She Left She Thrived She’s Worth Billions novel Chapter 1179

Aria hesitated, her eyes burning with a toxic mix of fury and intense humiliation.

How was it that she was a Director of R&D now, yet she still found herself groveling at Melanie's feet?

But...

The thought of hundreds of millions of dollars in project funding was too intoxicating to resist.

If she secured this deal, her position at the company would be untouchable. She could handle Melanie later.

Forcing herself to choke down her bruised pride, she painted on a tight, painful smile.

"Please, Ms. Royce. I'm begging you. Tell me what this massive project is about."

Melanie could see the seething resentment behind the fake smile, the sheer agony of bowing her head for a paycheck.

The blatant hypocrisy of the display was truly pathetic.

"Oh, it's nothing major. Just the Metabolomics Profiling Project."

Aria stared at her, utterly dumbfounded.

"But... the Metabolomics Profiling Project isn't worth hundreds of millions?"

"You're right! It's only worth a few hundred thousand."

Melanie gave a flippant, easy shrug.

"Who said I was giving your institute the entire multi-million dollar contract? I only plan to outsource the metabolomics profiling portion to you."

Hearing this, Aria froze like a statue, the blood draining from her face.

"You... you bitch, are you playing with me?!"

She practically screamed, losing every shred of her composure.

But Melanie remained entirely unbothered, her smile perfectly polished and totally serene.

"Watch your tone, Director Royce. I never once promised that I was negotiating the main contract with you."

"Melanie!"

Aria hissed through clenched teeth.

She was quite literally losing her mind.

There was no worse agony than having her expectations shot into the stratosphere, only to be violently ripped back down to reality.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify