Helen’s POV:
Even though the holidays were over, George had still not yet returned. He seemed very busy, but we
would video chat every night without fail. When I returned to work in the law office, I was consumed by
work.
As soon as Mattie came back from abroad after a trip with her parents, she began to bore all her
colleagues with details of her trip. Most of her chat was centered on complaints about her parents’
unreasonable schedules.
While complaining, she handed gifts to each one. Anya’s face betrayed a hint of fatigue. She sat at her
desk for a long time before turning on the laptop Phil was as energetic as ever. He flung a bag on my
table and said, “This is for you.”
“Thank you.” I kindly accepted his gift.
Many people around us exclaimed, “Phil is playing favorites! He only got a gift for Helen!”
Phil didn’t get angry. Instead, he retorted, “Are you guys forgetting how many gifts I got you the last
time?”
The morning passed quickly in chatter and laughter. Lucy wasn’t in town. The night before, when she
video called me, she kept complaining, “Do you know what a big schemer George is? He sent me to
Florida to meet the candidate the first day I returned to work and I’m not allowed to go back to New York
until my job here is done. Does he think that I am so dumb that I don’t know what he is up to?” She held
the pillow and punched it hard. She was venting her anger on the pillow, as if it were George.
“Did you offend him in any way?” I asked out of pure curiosity.
“No! I didn’t offend him. He just feels guilty,” Lucy said sarcastically.
I didn’t understand what she meant, but I still said sensibly, “George doesn’t appear to be a man who
would have a guilty conscience.” George was so shameless and thick-skinned. How could he feel guilty
about anything?
“Well, deep in his heart, he knows the truth.” I have to stay here for at least a week before I can go back.
This candidate is even harder to meet than the president!” Lucy’s complaints didn’t stop.
“Which candidate are you referring to?”
“Dyer Coleman, a professional manager. He is now managing a listed company in Florida, which is
considered as a competitor of Zhester Technology. Zhester Technology wanted to poach him 10 manage
their market operations. I’m telling you, girl! George definitely has a
hidden agenda. He already has an excellent research and marketing team. He does not need to
headhunt a professional manager. I think George just wants to create a crisis of trust in that company by
doing this.
As long as we get in touch with Dyer, I’m sure the senior executives of his company will have the
suspicion that he is ready to work for Zhester Technology.” After a careful analysis, Lucy couldn’t help but
click her tongue. She had reached a logical conclusion. I couldn’t help laughing.
“Dyer is not so stupid. He won’t see you, will he?”
“Yes, that’s why I have to wait outside his company. I must meet him before I go back and report the
work to George.” Lucy complained again in her whining tone before she hung up the phone. In the
evening, I called George and asked casually, “I knew you asked Lucy to go to Florida to find Dyer. Are
you trying to make things difficult for her? What did she do to you?”
George was stunned for a while and smiled. “Do you really believe so? That I did this to torture her for
fun? Truth be told, Dyer is extremely talented in his field. Of course I hope he can join Zhester
Technology. But he has a foul temper and is hard to deal with. Therefore, I asked Lucy to get in touch
with him first.” “Didn’t you stipulate it clearly to her before you asked her to go there? Lucy has
misinterpreted your intentions. She might ruin the whole plan.”
With Lucy’s equally foul temper, it would be difficult for her to persuade Dyer to change his job even if
she came into contact with him.
“No! I know what I’m doing,” George stated confidently. We chatted about random things for a while and
then when we were about to hang up, George suddenly said, “I’ll be back in two days.”
“Okay. See you at Zhester Technology. Soren has set up a meeting for us to discuss the progress and
future arrangements of the case.” After hanging up the phone, I lay on the bed, eagerly looking forward
to meeting George again.
Two days passed in the twinkling of an eye. We attended a meeting held by Zhester Technology early in
the morning. The senior executives of Zhester Technology also attended the meeting since it concerned
the acquisition of the Smart Technology Company.
This was by far the biggest objective of Zhester Technology for the year. I calmly went on the stage and
gave the members present an update on the progress that was made thus far. In the middle of my
speech, to my surprise, the door of the meeting room suddenly opened. All the senior executives of
Zhester Technology looked at the door and then immediately stood up.
“Mr. Affleck.”
I followed everyone’s gaze and saw a tall figure standing at the door. The corners of my mouth perked up
into a smile and my heart started racing. Especially when George passed his gaze directly at me,
bypassing the others. My heart felt like the wheels on a train track.
Joy overflowed in my heart and even the air was suddenly fragranced with red roses. I hadn’t seen him
for only seven days, but those seven days were enough for me to honestly confess what was in my
heart. I was sure that I was infatuated with George. Or perhaps my feelings ran even deeper. The love of
my life was in front of me! However, my joy didn’t last long. My mind drew a blank when I saw the girl
standing behind George. He stepped aside a little and asked the girl behind him to take a step forward
and meet everyone.
“Jane, welcome back!” Boswell greeted her first, breaking the silence in the meeting room and shattering
my heart to smithereens. Jane nodded slightly and strutted into the meeting room with George. She
introduced herself gracefully, “Hello, everyone. I’m Jane Campbell. It’s very nice to meet you all.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a thunderous applause broke out in the meeting room. Everyone
seemed to joyfully welcome her arrival. This was evident in their smiles and curious looks. Only I felt like
the odd one out. My head was in a mess and I could not think straight. As I fixed my eyes on Jane, I
began to feel suffocated. My heart was a rollercoaster of mixed emotions.
Anya quickly reminded me in a low voice, “Helen, go on with your report.”
“Oh yes! Okay.” The appearance of that woman had completely disorientated me. I turned to my laptop,
but my hands kept shaking like leaves in a wintry breeze. I thought the glass of water beside the laptop
was my mouse and I shook it. With a loud bang, the glass was knocked over and the water spilled all
over Mattie who was sitting next to me.
“Ah!” Mattie shrieked and stood up, glaring at me.
“What are you doing?” She wiped her wet clothes with a tissue and accidentally stepped on the power
cord. The screen went black in an instant. Everyone looked at each other and then grimaced at us.
“Helen, are you okay?” Phil noticed my strange behavior and asked with sincere concern. I shook my
head with a bitter smile and asked Anya, “Boss, I’m not feeling well. May I be excused?”
“Yes, you may.” Anya looked at me with such disappointment. I felt as if someone had tuck a knile in my
heart and was slowly turning it
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