Chapter 19 She Still Couldn’t Let Him in
Chapter 19 She Still Couldn’t Let Him Go
The mood in the technical department was grim.
On the central wall, the Firmament System’s performance graph plunged straight off a cliff, enough to make anyone’s stomach drop.
A ring of engineers crowded the main console, fingers flying over keyboards, but nothing they tried made
a dent.
“Ms. Becker, this isn’t sustainable! The core database is seconds from a full lock,” one senior developer
called out.
Camelia’s brow stayed pinched. “I’ve tried every repair path we have, but there’s deep encryption on the lower layers. The second I roll back data, the system trips a stronger countermeasure.”
That took the wind out of the room. People exchanged looks that said the same thing-this was bad.
Right then, Rosalie walked in with a young engineer. Lucian was a few steps behind them. His eyes went to Camelia on reflex.
Camelia hurried to Rosalie. “You’re finally here. Thank God! I tried to patch the system, but some of the core modules look like you put special safeties on them. I can’t get past the gate when I operate.”
A few engineers shot Rosalie complicated looks.
Lucian’s expression turned stormy. He moved to Camelia’s side and spoke to Rosalie instead. “This is a mission-critical system. Why would you slap random safeties on it? Undo them and fix this!”
Rosalie smirked, unhurried, her arms crossed. “Mr. Fenwick, Stellar Group cut me. I’m no longer on the payroll. I’m not sure I have the authority to meddle here.”
She paused, then looked at Camelia. “Besides, aren’t you an MIT graduate? A hiccup like this shouldn’t be a problem for you, right?”
“Rosalie!” Lucian’s brows knotted hard. “This is not the time for a tantrum!”
Oddly, the icy stab under his ribs eased as she pushed back. The sharper she was, the more it felt like a cover for the sting of being abandoned by him. If anything, it only proved she still couldn’t let him go.
Thinking of this, he let out a deep sigh.
Just then, a steady but strained voice cut through the tension. “Rosalie, I know you’re angry, but the system comes first. The entire group could grind to a halt if we don’t pull this out of the ditch. Please! Help us get through this, and we can talk later!”
It was Steven Miller, the director of the technical department, a middle-aged programmer in his late 40s.
Rosalie had always respected him. He had mentored her when she first interned at Stellar Group as a freshman.
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When she went full-time and started running projects, he became her strongest second.
Later, when both the director and deputy director jumped ship, she moved up and then pulled Steven into the deputy role.
Even after she stepped back these last six months, she’d handed the reins to him.
Rosalie met Steven’s eyes, and some of the frost in her gaze softened.
“Mr. Miller, you know I built the Firmament System from the ground up. It’s like my own child. I worried about it getting hammered out in the wild, so I added extra layers and locked it down. How is that wrong?
“Now, the child’s sick, and because some people can’t peel back the protective layers, I’m the bad parent for bundling it up too well? Give me a break!”
