I Was His Wife, Then His Widow, Then No One's But My Own novel Chapter 164

Pushed back gently, Seraphina stumbled half a step, grabbing the edge of a nearby desk to steady herself. Her tone flared with indignation.

"Nora, don't push your luck. Outside this room, I am with Finnegan, and you shouldn't be so disrespectful to me. In our personal lives, I demand respect, and at work, I'm your senior colleague. You questioned my competence in front of all these people, and you won't even offer a single word of apology?"

Seeing the atmosphere turn completely rigid, a few colleagues chimed in to smooth things over, though their words clearly favored Seraphina.

"It's just a minor disagreement. Dr. Newman, just apologize and let it go."

"Dr. Shaw is a reasonable person. If you just yield a little, she'll drop it."

"It was Nora who was too sensitive to begin with. The data isn't terribly flawed. Now she's making it unpleasant for everyone."

Standing in the middle of the crowd, Nora looked down at the data report in her hand. A triumphant smile was already blooming on Seraphina's face.

Suddenly, Nora slammed the report onto the desk, silencing the murmurs.

She turned toward the simulator in the corner of the lab. "Fine! You want to know what severe consequences this minor discrepancy will bring? We have the simulator right here. Let's plug the data in and see exactly what happens."

Seraphina raised an eyebrow, completely dismissive. She let out a laugh. "Is this how you plan to embarrass yourself? Sure, I'll give you the chance.

"But let's be clear first. If nothing happens, a simple apology won't cut it. You questioned my competence in front of everyone today and wasted our time. If the simulation proves you wrong, you have to make a formal, public apology to the entire institute."

Nora pulled out the chair in front of the simulator and sat down, tossing a casual "Fine" over her shoulder.

Standing behind her, Seraphina crossed her arms again. She glanced down at the data report on the desk, a confident smile tugging at her lips.

The expressions of the colleagues gathered behind them grew increasingly grim.

The researcher who had just spoken up for Seraphina pressed his lips into a thin line. Someone gasped.

Seraphina's arms had dropped to her sides at some point without her realizing. She stared at the screen, her triumphant smile frozen in place.

Nora finished typing the last line of data and stopped.

Her tone was remarkably flat. "If we push forward with this parameter model, the error margin will breach the safety threshold by the third iteration. By the fourth iteration, the entire data set crashes. All the foundational validation we did before will be null and void. This isn't paranoia, nor is it making a mountain out of a molehill. This is three weeks of workload, almost destroyed by a microscopic deviation that went unnoticed."

The lab plunged into absolute silence. No one dared to speak.