After the Fall A Leap into a Stranger's Arms novel Chapter 72

As a dad, he could accept it if Lawrence never amounted to much. But hearing that Catherine was spending her own money just to be with some broke guy... it felt like a punch straight to the gut.

Nestor was shaking with anger and pointed right at Catherine. "That ungrateful girl. Is she trying to drive me to an early grave?"

Waldo quickly stepped in, putting a steadying hand on Nestor's shoulder. "Nestor, take it easy. You can talk to Catherine when we get home."

Nestor’s chest rose and fell as he tried to get his breathing under control. Catherine had embarrassed him completely. Using her own money to support a man? If people found out, what pride would he have left?

Seeing that Nestor was already furious, Shirley tried to act like she was soothing him. "Dad, please don’t get too upset. Maybe Catherine just got swept up in her feelings and made a mistake."

Her attempt at comforting only made Nestor more upset. "A mistake? I think she’s just trying to go against me on purpose, always doing reckless things."

Just then, the host announced the summit was officially starting. Shirley turned to Nestor. "Dad, let’s talk about this at home, okay? I need to get ready for my speech. Cheer for me from the audience."

Nestor had no choice but to glare in Catherine’s direction and swallow his anger. At least he still had Shirley, his star daughter.

When the host called her name, Shirley took a breath and walked on stage, calm and graceful.

The spotlights snapped onto her. She looked every bit the tech goddess as she demoed Resonance AI, explaining how it worked. Applause broke out almost instantly.

Catherine narrowed her eyes, watching. Shirley was showing off the core algorithm, but at a few key points, she glossed over the details, skipping past them without really explaining.

Catherine’s lips curled into a knowing smile. It was obvious Shirley didn’t really have a solid grasp of the main logic.

On stage, Shirley wrapped up her demo with total confidence. "That’s a glimpse of what Resonance AI can really do."

The audience broke into another round of applause. Some young guys even started yelling, "You’re amazing! You’re our goddess!"

"Do you want to go say hi?" Lawrence’s voice was low and gentle.

Catherine squeezed his hand and shook her head. "No, it’s better if we don’t."

She knew exactly how Nestor could be. If they went over, he’d just take it out on Lawrence and make him feel small.

Lawrence held her hand tighter, seeing how much she cared about him. His voice was soft. "Don’t worry. One day, your dad will accept me."

Catherine gave him a small smile. "Yeah. I believe you."

But deep down, she knew that day was probably still far off. Nestor’s bias against Lawrence was too big to change overnight.

After that, a few more big names in tech went up for a panel discussion. Magee and Waldo were among them, along with two other industry leaders. Their conversation pulled everyone’s attention in.