She Quit Her Family and Found Herself novel Chapter 73

Inside the conference room.

Just as everyone's patience was wearing dangerously thin, Hulda walked in carrying her laptop.

"Ah, there you are." Brandon looked her way. "Your seat is over—"

He was about to point to her chair, only to realize Ursula was brazenly occupying the spot designated for the R&D Director.

Every pair of eyes in the room bounced between the two women.

One was the freshly hired boss, and the other was the institute's veteran superstar.

Beneath the table, Harvey subtly nudged Ursula, signaling her to stand up and yield the seat.

But she ignored him entirely, keeping her arms crossed and raising an eyebrow with a mocking, plastic smile.

Her expression practically screamed, *I'm not moving. What are you going to do about it?*

In her mind, that chair rightfully belonged to her. Hulda had simply stolen it through shady backdoor deals.

Brandon's expression darkened, but it wasn't a good time for him to reprimand her again. The ugly rumors about his relationship with Hulda were already spreading like wildfire.

With such a public display of disrespect, everyone held their breath, waiting to see how the new boss would react.

Hulda stopped at the head of the table, entirely unbothered by her stolen seat. "It's fine. I prefer to stand."

She walked straight to the podium, plugged in her laptop, and cast her screen to the main monitor in one fluid, practiced motion.

Aside from Brandon, no one had expected the young woman to remain so calm and unfazed in the face of such blatant provocation.

He honestly had no idea what had prompted this or what she had uncovered.

Wasting no time, Hulda opened the file she had just finished preparing. The first thing that flashed on the screen was Ursula's current project report.

"Ms. Delaney, you submitted this report personally, correct?" she asked, turning to look at her.

Ursula was taken aback that Hulda was aiming directly at her.

She quickly recovered, letting out an arrogant scoff. "Yes, I did. That is the project my team is currently running."

It was, without a doubt, the most promising and highly anticipated initiative in the building. Even Brandon had admitted the research trajectory was cutting-edge; if successful, it would garner international acclaim.

That was precisely why Brandon turned a blind eye to her toxic gossiping.