In the Lap of Luxury

Chapter 89

Chapter 89 Let’s Go, Double–Oh Eight

“Am I right, Ms. Pate?” Grace looked at Nicole with a faint smile.

At being suddenly called out, Nicole smiled awkwardly. “You’re right, Ms. Lewis.”

As Grace fidgeted with her blue diamond ring on her finger, she looked at Nicole with a sharp gaze. “Why did you come in so late, Ms. Pate?”

“Me?” Nicole pointed at herself. “I went to the restroom. Can’t I attend to my nature calls?”

“I’m afraid it’s not as simple as a restroom break.” Grace took the documents Luke handed her and threw them all in front of Nicole.

“Weren’t you informing your men who were bottom–fishing Barnes‘ stock to stop?”

Albert picked up the documents. He only read one page and immediately realized what she

meant.

His voice became notably lower, like the calm before a storm. “Ms. Pate, please explain.”

Although there was a dense mass of documents in front of her, Nicole hadn’t even looked at them.

She was growing anxious, for she couldn’t believe that Grace had discovered her secret moves.

Grace smiled. “There is enough evidence here.”

“You intentionally leaked the nanorobots‘ source code after they were shared with Amirate.

“Then, you tipped off the stock market, causing panic among the investors and leading to a massive sell–off.

“With that, you were able toreap all the benefits and bottom–fish Barnes‘ stock.” Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“She wouldn’t dare say these things without proof, Ms. Pate.”

Nicole quickly composed herself and began to defend her actions.

“Mr. Barnes, I had people bottom–fishing the stock to prevent it from falling into outsiders‘ hands. I really had no ulterior motives.”

Albert had never imagined that one of his trusted directors would backstab him right under

his nose.

What was worse, he hadn’t even noticed it. Instead, it had been exposed by one of his partners.

Calmly, he said, “Ms. Lewis, Mr. Hawkins, I will thoroughly investigate this and provide you with an explanation.”

“Mr. Barnes, with someone like this trying to sabotage our cooperation, I’m concerned about our future collaboration.” Grace spoke these threatening wo

She was using the threat of withdrawing her investment. It had worked before, and she hoped it would work again.

She had to ensure that this collaboration was a success. So Nicole was the ticking time bomb she had to guard against.

Since Nicole had been working alongside Albert for years, strong measures were needed to force him to remove this threat.

At this moment, Benjamin chimed in. “Hawkins Group needs to reconsider the collaboration as well.”

Grace smiled at his words. It seemed like Benjamin had also considered the potential risks.

While they weren’t allies, they shared common financial goals. He couldn’t afford to ignore these possible dangers.

In fact, Grace had indirectly helped him by solving the dark web issue today.

Helped him? She felt irritated thinking anout it.

Faced with pressure from the investors and the hopeful eyes of the directors, Albert ultimately

made a decision.

“Ms. Pate, starting today, you will no longer hold any position within Barnes Group.”

In disbelief, Nicole wondered if Albert had really … fired her.

“As for the shares acquired through leaked information, I will leave that to our lawyers to handle the litigation.”

Having lost everything, Nicole slumped in her chair.

Grace got up to leave after receiving a satisfactory response from Albert.

She walked over to Victor, who was rapidly typing on his keyboard. “Let’s go, Double–Oh

Eight.”

Blankly, Victor raised his head and closed his laptop. “Okay.”

Affectionately, she helped him place his laptop in his bag and then led him away.

Albert watched their departure and couldn’t help but comment, “It’s rare to see Ms. Lewis treat someone this way. I think he’s more than just an engineer