Who's Crying Now, Ex-Husband?

Chapter 488 During Mila's absence from the company, Conrad naturally took charge. At the latest board meeting, Randall McKenna once again brought up Giselle's proposal for an Al automation R&D project. This time, the project team had been completely overhauled the new team looked strong, and the overall feasibility was much improved. By all accounts, the proposal was ready for official approval.

But Conrad, knowing full well that Mila held the largest share among the board members-and that her relationship with Giselle was anything but cordial-didn't make the final call. Instead, he reached out to Mila directly, leaving the decision in her hands.

Mila listened quietly, eyes scanning through the detailed project documents Conrad had sent. She had to admit, this version was a significant improvement, especially with the new research team onboard. Their credentials were impressive, with strong track records in automation. The odds of success were high.

She also knew, though it wasn't obvious on the surface, that this team had actually been brought in by Forrest. After years of academic research abroad, he'd built a network of top-tier talent in this field. With them on the project, there was little doubt about its technical viability.

There was simply no grounds for rejection. If she tried to block it again, the board would accuse her of letting personal bias get in the way of business, claiming she was sabotaging Giselle out of spite. That wasn't a position she wanted to be in- nor was it justified this time.

Truth be told, she hadn't planned to block it anyway.

Giselle had gone to such lengths, working tirelessly to push this project forward. Why stand in her way? Better to let her have this win, make things easy for her, and watch from the sidelines. Mila was curious to see just what Giselle hoped to accomplish, especially since she'd gone so far as to take the risk of collaborating with Forrest, all to get this project greenlit.

Given her past experience with Giselle, she doubted there was anything good behind it.

But Mila was done playing defense. Before she could resolve the tangled mess with the Montgomery family, Lysander, and Cossio, she needed to wrap up her own feud with Giselle and the Harvey family. The sooner she disentangled herself, the sooner she could bow out for good.

Now that Giselle was so eager and willing to walk right into the trap, why not seize the opportunity? Of course, she couldn't make it too easy. That would only raise suspicion.

Staring at the project proposal on her screen, Mila's expression remained calm as she finally spoke: "Approved, but with conditions. The proposed R&D budget is far too high. Costs need to be trimmed, and the timeline shortened as well." Fifty million dollars? Giselle certainly knew how to ask for the moon.

"And what do you think is reasonable?" Conrad's voice cthrough the receiver.

"Ten million," Mila replied after a quick mental calculation. "That's just for the initial phase. In a month's time, we need to see tangible results-something that can be evaluated. If the project falls short or exceeds the projected costs, we pull the plug, no questions asked. If it meets expectations, we can discuss further investment." Conrad considered this for a moment. "Alright." Shortly after hanging up, Mila received a message from Cara, who was handling affairs at headquarters in her absence: her proposal had passed unanimously at the board meeting.

Giselle's project had been officially approved. In a month, it would have to pass its first milestone review. One more thing off Mila's plate.

With that settled, Mila closed the project file on her screen and returned to refining her wedding dress sketches- her true passion and the real foundation of her career.

In the president's office at Falcon Technologies, Giselle was a bundle of nerves. She'd pushed most of her workload onto her secretary, pacing as she waited for the call.

When her phone finally rang, she snatched it up, listened for a moment, and then broke into a broad grin. "Thank you, Mr. McKenna... Don't worry, you'll be well compensated... Yes, absolutely..." A few more pleasantries and she hung up, exhaling in relief. After a brief hesitation, she dialed Forrest.

He'd kept his promise and recruited the team. If she wanted their partnership to continue smoothly, she had to hold up her end of the bargain.

It took a while for Forrest to answer. His tone was cold. "What is it?" "Nothing urgent," Giselle replied, pausing before launching into a lengthy thank you. She assured him the project had gone through, and promised to formalize his share of the profits in the contract.

"I don't need that," Forrest replied evenly. "What I want is for you to keep your word about helpingwith her. How do you plan to do that?" The fact that he brought it up himself made Giselle relax a little. She preferred when people stated their needs-it meant they could be leveraged. As long as someone wanted something, they had a weakness; it made cooperation much more predictable.

Her tone grew lighter. "Honestly, the biggest problem between you and Mila is that you've known each other too long she's too used to you ne .n

What you need is a catalyst, something to shake up herc om perception and make her see you from a new angle. Once that happens, the rest will fall into place." One step at a time.

She did have faster, more effective methods in mind, but she wasn't about to share those-not with M Forrest. She didn't fully trust him yet. If he got what he wanted too easily, who's to say he wouldn't turnaround and ditch her for someone else?

The contract was ironclad, but Forrest could easily afford the M e penalty fees. And besides, she wasn't ready to burn that bridge just yet.

No sense giving away every advantage.

There was a pause on the other end before Forrest spoke again his voice less flat, almost thoughtful. "Go on."