Vincent Grant was silent for a long time.

He had only learned the news on the day the rocket launch concluded.

"Dad, it’s not true, is it?" No matter how hard Cedric Grant thought, he couldn’t recall a single clue linking his mother to a rocket genius.

"Cedric." Vincent Grant didn’t know what to say to his son.

His mind replayed the last thing Timothy Morgan had said when he’d asked him about Sophia Shaw’s work at the Grant Group.

"President Grant, Sophia Shaw applied to the Zenith rocket division nine times in one year, and you were completely unaware of her capabilities?"

Nine times!

He had gone to Joel Hale, who had found the nine applications Sophia Shaw had submitted among a pile of discarded files.

Each application was nearly a hundred pages thick, detailing her past work experience.

The covers of the nine applications were pristine. He had never opened a single one!

’What had Joel Hale said at the time?’

"The first time Miss Shaw submitted her application, you were very impatient and tossed it into the wastebasket. After that, Assistant Holloway didn’t report them to you again and just rejected them outright."

He had a photographic memory, yet he couldn’t for the life of him remember when Sophia Shaw had ever applied for the rocket project!

After a long pause, he said softly, "It’s true."

Tears immediately streamed down Cedric Grant’s face.

’What am I going to do?’

He had always thought his mom was inferior to Auntie Joanna. He had looked down on her, constantly telling her to learn from Auntie Joanna and lecturing her at every turn.

No wonder his mom’s expression turned so sour every time he "educated" her.

After that, her aversion to him grew stronger with each passing day.

Cedric Grant was at a complete loss, with no idea how to make up for his mistake.

For the past few days, Vincent Grant had been held accountable by the board of directors for Joanna Sherman’s failed rocket launch. He was cleaning up the mess, working around the clock, and had barely slept.

Exhaustion was etched deep in his eyes, and he didn’t have the energy to answer his son’s questions. "Let’s go inside first," he said.

Just because the Shaws were ignoring Vincent and Cedric Grant didn’t mean they hadn’t seen them.

Leah Evans snorted in disgust. "That Grant father and son are here. They’re not thinking of saving Joanna Sherman again, are they?"

June Evans had the same thought. "Joanna Sherman has done so many terrible things and put Old Master Sloan in a coma he still hasn’t woken from. If he still tries to save her, he’s worse than an animal!"

"The evidence is conclusive. What’s there to be afraid of?" Yancy Shaw said.

That being said, his main concern was Sophia getting upset.

"If he really does save Joanna Sherman, he’ll be making an enemy of the Hughes Family and implicating the Grant Family as well," Sophia Shaw said quietly.

Neither the Hughes Family nor the Grant Family would let him get away with it.

’Just how far would Vincent Grant go for Joanna Sherman?’

「After leaving the police station, the Shaws went to the hospital.」

Old Master Sloan had not yet woken up.

Seraphina Vaughn, a gauze patch on her forehead, stared blankly through the window at the person inside.

In just a few days, she had gotten much thinner.

Ms. Warren had arrived and was standing behind Seraphina Vaughn, also looking at the person inside and constantly wiping away her tears.

Sophia Shaw stood in the hallway, silently watching the scene.

Just then, she got a call from Levin Sawyer.

Sophia covered the phone and walked a little further away, calling out softly, "Levin."

"Faye, I saw the news about the successful rocket launch, and also about our mentor being injured... Are you okay?" Levin Sawyer’s voice was filled with concern.

The signal was terrible where he was. He had to drive for hundreds of kilometers today just to find a signal, see the news, and learn about everything that had happened.

His question struck a raw nerve with Sophia.

’Our mentor is still lying in the hospital, unconscious. How could I possibly be okay?’

Since the incident, she had forced herself to stay strong, investigating Dennis Warren and Seraphina Vaughn’s kidnapping, with no time to deal with her own emotions.

Now, in a quiet moment, Levin’s question made the tears come pouring down.

She was choking on her sobs.

"Levin, I’m sorry."

"I was useless. I didn’t take good care of our mentor."

"I... I deserve to die."

Leah Evans, who wasn’t far away, saw her crying so heartbrokenly and wanted to go over and comfort her.

June Evans pulled her back, shaking her head.

Sophia had been wound too tight these past few days. She needed to let it all out.

Yancy Shaw silently turned his head away, a tear rolling down his stoic face.

’It was his fault for not taking better care of Sophia, for letting her suffer so much.’

Seeing her husband like this, June’s heart ached.

She silently reached for his hand and held it tight.

"Faye, this isn’t your fault," Levin Sawyer comforted her from the other end of the line.

His mentor’s injury felt like a knife twisting in his own heart.

But he felt even more for Sophia, who had to bear all of this.

"It is my fault! If our mentor hadn’t taken the call for me, he wouldn’t have... He was hurt because of me!"

Sophia couldn’t forgive herself.

If she hadn’t handed the phone to him back then, he wouldn’t have suffered such immense pain, wouldn’t have been running so fast that he didn’t even notice the slippery stairs...

Sophia’s sobs cut into Levin Sawyer’s chest. He gripped the steering wheel, wishing the car would go faster, just a little faster.

He wanted to get back to her side immediately, to hold her in his arms.

Levin Sawyer suppressed the turmoil in his heart and said in a deep voice, "Faye, even if you could turn back time, our mentor would have made the same choice to listen to that call!"

"In his heart, nothing is more important than Cathan’s rocket program. He would never have allowed you to be distracted."

"Come on, don’t be sad. Think about it. For so many years, our mentor dreamed of revitalizing Cathan’s rocket program. The student he personally trained helped him achieve that dream. He was able to prove to the entire world that Cathan’s rocket program is number one! Imagine how happy that must make him!"

Soothed by Levin Sawyer’s words, Sophia’s emotions gradually stabilized.

Having vented, she felt much better.

"Levin, don’t worry. I won’t slack off. I’ll keep working hard so I don’t bring shame to our mentor!"

"Good."

After hanging up, Sophia washed the tears from her face, then called the press department at Zenith. "Publicize the fact that Joanna Sherman instigated Dennis Warren to harm our mentor!"

She wasn’t going to let Joanna Sherman just confess quietly.

’If you do evil deeds, you must bear the evil consequences!’

"Understood."

Everyone at Lead Aerospace was furious about Old Master Sloan’s injury and had long been impatient to release the truth.

The moment Sophia hung up, Lead Aerospace issued a press release, announcing Joanna Sherman’s arrest along with the vile acts she had committed!

The news quickly blew up, and the entire internet was in a frenzy of discussion. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Joanna Sherman’s reputation was already in tatters from the failed rocket launch. Now, being implicated in a crime that threatened someone’s life, she was utterly finished!

Sophia was walking out of the hospital room when she ran into a group of people urgently pushing a gurney down the hallway.

On the gurney, Yvonne Sherman was wearing an oxygen mask, desperately clutching her chest.

Behind her, Chad Jennings and Esther Sullivan stumbled as they ran.

Her only hope, her daughter, had fallen from grace. The immense shock sent Yvonne Sherman into a state where her eyes were rolling back in her head on the gurney.

The moment she saw Sophia, she ripped off her oxygen mask, her eyes bulging as if they were about to pop out of their sockets.

But she was so out of breath she couldn’t utter a single word.

Sophia stopped, meeting her gaze calmly.

She took in the woman’s fury and slowly lifted her chin.

"Sophia Shaw, how could you be so vicious?" Esther Sullivan ran over, stomping her foot at Sophia. "You’ve already sent Joanna to jail, so why did you have to destroy her reputation for the whole world to see! How is Joanna supposed to live after this!"