His Last Command Came Back to Kill Him novel Chapter 150

And she had been at the company for less than a month.

Zinnia forwarded the file directly to Chisholm Vance.

After reading it, Chisholm could already vividly picture the fallout once this project hit the market.

Coming from a specialized research institute himself, he had a ruthless eye for innovation. He knew instantly that Whitley's architecture, once implemented, would be a market-killer.

***

The following day, right after the morning meeting, Whitley buried herself in the lab running diagnostics.

During a quick coffee break, her phone buzzed.

It was a text from Chisholm.

They had a technical maintenance contract with a subsidiary of Marmont Pharmaceuticals. Their system had crashed, and they needed someone on-site immediately.

Knowing the bad blood with the Sherwoods and Marmont, Chisholm offered to send someone else to spare her the discomfort.

Whitley didn't care.

Business was business. She couldn't hide from them forever.

"Are you sure you don't want me to tag someone else in?" Chisholm asked when she grabbed her coat.

"I'm fine. Let's go."

When they arrived at the subsidiary, the engineering team escorted them up.

It took Whitley exactly twenty minutes to untangle a gridlock the other team had been agonizing over for weeks.

The room was stunned into silence.

A problem that had looked like a digital apocalypse to them had been casually dismantled by her.

The hosting manager was practically glowing with praise. "Mr. Vance, you truly run an incredible operation."

Chisholm smiled faintly. "All the credit goes to Ms. Nash."

"Ms. Nash?" The manager blinked, looking at Whitley in shock.

He had assumed she was just an assistant. He had no idea someone so young was the lead director.

Xander Sherwood happened to be walking past the open door and caught the exchange.

He let out a loud, mocking scoff. "Wow. Mr. Vance really brought you along just to stroke your ego, huh? Even gave you a fake title."

As far as Xander was concerned, Whitley was just a pretty face who had somehow managed to bewitch Chisholm Vance.

Whitley ignored him completely and headed down the hall to the restroom.

Xander turned to Chisholm, offering some 'friendly' advice. "Don't let her play you. Do you have any idea who she really is? Careful you don't tank your entire company over a woman."

Chisholm's expression darkened. "Mr. Sherwood, watch your tone."

Yelena raised an eyebrow, a demure smile playing on her lips. "Of course."

Chisholm's standards were notoriously high. If he was asking for her help, it validated her worth.

"Clive, I'll go see what he needs. We can talk about this later."

What she was really saying was obvious to everyone in the room.

The artifact Whitley would have bled to protect was nothing more than a cheap accessory Yelena could casually discard.

As Yelena walked past Whitley, she shot her a fleeting glance, a faint, condescending smile touching her lips. "Care to join us for lunch?"

Whitley laughed coldly. "Hard pass."

Yelena didn't press it.

When she left, the only people remaining in the office were Whitley and Clive.

The man had already lowered his head, his focus returning to his documents, completely shutting her out.

He was always so incredibly busy, yet he always found the time to cater to Yelena's every whim.

For years, he had never treated her like a wife. He had never even given her basic respect.

Whitley closed her eyes, forcing down the suffocating pain rising in her chest.

When she opened them, her voice was so calm it bordered on a rasp. "We need to talk."