I Stopped Loving Him When He Let Me Bleed Out novel Chapter 400

The entire room fell into a stunned silence. Someone gently clapped twice, and then a tidal wave of applause followed.

Sitting in the audience, Sienna stared at the ramrod-straight figure under the spotlight, her heart hammering so violently it felt like it might crack her ribs.

This was the first time she had ever heard Finn talk about that flight.

He described it so casually, but she could vividly imagine just how terrifying the situation must have been—otherwise, they never would have decorated him for it.

"Mr. Fletcher, please display your data."

One of the committee members motioned to move the proceedings along.

This was the final step. As long as the financials held up, the deal was essentially in the bag.

Finn gave a slight nod to the floor, signaling Terrence to switch on the projector.

The massive screen flared to life, displaying one data spread after another.

"As you can see, our projections show—"

Finn's eyes suddenly went ice-cold.

What was this?

Murmurs broke out in the audience. People frowned, whispering among themselves and flipping through their physical packets to compare the numbers.

"Mr. Fletcher," one of the committee members interrupted. "These figures are entirely incorrect."

Finn's gaze immediately snapped to Terrence.

Terrence's face was completely drained of color. He was clearly just as blindsided.

"My apologies, everyone. We seem to be experiencing a technical issue," Finn said, forced to bite the bullet.

"Let's pause here," the committee announced. "We need to verify this."

As Finn walked off the stage, his steps remained steady, but the rhythm was off.

When he turned the corner into the wings, Sienna saw his hands balled into white-knuckled fists.

She knew instantly that the situation was far more disastrous than he was letting on.

She rushed after him.

The moment Finn and Terrence stepped into the private lounge, the shareholders swarmed in behind them.

The shouting started immediately, echoing off the walls.

"You gave a brilliant speech out there! We thought we had it in the bag, and then you show them garbage data?"

Finn just looked at him.

"Apologizing won't fix it. We need the actual data rebuilt. We only have two hours."

"That's impossible!" Lance shot up from the sofa. "Running the entire algorithm from scratch takes at least four hours! The committee isn't going to wait around..."

"Get as much done as you can. Doing something is better than nothing." Finn cut him off. "Terrence, run the numbers. Focus on the core financials first."

Terrence immediately dropped into a chair, flipped open his laptop, and began typing furiously.

Lance slammed his fist into the sofa cushion in pure rage.

"Where the hell did the leak happen?"

Finn didn't answer.

He turned around and finally noticed Sienna standing quietly in the corner.

The rigid tension in his face instantly dissolved, as if something incredibly soft had managed to pry its way through his armor.

He walked quickly over to her, his eyes softening as he looked down at her.

"I'm sorry. It's absolute chaos in here right now. Let me have someone drive you home, okay?"