Just then, Curtis spoke up.
"It was my idea to have her work in Investments. With Victoria's abilities, she'd easily fit in with the Tech Department, but I believe we should respect personal preference. Ms. Turner, the choice is yours. There's no need to go against your own wishes."
His words landed like a slap in Violet's face. She looked visibly unsettled, convinced Curtis was blatantly favoring Victoria—even to the point of disregarding the company's best interests.
Yulia, trying to smooth things over, stood up with a smile and reached for Victoria's arm. "Vicky, everyone's watching—why not join us for dinner? We're all family here, and you're not a kid anymore. Business is business, but let's not bring personal feelings into it."
The executives from all three companies fixed their eyes on Victoria, each trying to figure out what made her tick.
Ailie could have stepped in to pull Victoria away, but this was a public setting—causing a scene would only make things harder for Victoria.
"Victoria?" Ailie's voice was soft, as if waiting for her decision.
"You there—you seem close with Vicky. Why don't you join us too?" Mr. Harper from Quantum Core Technologies, whose status in the room was the most modest, quickly offered up his seat, shifting to another table.
Marian barely lifted her gaze, her tone indifferent. "Just sit down. It's not like we don't know each other."
Ailie took Victoria's hand and sat down anyway—she was curious to see what tricks these people might pull.
Marian turned her attention to Violet. "Violet, I heard you got promoted to Vice President. I haven't had the chance to congratulate you yet. Your company's new game is a hit, but I heard someone deliberately sabotaged it and your cousin's husband lost a fortune because of it."
"Honestly, Violet, you're generous to a fault. You know the troublemaker is right under your nose, and yet you haven't fired her. Sometimes you give people a chance, and they don't even appreciate it—they start thinking they're something special."
Ailie couldn't stand the jabs any longer. "Yeah, well, who's giving whom a chance here? Mr. Garcia, Quantum Core Technologies is part of the Garcia family, right? Yet there's always someone jumping in to throw shade at our own people. And as for you—whichever company you're from—unless you've got some special connection to Mr. Garcia, do you really think it's your place to speak?"
Marian had hoped to use the crowd to ridicule Victoria, maybe even get her kicked out of Quantum Core Technologies altogether. She truly couldn't understand how someone like Victoria—who seemed to attract dislike wherever she went—had the nerve to show up at her soon-to-be ex-husband's friend's company.
She'd already heard from Edith that Victoria, frustrated by Violet's relationship with McNeil, had tried to make a scene several times without success. Now she'd run off to McNeil's friend's company, apparently hoping to mimic Violet's image as an independent woman and win McNeil back.
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