"H-How are there so many?" Joanna Sherman’s eyes glazed over as she stared.

"How should I know?" Yvonne Sherman tossed her phone aside. "All I know is that under every comment that was bashing Sophia Shaw, there are now replies bashing you. Not just one or two, but thousands! It’s terrifying!"

It suddenly dawned on Joanna Sherman. "Someone’s using AI!"

"Then you use it, too! Hurry up and fight back!"

Yvonne Sherman never took anything lying down. Seeing her daughter get attacked like this, she wished she could find the person responsible and tear them limb from limb.

"It’s useless!" Joanna Sherman dug her nails into her palms in frustration but had to explain the reality of the situation. "This kind of AI has its own algorithm. If I reply to a single comment, it will immediately generate thousands of new ones targeting me!"

"Going on like this would be a complete waste of resources!"

"And I’ll end up looking like a complete fool over this!"

Sophia Shaw didn’t mind being embarrassed. Her reputation was already in the gutter; what was a little more shame?

But she was different.

She was the "perfect goddess" in everyone’s eyes. Joining this kind of fight was beneath her.

Yvonne Sherman pounded the bed in frustration. "Damn that Sophia Shaw! How shameless!"

’Sophia Shaw must be pulling this stunt because she knows my daughter can’t afford to lose face!’

"Joanna, are we just going to let those comments stay up online?"

"People who don’t know the full story will see all these comments and think that many people really hate you. This will be bad for you."

Joanna Sherman fell silent for a moment.

Then, she crossed her arms, a confident smile spreading across her face. "Of course I won’t let them stay up there. I have a way to make them vanish without a trace."

「The next morning」 Sophia Shaw called Old Master Sloan to tell him that Seraphina Vaughn had left her house.

"I’m sorry, Teacher. I didn’t look after her properly."

Sophia felt a pang of guilt just thinking about it.

Seraphina Vaughn had been in Cathan for so long, and so much had happened, yet she had been completely oblivious.

"It has nothing to do with you."

Old Master Sloan knew Seraphina Vaughn’s temperament.

"I’ll have Ms. Warren contact her. Right now, you need to put all your focus on your work. Don’t let anything go wrong."

Even though he knew what Sophia Shaw was capable of, as her teacher, she would always be his student in his eyes. He had to give her a few words of advice just to set his own mind at ease.

"Why don’t you come and supervise me, Teacher?" Sophia Shaw’s voice had a naturally wheedling tone.

She was Old Master Sloan’s only female student and was close in age to Seraphina Vaughn. Old Master Sloan often unconsciously treated her like a daughter, doting on her more than on his male students.

That was why Sophia Shaw dared to be so playful with him.

"Hmph! Trying to exploit my labor, are you? Not a chance!" Although Old Master Sloan feigned anger, his voice was filled with delight.

Of course, Sophia wasn’t actually asking him to come and run the show; she was giving him an opportunity to take the spotlight.

’Let the whole world know that the mysterious figure behind Lead Aerospace is his student!’

"But, I will come over and supervise you properly, just to make sure your skills haven’t gotten rusty and you don’t embarrass me!"

’That means he agreed to come!’

Sophia Shaw immediately agreed. "Yes, sir!"

"I’ll book your plane ticket right now!"

Her stubborn departure years ago had caused her teacher a great deal of worry.

’This time, she would deliver the highest honor to her teacher!’

These thoughts made Sophia feel she needed to be even more meticulous with the work at hand.

After hanging up, Sophia Shaw headed to the base and ran another in-depth series of validation calculations.

She was nearly finished when she finally emerged, only to see that Jacobs had called her dozens of times since noon.

Sophia Shaw called her back. Jacobs’s voice on the other end was frantic. "Boss, where did you go? You haven’t even had lunch."

President Sawyer had specifically instructed her to manage Sophia Shaw’s schedule and meals, and now she had lost track of her completely.

Jacobs was so frantic she was on the verge of tears.

Sophia Shaw tried to soothe her as she walked. "It’s alright. It’s only been a little while since noon, hasn’t it?"

"A little while? It’s already four o’clock."

Sophia Shaw was speechless.

’Time flies. It’s not my fault.’

Before long, Jacobs rushed over with lunch. With a grim expression, she pulled over a crate to use as a table.

"If you dare forget lunch again," she warned, "I’m calling President Sawyer immediately!"

"I know, I know."

Sophia ate while quickly dealing with a few documents.

When she got up, she saw Jacobs, who had just been fuming, now staring blankly at her phone.

"What’s wrong?"

Jacobs shot to her feet. "Boss, the online reports and comments... they’re all gone!"

Sophia looked over.

Sure enough, the deluge of negative comments about Joanna Sherman, along with the related videos, had vanished completely.

’The only person capable of something like this is Vincent Grant. There’s no one else.’

Jacobs thought of him too and cursed in a rage, "That scumbag! When you were getting attacked, he acted like he was dead, completely ignoring it!"

"Joanna Sherman gets attacked for one day, and he rushes to her rescue!"

"Scumbag! Son of a bitch! Fucking idiot!"

Jacobs wracked her brain for the most vicious insults she could think of.

Sophia Shaw gave a silent smile.

Vincent Grant had always been an expert at hurting people. His methods this time were as ruthless and cruel as ever—sharp enough to pierce one’s heart and bones.

’It was a good thing she had been decisive and divorced him.’

’Otherwise, if she had actually believed his words and naively waited to patch things up with him, she would have ended up completely shattered.’

Sophia handed the phone back to Jacobs and returned to her work.

Jacobs glanced over, still a little worried, but she saw Sophia’s eyes were downcast, revealing long, thick lashes. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, her gaze fixed on the work in her hands.

The crimson beauty mark by her eye shifted slightly as she moved, her expression one of focused tranquility.

’Looks like that scumbag Vincent really didn’t get to her after all.’

"Boss!"

Samuel Goldman strode in from outside.

When he stopped beside Sophia, he habitually stood ramrod straight.

At Lead Aerospace, technical skill was the only thing that commanded respect.

Those with superior skills were revered.

Samuel Goldman was in absolute awe of Sophia’s abilities and respected her instinctively.

"There’s an exchange conference today. It’s only about an hour. How about you come with me?"

Sophia disliked networking events, so after Levin Sawyer left for the desert, these duties had fallen to Samuel Goldman.

"It’s mainly that there are some new technologies I’m not sure about. I was hoping you could take a look and give me your expert opinion."

Sophia seemed to know everything about their field, so whenever Samuel Goldman was unsure about something, he liked to consult her.

Sophia had already read about the conference in the news. While the overall level wasn’t particularly high, a few companies were presenting some innovative technical concepts that could serve as a reference for Lead Aerospace’s future research and development.

The two of them drove to the conference in the neighboring city.

Just as they entered the venue, they saw Vincent Grant and Joanna Sherman approaching with a foreigner who had naturally white hair.

Elias Underwood and other senior executives followed behind them, creating an imposing entourage.

The pair flanked the man, one on each side, laughing as they walked.

The intimacy between them flowed naturally.

Joanna Sherman saw her too. As she was walking the red carpet, she deliberately stumbled as if she were about to fall, lurching toward the ground.

Vincent Grant, who was on her right, quickly shot forward and deftly caught her by the waist.

’The fall was so obviously fake, yet Vincent treated it as if it were real.’

Playing out a perfect "hero saves the damsel" scene for the reporters’ cameras.

Although Vincent quickly let go, the moment left a deep impression on everyone. Even the way the foreigner beside Joanna looked at the two of them changed.

Vincent seemed to sense her gaze from across the room and looked over.

Sophia calmly averted her face, unwilling to meet his eyes, and joined Samuel Goldman in signing the event’s signature wall.

Samuel Goldman saw Joanna Sherman too, and when his gaze fell on her magnificent gown, he slapped his own forehead.

’In our rush to get to the conference, I forgot to have the boss change into a proper gown.’

Sophia was still wearing her work uniform from the base.

It was a drab gray, utterly lacking in design, and made purely for convenience and durability.

Just as he was thinking this, he saw Vincent Grant walking toward them.