. Forget a college degree, she didn''t even have a middle school diploma.


    Yet Victor dared to appoint her as the general manager of the project department, recing Natalie.


    How could that department possibly function after such a move?


    After finishing his scolding of Selena, Kevin turned his fury on Victor. His finger jabbed sharply in Victor''s direction as his voice thundered through the room.


    "And you, Victor. Are youpletely brainless, or is your head full of crap? Are your eyes stered shut too? What makes you think she has any right to be here at this meeting?


    "And that filthy mouth of hers, running off as if she''s got the authority to say anything. What, are you and your daughterpeting to see who can make the biggest fool of themselves?


    "How could Mrs. Langley Senior have given birth to someone as useless as you? If Langley Group stays in your hands, it wouldn''t take a year for you to run it into the ground, one month would do the job!


    "Victor, right now-this very moment-get your brainless daughter out of here. If you don''t, don''t me me for pping you both into next week.


    "I swear, Mrs. Langley Senior was far too kind to you. That''s the only reason you grew up to be such a waste of space. It''s bad enough that you''re a failure, but you don''t even realize it.


    "And now, here you are, a big useless thing, dragging along a little useless thing, treating thispany like your yground. Do you think Langley Group belongs to you just because it has the Langley name?


    "You''re dead wrong. Since you don''t know how to teach your daughter, I don''t mind stepping in and teaching her myself."


    Victor waspletely stunned. In all his years at Langley Group, no one had ever dared to speak to him like this.


    While he wasn''t the most admired leader, people had always ttered him, treating him as if he were untouchable.


    Selena, too, was frozen in shock after Kevin''s p. She sat there, holding her stinging cheek, unable to react as Kevinunched into his verbal barrage.


    When Victor and Selena finally snapped out of it, their expressions darkened simultaneously.


    Victor, in particr, was trembling with rage. His hand shook as he raised a finger toward Kevin, sputtering, "You... you... you..."


    But despite his anger, he couldn''t string together a single coherent sentence.


    "I what?" Kevin snapped, smacking Victor''s hand down with a sharp p. "Point at me again, and I''ll chop that


    finger off."


    "You hit my dad!" Selena finally found her voice and let out a shrill scream.


    "How dare you hit my dad? Do you even know who my dad is? What gives you the right to hit him?"


    Kevin spat in Selena''s direction, and that glob of spitnded perfectly in her open, screaming mouth.


    And then...


    Selena''s scream cut off abruptly. The room froze in absolute silence.


    Time ticked by, second by second, in deafening stillness.


    It was impossible to say how long itsted, but eventually, Selena was the first to snap out of it.


    She bent over suddenly, gagging and spitting furiously onto the floor. Violent retching followed, and soon enough, she emptied the entire contents of her stomach.


    Everything she''d eaten that morning was now a vile, disgusting mess on the floor, spreading a foul, sour stench throughout the entire conference room.


    Kevin, who hadn''t expected his spit to hit its mark so precisely, froze for a brief moment. A flicker of awkwardness crossed his furious expression, and he didn''t know what to say.


    On the other end of the video call, Natalie silently observed the chaotic scene unfold, her face unreadable. In the conference room, no one dared to speak a word.


    When Selena finally stopped vomiting, she raised her head, her eyes red and watery. Victor, who had been frozen in shock, finally snapped out of his stupor.


    Furious, Victor mmed his hand down on the table with a loud bang. "Kevin, you''ve gone too far!"


    Kevin didn''t deny that the p earlier had been intentional, but even he had to admit-spitting into Selena''s mouth, whether idental or not, was crossing a line.


    Selena might have been insufferable, but at the end of the day, she was still a young woman, and this was humiliating beyond words.


    Still, there was no way Kevin was going to admit he was wrong—not in front of everyone here.


    So instead, he doubled down, his voice louder and angrier than Victor''s. "Victor, what the hell are you yelling


    for?"