Sophia Shaw thought for a moment. She vaguely remembered Old Master Sloan mentioning that his wife’s surname was Vaughn.
Seraphina Vaughn’s surname came from her.
"Okay."
Vincent Grant got into a car first and left.
Sophia Shaw watched the car drive away, her heart feeling heavy.
’It felt like she owed Vincent Grant yet another favor.’
Sophia Shaw took the cloud silk to the Shaw family home.
Her grandmother hugged the silk scarf tightly, tears streaming down her face as she murmured softly, "Brianna..."
Brianna Shaw had woven this cloud silk scarf by hand.
Before she met Chad Jennings, she had studied under a famous master and specialized in the restoration of high-end textiles.
Once, there was an excavated artifact that needed restoration, but they found it impossible to repair it to be as light and thin as the original.
Brianna Shaw and her master researched it together, personally raising silkworms and constantly experimenting.
Later, they discovered the real reason was that modern silkworms were too plump, and the silk they produced was heavier than ancient silk.
After several more years, the two finally managed to raise silkworms of the same size as those from ancient times, successfully solving the issue of the silk’s weight.
After restoring the artifact, Brianna Shaw used the leftover silk to weave two scarves. She gave one to her master and the other to her grandmother.
Her grandmother cherished it immensely.
When Brianna Shaw passed away, this cloud silk scarf became her grandmother’s only memento.
But then, in an accident, the cloud silk was stolen.
For her grandmother, it was as if she had lost her daughter all over again, and she even fell gravely ill because of it.
The cloud silk became a constant ache in her heart, something she mentioned all the time.
Now that Brianna Shaw’s name was cleared, finding the cloud silk became her grandmother’s final wish. She wanted to be wearing it when she went to see her daughter after she passed.
Now that the cloud silk had been found, her grandmother’s wish was finally fulfilled.
Her grandmother gripped Sophia Shaw’s hand tightly. "Faye, Grandma can finally face your mother when I see her again."
Sophia Shaw’s eyes filled with tears, and she hugged her grandmother.
June Evans, Leah Evans, and Yancy Shaw stood by their side, and seeing the two of them cry, their own eyes reddened.
Everyone present had been touched by Brianna Shaw’s kindness. In their hearts, she was the sister they respected most.
Since Bun was at home, Sophia Shaw couldn’t stay for long. Yancy Shaw walked her out.
"Faye, thank you for all your hard work. And thank you," Yancy Shaw said sincerely.
He couldn’t help but sigh.
"Your uncle should have been the one taking care of you, but now, you’re the one taking care of everyone."
Yancy Shaw was proud to have such an outstanding niece, but at the same time, he felt rather incompetent.
"Uncle, you took care of me for so many years, helped me get treatment for my illness, gave me the best opportunities for school, and for Mom’s sake... you delayed starting your own family for so long. You’ve already done so much."
Sophia Shaw had always been deeply grateful to Yancy Shaw.
"If it weren’t for you, I’m afraid I would have died long ago at the Jennings family’s home."
At the mention of this, Yancy Shaw was still filled with hatred.
"When I went to see you back then, you were nothing but skin and bones. There was no life in your eyes. It scared me to death."
"Faye, all these years, you’ve never said what happened back then. Do you still plan to keep it from your uncle?"
In the beginning, Sophia Shaw was so ill that she couldn’t possibly speak of what she had been through.
Later, as her condition improved, she had to face a demanding academic workload, and Yancy Shaw didn’t dare to press her for details.
But not asking didn’t mean he didn’t care.
It had always been a scar on Yancy Shaw’s heart, one that ached at the slightest touch.
"Uncle, please give me some more time, okay?"
Even now, Sophia Shaw only dared to recall that time in fleeting moments.
That period had been too painful, overwhelmingly oppressive.
There was another reason she never spoke of it.
She didn’t want her uncle and aunt to be sad because of these things again.
Because of her mother, they had already endured enough pain.
"Okay."
How could Yancy Shaw possibly bring himself to force her? He nodded gently.
Sophia Shaw changed the subject. "Did the Grant Group agree to cancel the collaboration?"
"They did," Yancy Shaw nodded. "They were very straightforward about it and didn’t even ask why."
The more straightforward they were, the more uneasy Yancy Shaw felt. He looked at Sophia Shaw and opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.
When Sophia Shaw returned to her apartment, she saw Joel Hale standing downstairs.
She walked over. "Is Vincent Grant all right?"
"Just some superficial injuries," Joel Hale answered truthfully.
He then continued, "Miss Shaw, I’d like to ask you a favor. Seeing as I helped you find the cloud silk, could you please not mention to President Grant that I was the one who told you to find President Abbott tonight?"
Sophia Shaw chuckled lightly.
She understood what Joel Hale was getting at.
"I can agree to that. However, Assistant Hale, Vincent Grant is no fool. Just because he isn’t looking into certain things right now doesn’t mean he never will."
Having said what needed to be said, Sophia Shaw nodded and walked past him upstairs.
「A month passed in the blink of an eye.」
Sophia Shaw received an invitation from the Grant Group for a new system launch. They were releasing a quantum-classical hybrid computing architecture called LS.
It was designed to use quantum computing units to handle complex decision-making.
It was the very system Old Master Sloan had given to Vincent Grant.
LS stood for Liu and Sloan.
Vincent Grant had cleverly combined the surnames of Old Master Sloan and the woman he had loved, making it deeply meaningful.
When Sophia Shaw arrived at the launch event, the venue, which could hold over ten thousand people, was already packed to the brim—a sea of heads from a distance.
Her seat was in the front row. Besides her, the row was filled with neatly seated bigwigs from renowned tech companies.
Jenson Forrest was among them.
Seeing Sophia Shaw, Jenson Forrest nodded, a barely perceptible softness crossing his refined features. "Long time no see."
Sophia Shaw responded politely and took a seat beside him.
Murmurs of discussion rose from all around, the soft whispers flooding her ears like a tide:
"Ever since the Grant Group conquered the 3nm chip, their momentum has been unstoppable. The company was still losing money before, but in just a few short months, its market value has skyrocketed more than tenfold!"
"The 3nm chip is at the forefront of international technology. Right now, besides Invicta, the Grant Group is the only company in the world that can produce it!"
"Invicta is a veteran chip company, an industry leader, and they have financial backing from Mador, so it’s no surprise they achieved 3nm. But the Grant Group is different. They only entered the chip industry a little over a year ago, and they’ve already caught up to the top dog. It’s legendary!"
Sophia Shaw pressed her lips together, listening quietly.
Even though she had been completely absorbed in her own work recently, it was impossible to avoid hearing news about the Grant Group.
The Grant Group had compressed twenty years of Invicta’s progress into two. It was nothing short of a miracle.
In the world of tech and business, Vincent Grant was truly unrivaled.
"He’s still so... dazzling." Jenson Forrest’s voice carried a trace of helpless bitterness.
"Are you also here because you were drawn in by all this?"
Even when he had briefly taken the lead, Vincent Grant would always surpass him with ease. The gap in their natural talent was utterly frustrating.
Sophia Shaw shook her head gently. "Not entirely. This system was developed by my mentor."
Jenson Forrest was stunned for a moment.
Then, his smile grew even more bitter.
"I heard that to modify this system, Vincent Grant has been living at the company for the past month. He hasn’t done that since he first started his business."
"I was wondering what kind of system could captivate him so much. So it turns out..."
It wasn’t the system Vincent Grant was captivated by, but the person behind it.
’In this contest, it seemed he was destined to lose.’