Chapter 295: We Need Evidence!

Only after they settled into the car did Sienna finally turn toward him, unable to contain her curiosity any longer.

"You already promoted it?"

"Yes. It’s my duty as a husband to help you..." Zachary said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I assigned all my best friends to come here for the opening, and I asked them to bring their business partners too."

He continued with a small smile, "So, you need to be prepared. This place might become a new hangout for those wealthy heirs in the city."

Sienna couldn’t help but smile. She understood why he had been so confident when she asked him to help promote the café. He had already taken care of everything before she even asked.

"Thank you, honey. You’re the best..."

Her happiness was genuine. Without thinking too much about it, Sienna threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly.

Zachary caught her easily, wrapping his arms around her as she rested against him.

The warmth of Zachary’s embrace and the happiness of having him beside her pushed all the earlier frustration out of her mind. For a while, she forgot about Jessica Simmons entirely.

Zachary seemed happy to see her smiling again. He held her close, enjoying the moment with his wife. But soon after, his expression shifted, and his voice grew more serious.

"How do you want me to punish that woman?"

Sienna, who had been comfortably resting against him, heard the question above her.

She slowly pulled herself away and sat straight. Her eyes remained on Zachary’s face, and she immediately noticed the sorrow and pain in his gaze.

"You mean Jessica?"

Zachary nodded.

Sienna studied him for a moment before giving him a gentle smile. She slowly shook her head.

"You don’t need to do that," she said. "What you said over the phone already made me happy, and that woman heard everything clearly from you. So, that’s enough for me. I don’t want to waste another second thinking or discussing it."

Zachary sighed. He reached for Sienna’s hand and held it tightly, his thumb gently brushing over the back of her hand.

"You’re so kind, Sienna."

Sienna smiled at him, but she quickly shook her head.

"I’m not that kind. I just don’t want to waste my energy thinking about that woman." Her expression became sincere as she continued, "She’s nobody in our lives. I don’t want to give her more importance than she deserves."

Her words were simple, but they were enough to soften Zachary’s expression.

He looked at her for a few seconds, clearly understanding what she meant. His wife wasn’t trying to defend Jessica, nor was she forgiving what had happened. She just didn’t want someone from the past taking up space in her marriage.

"Alright," Zachary finally said. "I listened to you. I won’t do anything to punish her just because she came to confront you."

Sienna squeezed his hand gently.

"That’s all I want."

Zachary looked at their joined hands before lifting his gaze back to her. His expression was still serious, but the tension in his eyes had eased.

"As long as you’re happy, I’ll let it go."

Sienna smiled warmly at him. "I am happy."

And this time, she meant it. With Zachary beside her, she no longer wanted to think about Jessica, her questions, or the reason she had appeared at the café. Whatever happened next, Sienna knew she had her husband standing firmly by her side.

...

At Cresswell Group, Kevin Richardson sat on the sofa in his office with four key directors from Cresswell Technology: the Technical Strategy Manager, Finance Director, Marketing Director, and Legal Director.

The atmosphere in the room was tense, and everyone stayed unusually quiet as they watched Kevin sit in silence, tapping his index finger against the table as if deep in thought.

After a few seconds, Kevin finally looked up and fixed his gaze on the Tech strategy manager. His forehead creased slightly as he asked, "Are you certain that Sterling Tech has a proposal similar to ours?"

The Manager took a deep breath before answering. "Yes, sir. That’s what we found. It isn’t an exact match, but the underlying concept is identical."

"Unbelievable," the Legal Director said, his expression becoming serious. "How could they have the same concept as us? Did someone from your team leak it?"

"I share the same suspicion," the Finance Director added with a nod. "Still, I can’t believe such a huge company would resort to something like this just to prevent us from getting the project."

Kevin turned toward the Finance Director, his expression remaining calm despite the tension in the room. "We can’t conclude that they stole our concept without proof. We need evidence before we make that accusation."

"That’s true. We need evidence," the Legal Director agreed.

The Manager, who now found himself under pressure from everyone in the room, could only offer a bitter smile. He understood why they were suspicious, but his department hadn’t found enough information to confirm anything.

"Sir," he said, looking directly at Kevin, "my department is still investigating whether they really stole our idea or it’s just pure coincidence."

"How long?" Kevin asked calmly, although his eyes clearly showed his displeasure.

"I’ll have an answer for you by the end of the day," the Manager promised confidently.

"Good. Because tomorrow is our turn to present our proposal to those military officials," Kevin said coldly. "We need to make sure we don’t lose this project."

His gaze moved from one director to another, making sure they understood how serious the situation was. Finally, his eyes settled on the Tech Strategy Manager again.

"Until then, I want your team to find out exactly what happened. If someone leaked our proposal, I want to know who did it and how Sterling Tech obtained the information. We can’t afford to walk into tomorrow’s presentation without knowing what we’re dealing with."

"Yes, sir," the Manager replied firmly.

Kevin leaned back slightly before continuing, "All right, I won’t hold you guys here any longer. Return to your departments and settle this matter."

"Yes, sir," everyone answered at the same time.

The four directors stood and left the room, their expressions still serious as they walked through the door. Kevin watched them leave without saying anything else. Once the door closed behind them, the office finally became quiet.