The Perfect Wife's Perfect Revenge

Chapter 145 The next day, Victoria spent the entire day buried in work at Quantum Core Technologies, hardly giving a thought to her daughter.

She'd meant to call Gwyneth once the sun cup, but once she got back to the office, the idea completely slipped her mind.

By the tshe remembered after clocking out and heading home-she was already back at the Turner estate.

As she stepped out of her car, she immediately noticed McNeil's sleek sedan parked in the driveway.

It was a rare thing for surprise to flicker across Victoria's face. She checked the license plate twice, but it was definitely his.

She was still puzzling over it when the car door swung open and Violet stepped out.

"Should I be calling you 'cousin' now?" Violet teased, a sly smile on her lips. "After all, you're the daughter of my soon-to-be uncle." Only then did Victoria recall what Simms had said the night before about important guests coming for dinner- he'd meant McNeil and Violet.

Realizing this, Victoria knew it was too late to make an escape.

Simms happened to emerge from the house just then, catching sight of the group.

"Victoria, you're back! Chelp welcour guests." Victoria let out a silent, sardonic laugh, the corners of her mouth twitching into a wry smile. McNeil met her gaze across the drive, his eyes utterly impassive.

He looked at her as if she were a stranger, then turned to enter the house with Violet, his expression unreadable. Inside, Yulia was busy directing the household staff as they set the table, radiating the air of a lady of the house. It dawned on Victoria, then-regardless of formal titles, as far as Simms was concerned, Yulia had long since taken the place of his wife.

Still, "Mrs. Miller" and "Ms. Morris" were not quite the same, no matter how you spun it.

Without betraying any emotion, Victoria followed them inside, maintaining the polite distance of strangers between herself and McNeil.

"Violet, Mr. Langford, dinner's about to be served-please have a seat," Yulia called out warmly.

Simms was already seated at the head of the table, Yulia beside him.

Despite being Simms's daughter, Victoria was relegated to a seat farther down, facing Violet and the others.

"You've all met at Grandma's birthday last time, so there's no need for introductions," Simms announced with shameless ease, showing no hint of awkwardness.

McNeil pulled out a chair for Violet and thoughtfully arranged her silverware.

Not once did he look Victoria's way; his attention seemed wholly fixed on Violet. Both Simms and Yulia exchanged satisfied glances-they'd clearly noticed how attentive McNeil was to Violet.

Simms in particular couldn't hide his pleasure, a touch of pride coloring his tone. Victoria lifted her water glass and took a calm sip, her composure unshakable. Simms kept up a steady stream of conversation with McNeil, discussing mostly business. Violet, having worked at Quantum Core Technologies for stime- and in charge of financial markets-joined in easily.

Only Victoria seemed out of place, quietly focused on her meal, not saying a word.

"Victoria, I heard you're working at Quantum Core Technologies now, as Mr. Garcia's assistant?" Simms asked, feigning casual interest as he smoothly shifted the conversation to her. For the first time, McNeil finally glanced in her direction. "Yes," Victoria replied evenly. "I just decided it was tto get back to work." She knew better than to think Simms was just being friendly he never asked unless he had an angle.

"My dear cousin isn't just an assistant," Violet chimed in, her tone pointed. "The company's latest game? She helped program it-she was one of the lead developers. Isn't that right, Victoria?" The implication was clear-Violet was doing this on purpose.

Victoria understood now: tonight's family dinner was nothing but a carefully staged trap.

But what did it matter? She neither confirmed nor denied Violet's claim.

Now, McNeil seemed to linger on her a moment longer. Victoria noticed, but couldn't have cared less. "Ms. Marchand is being too modest," Victoria said lightly. "She's the developer behind the game. The credit doesn't belong to me." She volleyed the praise right back. Yulia, not catching the subtext, looked delighted.

"I had no idea Violet could program, too! See, Simms? I told you she was talented. Mr. Langford, you're lucky to have her-she's a rare find." Victoria didn't react; Violet, clearly irked by Victoria's composure, couldn't risk showing her frustration in front of McNeil.

Finally, Simms spoke up.

"I heard about this from Violet.

Victoria, I didn't realize you had that kind of talent. Golden Era Enterprises and McNeil have invested a fortune in this game. If you really can fix it, do it for me, would you?"

He paused, choosing his words. "You know you own twenty-five percent of Golden Era. We're all in business to make money-you don't want the company to take a loss, right?" The whole time, McNeil watched Victoria, but offered no comment.

So he was here for Violet too, hoping to convince her to fix the game? Too bad. The game's implosion was their own doing, not hers. Now they wanted her help? Not a chance.

Victoria finally set down her fork, meeting each person's eyes across the table with calm poise.

"I suppose Ms. Marchand doesn't know yet," Victoria said, her tone even. "Mr. Garcia has already sold the gfor two million dollars and gavehalf a million as a bonus. So even if I wanted to help, I'm afraid it's out of my hands now." Violet slammed her hand on the table, rising in outrage. "That's impossible! I'm the developer. How could Curtis sell it without my permission?" Victoria took another sip of water, unfazed. "You'll have to ask Mr. Garcia about that."