Joanna Sherman spoke with such righteousness and magnanimity that the executives were moved to the brink of tears, all giving her a thumbs-up.

"Miss Sherman is a remarkable woman!"

"So magnanimous!"

"Her future is limitless!"

They leaned even more in favor of Joanna Sherman.

Sophia Shaw quietly watched Joanna Sherman’s performance.

’On one hand, she’s implying to everyone that I got here because of my connections, and on the other, she’s using this tactic of feigning retreat to win them over.’

’She’s using Lead Aerospace’s resources to boost her own reputation and promote herself, all while trying to crush me and Lead Aerospace in the process!’

’Shameless.’

’Vile.’

’Arrogant!’

"Miss Sherman is just... so wonderful." The CEO of SwiftLink shed tears on the spot. "She’s always looking out for us."

’The common man doesn’t fight the officials. Miss Sherman must be afraid we’ll anger the military and face dire consequences.’

’But he had already made up his mind. Even if Joanna Sherman was squeezed out of the project lead position, he would still consider her the real person in charge.’

’From now on, he’d only listen to Joanna Sherman. As for Sophia Shaw, Phoebe Lawson, or whoever else, they could all go to hell!’

The CEO of Interlink stated, his eyes red, "Miss Sherman, cream always rises to the top. You won’t be held down for long."

The CEO of Interlink and the CEO of SwiftLink exchanged a look. They were both thinking the same thing.

’When the work actually started, they would favor whoever they wanted and listen to whoever they wanted.’

’If everyone worked together to put Joanna Sherman in her rightful place, not even Lead Aerospace and Sophia Shaw could do anything to them.’

The other executives were all sharp individuals. They picked up on the cues from the two CEOs’ reactions and began pledging their loyalty to Joanna Sherman, their words laden with hidden meaning.

Joanna Sherman deliberately turned to look at Sophia Shaw. "Miss Shaw, I’ve voluntarily stepped back to a support role. Are you satisfied now?"

Sophia Shaw saw the provocation in her eyes and shook her head. "No, I’m not."

’A classic diversion. She’s used every dirty trick in the book, and now she’s playing the victim in front of everyone just to stomp on me one more time.’

’And she has the gall to ask if I’m satisfied?’

’Joanna Sherman must take me for a fool, but I’m not one.’

’I’m not a doormat to be walked all over.’

She said, "I want to change the support contractor!"

"What?"

The executives were still dreaming of propping up Joanna Sherman, but now Sophia Shaw wanted to kick Zenith out entirely?

"Miss Shaw, aren’t you going too far?"

"Miss Sherman has already made a concession. Why are you still being so aggressive?"

"Don’t tell me you’re just jealous that Miss Sherman is more capable than you."

"How is anyone supposed to cooperate with you acting like this?"

"If you want to cooperate, then cooperate. If you don’t, then be our guest!" Jacobs, who had long since grown tired of their attitude, shouted. ’They’re acting as if Lead Aerospace is begging them to launch this satellite.’

Joanna Sherman’s face turned ashen.

’Damn that Sophia Shaw! How dare she treat me like this!’

The executives had only wanted Sophia Shaw to back down, apologize to Joanna Sherman, and get things back on track. But her little assistant had the nerve to say something like that?

"Miss Shaw, is that your opinion as well?" the executives asked after a moment of surprise.

In their eyes, Sophia Shaw was completely unable to read the situation.

The other woman had been forced into a support role without a single word of complaint and was still willing to help everyone unconditionally. So why was Sophia Shaw still causing trouble?

"You’d better think this through. Once Miss Sherman leaves, there will be no one to help you when things go wrong."

"When the time comes, if the satellite fails to launch, you’ll have to bear all the responsibility alone!"

Jacobs rolled his eyes.

’As if that Joanna Sherman has ever taken responsibility for the boss.’

"Lead Aerospace doesn’t need help from some third-rate hack," Jacobs retorted. Sophia Shaw wasn’t one for arguing, so he might as well do it for her.

’Lead Aerospace is full of talented people. Any one of them, picked at random, would be better than Joanna Sherman.’

The executives were fuming.

Joanna Sherman’s face contorted several times.

’How dare he call me a third-rate hack!’ 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

’Sophia Shaw, you bitch.’

’You bitch!’

Chester Stone had originally intended to cut to the chase, settle the matter, and leave.

But seeing Sophia Shaw and her assistant firing back, he decided he wasn’t in a hurry after all and stayed to see how things would unfold.

He’d had numerous dealings with Sophia Shaw before. In his memory, she was a goddess-like figure, an omniscient expert in rocket technology.

Seeing her suddenly become so down-to-earth was rather interesting.

If Chester Stone wasn’t in a hurry, Shane Grant was even less so.

The two of them sat to the side, quietly watching the show.

Joanna Sherman’s offer to step back had just been an act. Seeing so many people taking her side, she said with deliberate intent, "I already made a concession, but you’re still being relentless. In that case, I’m sorry, but I’m taking back my decision. I am going to be the project lead!"

"Yes!"

The executives roared their unanimous approval!

"Miss Sherman’s got guts!"

"That’s the way to do it!"

"Some people can’t just talk things out nicely. They have to push and push until they make someone angry. Well, there you go. Any chance you had at being the project lead is gone now!"

The room erupted in fervent applause.

Sophia Shaw turned a deaf ear to the applause, her gaze fixed quietly on Joanna Sherman.

’She was never afraid of Joanna Sherman fighting for it.’

’On the contrary, she was afraid she *wouldn’t* fight for it.’

’This was exactly what she wanted.’

She pursed her lips, not saying a word.

In Joanna Sherman’s eyes, this was Sophia waiting for Shane Grant to back her up. She turned and glanced toward the expert panel.

Professor Morgan, who had been silent until now, spoke up. "There is something I’d like everyone to remember. It’s not that we didn’t give Miss Shaw a chance. Both Miss Sherman and Miss Shaw were supposed to participate in the selection process for the project lead position. In the end, only Miss Sherman showed up."

"How can we trust someone to be the project lead when she won’t even abide by the rules of the selection process?"

Professor Morgan had the least seniority of the seven panel members and usually didn’t have much of a voice.

This time, however, the moment he finished speaking, he received the unanimous agreement of the executives.

"She gave up the opportunity herself. She has no one to blame but herself."

"If we’re going to put someone like that in charge, we might as well scrap the whole satellite launch."

Joanna Sherman stood up and looked around the room, her voice resonant and powerful. "I, Joanna Sherman, am a person of integrity. I solemnly promise all of you here that I will always put everyone’s interests first and will never do anything that harms others for my own selfish gain."

Applause once again filled the room.

"Well said!"

"’A person of integrity,’ indeed." The cheers had barely subsided when Sophia Shaw’s clear, crisp voice rang out.

Her gentle gaze, now laced with a distinct chill, cut through the crowd to land on Joanna Sherman. "Miss Sherman, you talk a better game than you play."

Sophia Shaw’s gaze was suddenly so scorching that it made Joanna Sherman’s heart skip a beat.

’She suddenly felt a murderous aura emanating from her.’

’Could she be coming after me because of what happened with Old Mrs. Shaw?’

’Joanna Sherman knew in her heart that no matter what Sophia Shaw said, she could never connect her to the incident with Old Mrs. Shaw!’

’She wasn’t afraid!’

But Sophia Shaw simply gave her a slight smile. "Someone just said that a person with major character flaws cannot be the project lead, correct?"

"Of course."

Quite a few people had said it, and everyone agreed.

And they would all vouch that Joanna Sherman had absolutely no major character flaws.

Sophia Shaw nodded, took out her phone, and handed it to Jacobs.

Jacobs immediately connected it to the projector.

A terrified man’s face immediately appeared on the screen before them. "Miss Shaw, I was wrong! I was wrong! I shouldn’t have set you up, I shouldn’t have lured you to the port, and I shouldn’t have tried to... to assault you!"

"Please don’t send me to the police! If I go to jail, I’m finished!"

"I don’t want to go!"

The video shook as the man was dragged away.

He cried out more desperately, "Miss Shaw! Miss Shaw, we can talk about this! We can talk! Miss Shaw, it wasn’t my idea to... to force myself on you! It was Joanna Sherman!"

"It was her idea! She told me that as long as I could delay you for a day and keep you from attending some selection process, she would give me Zenith’s contract!"

"I... I already had a thing for you, and I wanted to show off to my family that I could land the contract. It was a moment of weakness, so I agreed to what she asked."

The moment Joanna Sherman saw Young Master Judd’s face appear on the screen, she knew this was bad.

Hearing him confess everything, her face instantly turned deathly pale.

’Useless Young Master Judd! I told him to lure Sophia Shaw into a trap, and he just tried to force himself on her!’

’Not only did he fail, but he dragged me down with him!’