After seeing them off, the smile on Naomi's face vanished in an instant. She turned and looked at me coldly. "What's gotten into you today, Kieran? Ms. Ellington asked you a question. Why didn't you answer? Were you trying to embarrass Matthias?"

Before I could respond, Matthias walked over to Naomi with an aggrieved look on his face. "Naomi, please don't blame Mr. Whitlock. It's all my fault. My abilities are lacking, and I've embarrassed you."

He hung his head, as though he had suffered a grave injustice. "I only wanted to ease your workload. I didn't think… I'd mess things up."

Naomi's heart immediately went out to him. Glaring at me, her voice was filled with an irrepressible rage. "Kieran! Did you hear that? You're a long-time employee, yet you aren't even as considerate or sensible as a new recruit!

"As the company director, not only did you refuse to guide a newcomer, but you also tripped him up and suppressed him right in front of an outsider! Are you really that narrow-minded?"

Looking at the scene before me, I found it utterly laughable. I took a deep breath, suppressed the irritation in my chest, and tried to explain myself as calmly as possible.

"Ms. Prescott, I believe that in front of our partners, we should first and foremost demonstrate professionalism rather than personal sentiments. Ms. Ellington is here to see what we're capable of, not to watch us fight among ourselves."

"You…" Naomi was stumped, and her face flushed crimson.

Without sparing her another glance, I turned to my team. "All of you can head back. You've worked hard, so you can leave early today."

With that, I walked straight toward my office.

Matthias' voice rang out behind me, choked full of emotions. "Forget it, Naomi. Mr. Whitlock's right. I'm the one who isn't professional enough. I'll work harder from now on…"

I shut my office door, sealing out their voices. I sat down, closed my eyes, and massaged my aching temples.

For seven years, I had stood by Naomi's side, fighting our way from a scrappy ten-person workshop to the powerhouse we had become. I had thought we weren't just spouses, but also comrades-in-arms in the business world who could trust one another implicitly.

However, after Matthias appeared, she changed.

Naomi had started bringing Matthias to the office frequently. Employees who were unaware had even mistaken them for a married couple. Several times, I'd reminded her to be mindful of her status, but each time, she'd rebuked me, claiming I was being petty and narrow-minded.

Catching a reminder on my phone, I suddenly remembered I had an appointment with a client today. But as soon as I stepped out of my office, Matthias got in my way.

"Mr. Whitlock, you're so experienced and capable. There's still so much I need to learn from you." He lowered his head, but the words coming out of his mouth were laced with sarcasm. "It's just… it seems like you've gotten the wrong idea about me, Mr. Whitlock. Usually, you don't seem very willing to mentor me."

As soon as he finished speaking, several sympathetic gazes were cast my way. He looked exactly like a proactive, ambitious newcomer who was constantly being suppressed by a senior like me.

Naomi, who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion, looked even colder than before. The way she looked at me shifted from dissatisfaction to utter disappointment.

"Kieran Whitlock," she said, using my full name as we moved to the conference room. "Matthias is new. He's an intern. As the director, isn't it your responsibility to mentor him? The company isn't a one-man show; you have to give young people opportunities!"

At long last, it was my turn to speak. My voice was calm and emotionless. "Ms. Prescott, my team is built on merit, not connections. If you want me to mentor him, he needs to prove he's capable first."

A flicker of resentment flashed through Matthias' eyes, but he hastily put on an aggrieved look again. "I know I'm lacking, Mr. Whitlock. I'll work harder."

He turned toward Naomi and choked out, "Please don't blame Mr. Whitlock, Naomi. It's entirely my fault for being mediocre."

Naomi's heart ached for him. She walked over to Matthias' side and gently patted his shoulder to comfort him. That gesture alone caused the air in the conference room to freeze over.

"I'm very disappointed in you, Kieran," she said, holding my gaze. "From tomorrow onward, Matthias will be taking over Project Polaris, and you'll assist him."

Project Polaris was the company's most important overseas acquisition this year. I'd worked on it for an entire year and had successfully negotiated every single harsh clause. Now, at the very last moment, she wanted me to hand it over to an intern who couldn't even understand a financial statement?

I guffawed. This was truly ridiculous.

I looked at Naomi, the woman I had shared instant noodles with for a year, lived in a basement with for three, and helped rise to the position of CEO with my own hands. How could she have turned into someone like this?

"Ms. Prescott." I stood up and slowly straightened the cuff of my suit. "I'll say this one last time. My team does not support dead weight."

Then, without sparing another glance at her or Matthias, who stood beside her with a glint in his eyes, I turned and left.

Naomi's angry voice rang out behind me. "Who do you think you're giving an attitude to, Kieran Whitlock? If you don't want to work here, leave!"

I yanked the ID badge from around my neck and tossed it into the trash can. "Fine by me."

I returned to my office and started packing my belongings. In truth, there wasn't much to pack. Over the years, I had poured my entire heart and soul into the company, leaving me with a pitiful amount of personal belongings.

Julian Navarro, one of my subordinates, rushed in after me and clamped his hand over mine. "Kieran, are you really leaving?"

His eyes were red. "What's going to happen to the company? What will we do without you?"

I patted him on the shoulder. "Jules, remember, the world doesn't stop for anyone. However, some people, once torn from the soil that nurtures them, are nothing but weeds left to wither."

I placed a USB drive into his hand. "This contains all of my project reviews and client data backups over the years. There are things in there that will prove useful to you. As for everything else, it's out of our hands."

Less than an hour after I left, Naomi's decision was announced to the entire company via an internal email. I, Kieran Whitlock, had been relieved of my position as investment director for undermining team collaboration. The position will be temporarily filled by Matthias, an intern assistant to the CEO.

The second the email hit inboxes, the whole company erupted. I simply sat quietly in my cleared-out office, waiting for the final document—the handover document.

Matthias walked in with the stride of a victor. The human resource representative followed behind him.

He tossed a document onto my desk, raising his chin so high it was practically touching the ceiling. "Sign it, Kieran. Once you hand over Project Polaris, you can scram!"

I picked up the document. It was the final quotation contract for Project Polaris. All it required was my signature, followed by the corporate seal, before it could be officially sent to the other party.

I reviewed the pages carefully. The preceding clauses were all terms I had negotiated word for word, so I knew them by heart. But when I reached the price column on the last page, my pupils dilated in an instant.

I looked up at Matthias. My voice wasn't loud, but every single person in the office could hear me clearly. "The total project value is one billion dollars, Matthias. Why on earth did you fill in ten billion?"

Matthias' triumphant expression froze, and immediately, a layer of cold sweat beaded on his forehead as the color drained from his face. He lunged forward, attempting to snatch the contract from my hands. "W-What kind of nonsense are you talking about?"

I tilted my wrist, easily avoiding his grab. "There's a nine-billion-dollar discrepancy. Do you want the company to go bankrupt?"

Flustered and driven to a rage by his own embarrassment, he slammed his hand on my desk and bellowed, "What the fuck are you trying to say, Kieran? Naomi put me in charge of this contract! You've already been fired, so what right do you have to go snooping through it?"

He seemed to have forgotten that only minutes ago, he had asked me to sign off on the handover. His twisted logic made me so exasperated that I chuckled. "Matthias, is your head filled with nothing but air?"

My words stung his fragile self-esteem. His eyes darted around before he abruptly raised his voice. "I get it now. You're just jealous. You're jealous that Naomi promoted me! So, you're intentionally nitpicking on the contract because you want to drive me out of the company!"

His loud voice successfully drew the attention of all the employees outside who had been craning their necks to watch the drama unfold.

It also drew Naomi, who came rushing over the moment she heard the commotion. Like a gust of wind, she burst into my office and shot daggers at me without even bothering to ask what had happened.

"That's enough, Kieran!" Her voice was shaking a little from how angry she was. "You're no longer part of this company. Why are you still making things difficult for Matthias?"

I handed her the contract. "I hope you won't regret this, Ms. Prescott."

Matthias, who was hiding behind her, poked half of his head out and lowered his voice, whispering venomously at a volume only the three of us could hear, "Naomi, do you see it now? He's doing all this just to prove the company can't run without him!"

That was the final straw that broke the camel's back.

Naomi took a deep breath, and when she spoke again, the last trace of hesitation had vanished from her eyes, replaced by a cold, unwavering resolve. "I won't regret any of my decisions, Kieran. Please leave my company right this instant!"

I nodded slowly. "Very well. I'm the one who built Celestial Group from the ground up. I'd like to see how you manage it without me."

I took one last look at Naomi's pallid face and Matthias' grin. Under the complicated gazes of the staff—many of whom were reveling in my misfortune—I walked out of the company.

Naomi was still unaware that the scale the company reached today was entirely due to my hard work and sacrifice. I genuinely wanted to see how she would manage to keep her company running after losing its backbone.