Chapter 48: Everything That Belongs to Him, He Will Take It All Back

Vivian Hale shook her head, feeling that this line of thought was somewhat fantastical.

How could a massive decision like that be solely because of her.

She returned to her workstation and began executing her core duties.

The patent she newly developed on this end had also been officially issued, and next, she had to seize the time to make arrangements.

Compared to Vivian’s radiant and high-spirited side, the days on Adrian Cross's end were far from easy.

Every single one of his properties, both domestic and overseas, had been personally handed over by his own hands.

He was left with nothing but a company on the absolute verge of bankruptcy.

Due to the disaster at the press conference, everyone had completely lost confidence in the company, the cooperating partners withdrew their funding one after another, and the stock price had already plummeted into rock bottom.

He was on the absolute verge of driving himself mad.

When it came down to it, this entire matter was triggered by Tiffany Rose, including the subsequent catching of the affair—that was also instigated by her.

If it hadn't been for her, how could he have been left without even a single shred of an avenue of retreat?

He was going to settle scores with that tramp!

Adrian Cross had a deathly dark face, speeding all the way in his car until he arrived at Tiffany's residence.

However, he pounded continuously on the door, yet there was zero response from the inside from beginning to end.

"Tiffany Rose, get your ass out here right now!"

He roared out in a furious tone, the veins violently bulging across his neck.

Right at this exact moment, the landlord of the neighboring room was disturbed by the noise and stepped out.

"Stop pounding. She already terminated her lease and moved away."

"Moved away?"

Adrian’s pupils contracted sharply for a fleeting instant, and he pressed in a deep voice: "Exactly when, and where did she move to?"

The landlord rolled her eyes: "How on earth should I know? I merely saw her come rushing back in a frantic hurry two days ago, grabbed her luggage, and departed. She didn't even demand her deposit back; she left in quite a desperate rush."

Adrian’s face was deathly pale from rage. Heading downstairs back into his car, he dialed Tiffany’s number, only for it to display that the call was unanswered.

Even dispatching a WeChat message yielded a notification that she had already blacklisted him.

Adrian was so uncontrollably furious he nearly smashed his phone to pieces.

"Tramp!"

She glaringly knew that she was completely incapable of giving him an explanation, and that he absolutely would never let her off, so she simply fled directly!

Right at this exact moment, the company's financial director, Arthur, placed a phone call to him.

"Mr. Cross, this is bad. The results of our audit and liquidation report have been delivered, and we discovered a massive loophole in the funds. Currently, the capital chain has suffered a complete rupture, and the previous projects can no longer continue running normally..."

"How could that be possible?"

Adrian was so anxious he smashed his fist hard onto the steering wheel.

Although the company was hanging by a thread, those projects signed previously were still running after all. As long as they endured through this period, perhaps an absolute turnaround would materialize.

But if the capital chain suffered a complete rupture, then they were thoroughly finished...

Arthur gave an honest confession: "Over this past half-year, Miss Rose continuously embezzled wave after wave of cash from the accounts under the pretexts of program execution and project down payments. Every single cent of that twenty-odd million on the books is completely gone."

Adrian’s eyes swam into blackness from absolute fury, and he burst into a string of harsh curses, "Do you possess a pig for a brain? The exact millisecond she said she wanted to embezzle public funds, you actually dared to let her use them! Do you have any fraction of a clue regarding the severity of this matter? Right now, you had best fill that money back in for me!"

"Mr. Cross..."

Arthur instantly voiced his grievance: "Wasn't this based on the absolute authorization you handed down previously, instructing us to cooperate with Miss Rose in absolutely everything."

He was exceptionally wronged as well!

He had also attempted to advise him, but during that period, Adrian was as if completely bewitched by a demon. The company had long since been butchered into a chaotic mess by this Tiffany Rose, and it was glaringly Adrian's unmitigated indulgence all along, yet right now the blame was conversely cast onto his head.

Adrian was soundly choked by the rebuff.

He recalled it. Because he had been heavily swayed by the presentation of the new patent Tiffany explained to him back then, believing her capability was extraordinary.

At that time, having been utterly hoodwinked, he had completely relinquished authority to Tiffany.

As long as she affixed her signature, she could manipulate the funds sitting on the company's books.

Yet right now, he wished he could deliver a heavy slap straight across his own face, his stomach turning completely green from absolute regret.

Hanging up the phone, he tossed his device to one side, suddenly suffering a wave of total physical and mental exhaustion.

It felt as though from the exact millisecond Vivian Hale departed from his side, his perfect world had crashed down with a loud roar, transforming into a complete pile of ruins.

Matters had already grown so wretched that they couldn't possibly turn any more wretched.

Adrian’s expression was thoroughly dejected.

Right at this exact millisecond, his phone ringtone echoed once more.

The exact moment his eyes caught the caller ID, he immediately straightened his back and tapped to accept the call, crying out in an exceptionally cautious manner: "Dad!"

"You actually still possess the face to address me."

Gabriel Cross's cadence was ice-cold, filled to the brim with a suffocating sense of absolute oppression.

He had already heard about every single matter that had erupted within the company.

His own son was actually this stupid to drive the company into total bankruptcy.

He was so thoroughly enraged that he flew back through the night shroud.

"Hurry up and roll your ass back to me right now, stop displaying yourself like a public embarrassment on the outside."

The exact millisecond he finished speaking, he disconnected the call directly.

Adrian stared blankly at his phone screen.

Back then, he relied entirely on the startup capital provided by Vivian to establish Cross Group, precisely because he wanted his father to be able to look upon him with favor, making it easier for him to return to officially inherit the massive enterprise of the main family branch in the future.

Over these past few years, he had indeed been highly regarded by his father because of this company.

Yet right now, he was soundly stripped back to his original form within a single morning.

It was no wonder his father would harbor total disappointment toward him.

But he wouldn't abandon his path just like this.

Everything that belongs to him, he will take it all back!

...

Vivian was thinking about absolutely nothing right now, investing herself entirely into leading the technology department to immerse themselves in the research and development of the new patents.

However, before a long while could pass, an employee of the technology department, Rachel, walked up right before Vivian clutching her laptop.

"Director Hale, I don't know exactly what sort of a problem arose with this set of a program. I've tried a good number of times, yet it fails to execute normally. Could I trouble you to take a look for me?"

Gazing at the anxious look gleaming in her eyes, Vivian pressed her lips together slightly.

"It doesn't matter, let me see what's going on."

Following that, she took the laptop to begin her inspection.

Only after scanning a full circle, she failed to spot any sort of an issue. Just as she was preparing to re-index the entire suite of data.

Conversely, Ian, who happened to pass by one side, offered a smiling word of consolation.

"Don't worry, Rachel. Our Director Hale managed to secure this position at such a young age, so her capability is beyond any shadow of a doubt. She will definitely be able to resolve this program, there's zero requirement to feel too anxious."

Vivian lifted her head to cast a glance at him.

She possessed a tiny shred of an impression regarding this person; he seemed to belong to the technology department, typically maintaining zero sense of presence.

But for some inexplicable reason, she consistently felt that the look in this person's eyes was highly strange, leaving people looking upon it feeling exceptionally uncomfortable.

Yet since he was speaking up for her benefit, it wasn't right for her to say anything, merely offering a subtle nod toward him to serve as her acknowledgment.

Following that, her fingers rapidly operated across the keyboard, beginning to analyze exactly where the problem with this program lay.

The personnel of the department converged around out of intense curiosity one after another, lowering their voices to gossip rapidly.

"Wow, this program is far too complex and massive! Composed of over a hundred separate groups of data—it leaves one's vision thoroughly blurred just looking at it. This won't be easy to resolve, right!"

"Even if it were a highly experienced, veteran programmer, it would likely still require a good number of hours just to unearth the problem."

"This ought to present a fair amount of difficulty for Director Hale, right!"

Every single person present was maintaining a watchful stance.

Although the last time she launched a public counterattack to resolve Julian's matter left people looking upon her with a brand-new appreciation, and a good number of people admired her strategy.

Yet they had uniquely failed to witness her professional capability with their own eyes, harboring a fair amount of doubt regarding the authority of this air-dropped director.

To their shock, half an hour later, Vivian tapped the final key on the board, offering a subtle smile, "It's fixed."

A massive wave of shock blanketed the entire venue.

The expression across Ian's face altered slightly as well, leaning his upper body close to investigate.

She truly had resolved the issue within a mere half-hour?

And the execution of the processing was remarkably flawless.

"Heavens, this Director Hale truly is far too incredible!"

"Simply a divine operation, I've truly gained a massive expansion of knowledge today."

"Director Hale, exactly where did the problem arise here?"

Only Rachel remained steadfast to her initial purpose.

Vivian explained with absolute patience: "In truth, there were several groups of incorrect data..."

However, before the remaining words could fully fall from her mouth, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed from the entrance.

A voice rang out right after.

"A project you just deployed has directly triggered a data error. Shouldn't Director Hale offer an absolute explanation!"