Chapter 34: Selling Me a Piece of Trash for Eight Million

Meeting his gaze, Tiffany Rose was instantly drenched in a cold sweat.

She was so anxious that tears were on the verge of falling, explaining in a stammering rush: "Mr. Cross, the situation is not as bad as you think. At least this set of a program can be executed. I—I will just upgrade it a little more..."

A towering rage was already brewing in Adrian Cross's heart, but hearing these words, it wasn't a good time for him to continue unleashing it.

Right now, he also needed to go stabilize the company's remaining employees first.

The man could only suppress his entire temper, throwing out a single sentence to Tiffany through gritted teeth.

"Your absolute last chance. If the new patent doesn't come out next time, you don't ever need to come see me again."

Leaving behind those words, Adrian strode away.

Tiffany collapsed back onto her office chair, her entire back completely soaked.

She gasped rapidly for breath, never having anticipated that matters would turn out this way.

And the absolute culprit behind all of this...

Was that damn ghostwriter!

Unable to endure it any longer, Tiffany pulled out her phone and began a message bombardment on the person!

Vivian Hale sat in her office, piecing together the events from Tiffany’s frantic messages.

It seemed the destructive power of her old program was quite something.

Just computers alone, it had fried five or six of them.

In the end, even when the configuration was raised to a hundred thousand dollars, it still lagged to a point where it couldn't run.

This actually had to thank her younger self, who wanted to include absolutely everything and stuffed it all into the program in one fell swoop.

If it hadn't been for her mentor's intervention back then, she would have been the one frying computers today.

Fortunately, she hadn't been that foolish.

The phone chimed and rattled non-stop; Tiffany was still cursing away.

Vivian, however, was in an exceptionally great mood.

Since Tiffany suffered a massive setback today, Adrian likely wasn't feeling too good in his heart either.

It seemed that tonight, it was highly necessary for her to return to the villa.

After a fair amount of tossing and turning, it was finally closing time.

Vivian hurriedly packed up her things and rushed toward the villa.

By the time she arrived home, it was already seven o'clock in the evening.

Vivian changed her clothes in the car, and clutching the groceries she had just bought along the way, she pushed the door open.

The living room was brightly illuminated.

Exactly as she had guessed.

Adrian was wearing a set of loungewear, sitting on the sofa with a hideously dark expression, the absolute chill exuding from his entire body lowering the room's temperature by several degrees.

Vivian feigned surprise, walking toward him.

She asked, knowing full well the answer: "Honey, why are you back so suddenly? Did work go smoothly today?"

Adrian’s voice was ice-cold.

"Where did you go?"

Vivian blinked her eyes intentionally.

"Honey, my health has been getting worse and worse these past few days. I spent the entire day at the hospital getting examinations, and I just got back, buying some groceries along the way."

Only then did Adrian recall that Vivian had mentioned being physically unwell before.

His expression softened considerably in an instant, "Then how were your examination results?"

Vivian let out a sigh, "The results aren't out yet, but the doctor told me to prepare for the worst. However, I believe that with my husband by my side, I will definitely get through this hurdle."

She smiled softly, which conversely left Adrian completely unsure of what to say for a moment.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, "I've been a bit busy lately. Once I finish up these next two days, I'll accompany you to the hospital. Everything will definitely be fine."

Vivian sat submissively by his side, appearing deeply worried, "What's wrong? Did some problem arise at the company?"

Adrian turned his head to look at her, his gaze brooding and hollow.

"Darren Vance has resigned."

"Darren? How could he! He's a veteran employee of the company and has made so many contributions. Without him, the technology department is practically paralyzed..."

Hearing this, the man’s brows indeed knit even tighter.

He let out an irritable sigh, reaching up to rub his temples.

"The company's current situation is very bad, Vivian. Can you go and persuade him to come back? He will definitely listen to your words. After all, the Cross Group is your lifework too."

Hearing this kind of talk now, Vivian only found it utterly farcical.

When Adrian dealt with her and Tiffany, he truly only used her when there was a crisis, and cast her aside when things were fine.

She took a deep breath, cultivating a pitiful emotion.

"I want to help you too, but I really don't understand the current market very well. Even if I step in, it will be useless. Right, isn't there still Miss Rose? Miss Rose is so capable, taking over the technology department shouldn't be an issue for her..."

Speaking up to this point, Vivian lifted a smiling face to look at Adrian.

"Then again, when exactly is Miss Rose's new patent going to be released to the world? Hasn't she been preparing it for a long time? I believe that the exact moment her patent comes out, the company will definitely turn its losses into profits!"

At the mention of Tiffany and the new patent, Adrian’s expression became even more indescribable.

The repeated, chaotic blunders had completely exhausted his patience.

Yet right now, this patent happened to be his absolute sole life-saving straw.

Adrian’s irritable brows knit tighter and tighter, and he couldn't resist turning his head to look at Vivian.

"But I still feel that she is a far cry from you."

Vivian wanted to laugh in her heart, but she feigned ignorance.

"Honey, what are you talking about? How could my capability as a mere housewife hold a candle to hers? But do you mean she still hasn't brought the patent out? Do you think Miss Rose has already completed the patent but is intentionally withholding it because she wants to negotiate terms with us? Of course, I'm just guessing blindly. You treat her so well, Miss Rose shouldn't..."

As she spoke, a dark glint flashed through her eyes.

Tiffany had botched matters so badly these few times that, given Adrian’s naturally suspicious nature, a seed of doubt had already been planted in his heart.

Right now, as long as another person provided a tiny bit of prompting, the cloud of suspicion in his mind would grow even vaster.

Sure enough, the moment these words were uttered, an anomalous flicker passed through Adrian’s eyes.

The seed of doubt had officially been planted; everything was merely a matter of time.

Having finished what she came to do, Vivian lost all desire to continue with the superficial pleasantries. Intentionally offering a few perfunctory remarks, she rose, preparing to go upstairs.

Snapping back to reality, Adrian called out a line to her: "I haven't eaten yet. Go prepare dinner first."

His commanding, arrogant demeanor lacked even a single fraction of difference from the past.

But Vivian merely pressed her lips together slightly, her expression appearing somewhat innocent.

"Honey, did you forget about my illness again? The doctor told me to rest early, otherwise you can order some takeout for yourself, or head out to eat..."

With that, she went straight upstairs.

Since things had been stated to this extent, Adrian naturally lacked the face to remain for a meal.

Likely, those few sentences of hers had ultimately taken effect. Before long, she saw Adrian's car driving out of the villa.

The next morning.

Vivian got out of bed and went straight over to Pearl's place.

It just so happened that Pearl was currently looking over the incoming messages from Tiffany's side.

Vivian cast a glance; dozens of messages had already been dispatched.

"What kind of garbage did you sell me? The exact moment it started running, it fried several of my computers and almost cost me my job!"

"Eight million, and you sold me a piece of trash!"

"Do you want to die? Answer me!"

Pearl casually scrolled through the screen, tapping out a reply.

"Dear, the program sold to you has been verified by our team. Although its requirements for computer configurations are a bit high, it can operate normally nonetheless. You were the one who explicitly stated you wanted it to focus on high-end demographics. We are already processing the patent application flow."

The exact millisecond the message sent, Vivian could already visualize Tiffany’s nose twisting with utter rage on the other end.

The two of them dissolved into a chorus of laughter.