Chapter 54: You Need to Know How to Be Grateful

Even Adrian Cross was stunned.

This was the absolute first time he had ever witnessed Vivian Hale under such a high-profile, spotlighted gaze, as though a brilliant radiance was cascading over her body, and her entire presence exuded a confident and enchanting aura.

She was poles apart from the gentle, submissive housewife nestled within his memory.

In a single fleeting instant, it actually caused him to fall into a wave of daze.

Shouldn't Vivian merely be a conventional housewife?

How on earth did she abruptly transform into someone this exceptionally excellent?

"Remarkably excellent! The technical path Miss Hale articulated perfectly aligns with our project concept!"

The exact millisecond these words fell from Director Xu's mouth, Gabriel Cross knew that he was going to lose this bidding war.

At this exact moment, his face turned deathly dark, as though his majesty had been heavily challenged.

He turned his head with a freezing gaze to look toward Adrian, questioning: "She actually possesses this capability, could it be that during all these years you stayed together with her, she was surreptitiously keeping secrets from your face?"

Adrian also pondered this exact possibility, his expression turning exceptionally hideous in a flash, the resentment nestled within his heart toward Vivian deepening further.

When she was together with him, she had never once displayed a single shred of these skills. Yet right now, facing Silas Vance, she held absolutely zero reservations, even snatching projects away from him for his benefit?

Originally, if he managed to secure this state-tendered bidding, his company would still possess a tiny pocket of space to turn the tables.

But for Silas's sake, Vivian had soundly blocked his very last avenue of retreat to absolute death.

Did she truly like him that intensely?

Assisting him and shielding him—then did she divorce him precisely for the sake of Silas Vance?

The sudden emergence of this thought within his brain left Adrian's countenance looking even more remarkably hideous.

Witnessing that he was completely tongue-tied, Gabriel let out a cold snort.

"Since she possesses a brain and technology of this caliber, she ought to be utilized for our own benefit. Figure out a strategy to coax her back to your side immediately!"

With that, he rose to his feet with a brooding face and departed the venue.

Leaving Adrian standing frozen on the spot, gazing at that dazzling silhouette, a complex mixture of myriad emotions swirling within his heart.

Following that, exactly as anticipated, relying on the raw strength of Vivian and Silas joining hands, they completely crushed the entire venue, ultimately successfully securing the bidding for the project.

Regarding this outcome, the other companies harbored zero objections either, conversely looking upon the silhouettes of their departing backs with appreciation and absolute caution.

"It seems the winds of change are going to blow across the domestic business circle."

"This President Vance looks exactly identical to the Cross family's son, yet their raw strengths are poles apart! The youth truly command immense respect."

"Furthermore, they appear to exist in a state of absolute opposition, this is going to be highly interesting."

"But the absolute greatest surprise is likely that Vivian Hale, isn't it? Possessing capability and raw strength of this magnitude, yet she was actually completely unknown previously. From this day forward, she will definitely carve out a massive reputation within the industry circle; we must keep up our guard."

"..."

When she emerged clutching the finalized contract, Vivian still found it somewhat farcical and unbelievable.

She had actually stood back onto a stage, speaking eloquently regarding those technical data sets.

"I knew all along that you could execute it flawlessly." Right at this exact millisecond, a lazy, magnetic baritone from a man drifted right before her face.

Vivian lifted her head to look toward him, offering a grateful remark: "It was President Vance who granted me the opportunity."

She had consistently kept a crystal-clear boundary between public and private matters.

This breakthrough of self-limitation right before a massive crowd presented an exceptionally rare and valuable experience for her.

She had previously assumed that the specific matter from her past would continuously exert a heavy shackle onto her.

Silas, however, appeared to perceive something, opening his mouth to offer an stabilizing assurance once more.

"The matter from all those years ago was far from your mistake. There is zero requirement to overly blame your own self and drown in the past; you ought to begin looking forward toward your future."

His words struck a powerful wave of shock through Vivian's heart.

"You..."

She blinked her twin eyes with absolute disbelief, "How on earth do you know about that matter from all those years ago?"

That had glaringly been an incident that erupted back when she was still at school.

Could it be that he had investigated her entire past?

Confronting this, Silas's gaze failed to dodge a single fraction, staring straight into her face as he delivered serious words: "Because I have liked you, for a remarkably, long, long time..."

Over all these past years, he had consistently been surreptitiously watching and keeping guard from the shadows, yet he hadn't dared to materialize right before her face.

Right now, having finally secured an opportunity, he failed to let slip a single chance to articulate his feelings toward her form.

Vivian's heart suffered a violent leap.

Clearly, it was far from the first time she had heard him utter words of affection, yet an inexplicable wave of heat involuntarily surged onto her cheeks nonetheless.

She felt the absolute roots of her ears burning intensely.

She somewhat lacked the courage to continue looking into his twin eyes, as though her very soul was on the verge of being drawn away.

"Uh, it's getting late, let's head back!" She shifted the topic of conversation.

Silas had also anticipated this outcome, letting out a helpless sigh.

"I'll go drive the car over, wait for me a brief moment."

He turned his body and strode away with long strides.

Once the person departed, the surrounding air appeared to abruptly plummet into absolute emptiness, and the heart she had held high up was finally lowered down.

A brief moment later, a silhouette blocked right before her face.

Clearly, it was the exact identical face, yet she recognized the other party within a single fraction of a second, her expression turning ice-cold.

"What? Laughing this loosely right before his face, yet displaying a freezing cold countenance the exact millisecond you spot me? Deploying a multi-faceted differentiation of this caliber, surely you couldn't have cast your eyes upon him long ago!"

Adrian's tone was completely filled with unmitigated mockery.

The capability to completely distort black and white was item only he himself could operate with total, seamless perfection.

Vivian might have offered a sharp argument in the past, but right now she had long since looked past it.

"Even if that's the status of things, so what? You and I currently possess absolutely zero relationship, whoever I choose to look upon with favor is entirely my own freedom! You possess zero authority to interfere."

She transparently lacked any desire to waste redundant words with his form.

Hearing this, Adrian was far from lightly enraged. He had never discovered in the past that she was actually this sharp-tongued, refusing to yield a single fraction of space.

He merely desired for her to take a single step backward and compromise toward his person—was it truly this difficult?

Clearly, during the period in the past, she had been this submissive, sensible, and her eyes and heart were entirely filled with his form.

Adrian didn't know why on earth, but his entire heart was filled with a wave of jealousy that was on the absolute verge of driving him frantic.

Yet recalling the words handed down by his father, he took a deep, stabilizing breath, slowly opening his mouth to speak.

"Honey, stop speaking words of spite to my face! You and I have each committed betrayal once, so let us wipe the previous slate completely clean. Wouldn't returning back to my side be excellent?"

Vivian, however, was thoroughly nauseated to the core by his words.

"Get lost, don't force me to deliver a slap across your face."

With that, she prepared to step past his form to depart.

"Stand right there!"

Having suffered a rejection, Adrian instantly turned purple from rage and humiliation, blocking right before her face once more, his aura fiercely pressing.

"Vivian Hale, don't forget the absolute fact that the moment your parents passed away back then, your uncle came rushing over to strip away your family estate. Later when you were admitted into the hospital to undergo surgery, it was I myself who helped pull strings and mediate for your benefit, managing to barely preserve half of the assets, and permitting an orphan girl like you to reclaim a household once more. Do you truly possess zero heart to know how to be grateful?"

Hearing this type of words, Vivian stared at the man before her eyes with absolute disbelief.

This man was consistently and continuously breaking past her absolute bottom limit.

He actually dared to utilize the absolute greatest agony of her past to launch a moral kidnapping against her form.

Articulating it in a detailed manner that sounded this grand and high-sounding, yet in reality, during that stretch of days she was hospitalized for surgery, the number of times he arrived to cast a glance at her form could be counted onto a single hand's fingers.

Afterward, those funds that had been retrieved were also invested into his person when he desired to launch his startup.

Right now, he actually dared to march over to "claim a debt."

Vivian felt it was incomparably farcical, yet her heart turned thoroughly freezing cold.

Uttering another word to a thoroughly selfish individual of this type was a complete waste of breath.

She intended to walk away directly, yet Adrian extended his hand to aggressively drag her form.

"Wait a moment, you are far from permitted to leave just yet."

Right at this exact millisecond, a distinct-knuckled hand extended over to firmly draw her form straight into a warm embrace.

A familiar and exceptionally crisp, clear fragrance enveloped her entire form, bringing along a powerful sensation of absolute safety.

"Stripped of your person, she can live an even more excellent life. Stop trying to paint a magnificent layer of gold onto your own face."