Chapter 4
“I do.”
“We’re not close.” I lied with a straight face. “We barely have any interaction. How
could we be close?”
“He’s a bit picky, but it’s a great opportunity for you to grow.” Jessica casually pushed a client file into my hand, all the while wearing a look of a mentor who knew best. “Young people need to take on challenges to get ahead, don’t they?”
Well, well, well. So, he knew I’d been lying from the start! And still, he played along, pretending not to notice!
After a while, I decided to break the silence. “How did you know it was me?”
I forced a smile. “Of course not. It’s fine.”
Sure enough, when I reached my desk, Jessica was already there. As soon as she saw me, she smiled.
Before me, there was another talented new designer who had been “nurtured” by Jessica in the same way. She was assigned all the most difficult clients, tormented day in and day out, and finally quit from burnout.
She didn’t buy it. “But I thought I saw you two in the conference room yesterday…” She hesitated, then added, “It wasn’t just me; a lot of people in the office saw it too.”
“Okay, okay, we won’t break up.”
Everyone knew what had happened, but Alexander didn’t push the matter further in public. Instead, he gave her a long, piercing look. “Don’t let it happen again.”
People around us exchanged looks, avoiding getting involved in the standoff between the CEO and the Design Director.
“Emma, the CEO and all the execs are watching you. You should make a good impression.”
He led me to an empty conference room, closed the door, and then fell silent.
Did I?
4 Chapter 4
Jessica hesitated, trying to save face. “I wasn’t forcing her. She wanted to take on the challenge herself.”
I was thinking of saying something to ease the tension when I suddenly saw a big drop of water fall.
So, we stood there in silence, each of us lost in our thoughts. I was wondering how to explain my situation, and he seemed to be trying to figure out how to explain his
actions.
Jessica blinked in surprise, quickly plastering on a smile. “Oh, Alexander, you’re here! This client is demanding, but it’s a great challenge for Emma.”
I reached out and took his hand.
“Good.” She looked relieved but then, almost casually, asked, “By the way, what’s the relationship between you and Alexander? He seems to care about you a lot.”
Alexander didn’t seem to expect me to be so straightforward. He looked up in surprise, then lowered his head, his expression like that of a child caught doing something wrong. “Last time, at your desk. I saw your Facebook screen. Your profile picture and
name were the same as ‘Ems’.”
The moment Alexander appeared, I knew there was trouble. As he pulled me away, I instinctively tried to pull back, but after a brief hesitation, I followed him.
I was speechless. “I see.”
Once again, we fell into silence.
Before I could react, it seemed like he couldn’t hold it in anymore. Tears started
pouring down his face, and as he wiped his eyes frantically, he choked out, “Can we not break up?”
“What?” I froze for a moment. “This client…”
Jessica’s smile faltered, and she was about to say something else when Alexander grabbed my wrist and turned to leave.
He seemed startled at first but quickly recovered and squeezed my hand tightly, sniffling. “Do you still… have any feelings for me?”
I felt miserable inside, but with all the VPS watching, and Jessica smiling expectantly, I
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had no choice but to play along.
Alexander, however, looked at her with a serious expression. “Her strength is in
creative work, not in dealing with difficult clients. Transfer this account to the client services department.”
My heart fell.
He probably felt like he had acted too impulsively.
I looked up in confusion-wait, why was he crying?
It was Alexander.
“So you were sure it was me then?”
I steeled myself, preparing to accept the task.
But a strong man’s tears are a woman’s greatest weakness.
But…
“Emma.” She walked over with a grin. “Sorry about yesterday. I might have been a bit pushy. You’re not mad, right?”
I glanced at him secretly. His face seemed full of regret.
Weren’t we back together?
The moment the question left my mouth, I realized what was going on-so last time, when he was asking about my birthday and name in the car, he was just testing me.
That was last year. I never imagined I’d be next in line so soon.
I looked at him, confused.
I didn’t know before. But now…
Just then, a hand reached over and took the file from my hand. “This client isn’t a good fit for her.”
The next day at the office, I noticed my coworkers were looking at me strangely. Seeing him so pitiful, eyes red and swollen, I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.
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As if reading my thoughts, he hesitated and said, “Also, our company’s Wi-Fi logs… I
can see device access records. I… I looked up your device name.”
