What She Overheard in Her Own Marriage novel Chapter 88

Everyone in the room listened intently to Kaia.

She had a knack for breaking down complex medical concepts into easily digestible information—a skill everyone implicitly respected.

When she spoke, no one dared zone out; if they dropped a pen and bent down to pick it up, they might miss a crucial point entirely.

When Kaia glanced at her, Noelle felt that old familiar anxiety creeping back.

It was the dread that Kaia was about to completely humiliate her.

To make sure everyone grasped her concept, Kaia grabbed a marker and walked over to the whiteboard.

She drew a circle on one side and wrote "Disease." Then, she drew a much larger circle on the other side and wrote "Patient."

She drew a line connecting the two.

"Precision medicine is like a guided missile. Missiles are designed to destroy targets," Kaia explained, tapping the larger circle. "But our ultimate goal is to help patients live better lives, not just to eradicate the disease."

She pulled up another slide showing clinical data from hospitals partnering with Veridian: "This is a trend we've observed clinically. When foundational treatments are supplemented with systemic care, nutritional support, and psychological counseling, the treatment completion rates and side-effect management improve dramatically. Therefore, assessing the overall quality of life is absolutely essential."

Hearing this, Noelle balled her hands into fists. Kaia had done it again—found the blind spot in her strategy and ruthlessly attacked it.

The debate between precision treatment versus holistic quality of life had always been a major friction point in medicine. By bringing it up now, Kaia was framing Veridian as the empathetic, patient-centric choice, subtly criticizing Aethelstan for lacking a human element.

Noelle scoffed internally. Who said Kaia was passive and non-confrontational?

The Kaia standing there today was out for blood, ready to grind every one of Noelle's initiatives into the dirt.

It wasn't a direct attack, but it effectively exposed Aethelstan's shortcomings, acting as a tactical strike from higher ground.

Finnian was no longer distracted. He was actively processing Kaia's words, his eyes following her as she wrote on the board, nodding occasionally in agreement.

Kaia then moved smoothly into the finer details of her presentation.

Silas chuckled. "There will always be people who can see the bigger picture. Veridian is opening its doors for a win-win partnership with investors. Doesn't an open, collaborative stance show more vision than just playing defense or fighting over a limited pie?"

Seeing Silas back Kaia while taking thinly veiled shots at her, Noelle narrowed her eyes. In her frustration, she accidentally knocked over the water glass next to her.

Warm water spilled instantly, soaking the edge of her skirt. She instinctively leaned forward to stop it, aggravating her injured knees. Her face twisted in pain.

Almost like a reflex, Finnian grabbed a box of tissues and rushed to her side. "Are you alright? Did it hit your knees?"

"I'm fine," Noelle whispered.

Their exchange was loud enough for the entire room to hear. Several executives exchanged loaded glances, noting the undeniable dynamic between the CEO and Noelle.

With her assistant's help, Noelle quickly cleaned up the mess and looked up at Finnian. "Let's continue the meeting. Don't worry about me."

Finnian pulled his gaze away, returned to his seat at the head of the table, and cast an uncomfortable glance in Kaia's direction.