Chapter 6
When he spoke, he grabbed my face, forcing me to look up.
Flowered my gaze, unsure of how to respond.
For a moment the entire office fell into silence.
Then he suddenly let out a sneer. His grip on my face was painful as he asked, “What’s wrong! You’ve moved on already? Fallen for Ashton? I bet you paid quite a price to get his help, didn’t you?”
1 pried his hand off and rubbed my aching cheek, feeling irritated. “What does that have to do with you?”
“When did you hook up with him? His face was cold as he questioned me.
I was growing impatient. “Harlan, don’t you think you are overstepping?”
He let out a sharp, humarless laugh. “Charlene, will you be with anyone who has money??
I didn’t want to argue with him and simply nodded perfunctorily. “Yes”
His eyes instantly clouded over, his expression stormy. Then, he suddenly grabbed the back of my head, as if about to kiss me.
His familiar scent flooded my senses. My heartbeat stuttered, but I quickly came to
to my senses and shoved him away with all my strength.
His gaze turned frigid as he stared at me intensely
I lowered my eyes, refusing to look at him, and said calmly. “If you want to have sex, perhaps you should go
go find Tamara.
I heard him let out a cold laugh, as if on
in the verge of losing his temper.
I added, “We’re already over. Mr. Shannon, you wouldn’t go back on your own words, would your
His lips pressed into a tight line, the fury in his eyes forcibly suppressed
I didn’t understand why he was mad–he was the one who ended our relationship, the or
one who found someone new.
I had no interest in continuing this conversation. Turning away, I pushed open the office door.
Just as it was about to close behind me, I heard him murmur under his breath, “Charlene, you really are something else.”
I ignored him and returned to my desk.
Seeing that I was back, Tamara’s pale face finally regained some color.
I had just opened my computer when she leaned in with a simile. “Charlene, what were you and 1 Harlan talking about?”
I glanced at her. “Want to know! Go ask him yourself”
Her smile froze for a moment, but she quickly recovered. “Clurlene, don’t be so harsh, I didn’t mean to offend you. I just wonder if Harlan scolded
you
Her tone carried a hint of smugness. “If he did, I’ll go yell at him right now”
Her clutter was giving me a headache. I knew exactly what she was doing the just wanted to flaunt her special status in front of me.
It was a childish trick, and I had no time for it.
—
When I didnt respond, she seemed to sense the awkwardness and quietly returned to her own desk.
1 let out a sigh of relief and focused on reviewing the proposal.
If everything went as expected, this project wouldn’t end up in Tamara’s hands. If I could refine it a bit more, maybe I’d even earn a bigger bonus I really needed manry
But I hadn’t enjoyed the prace for long when. Tamara came over, clutching a folder. She spoke tonally. “Charlene, do you have a moment Coali
Before i could answer, the continued on her own “Charlene, could you go over the proposal with me! I don’t want to be caught off guard if the Regal Corporationi representative asks me questions*
alue spoke, hurr expression turned pinful. “It only you had explained in me earlier, I wouldnt have embarrassed myself so much in the offse
6:54 PM
Chapter 6
I raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Are you blaming me now?”
She maintained her innocent, timid demeanor, staring at me as if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, but her words were infuriating. “I’m not blaming you, Charlene. It’s just didn’t you know they might ask questions!”
I couldn’t help but laugh in anger, my eyes narrowing coldly. Tamara, let’s get one thing straight. I’m the one who wrote the proposal, and you’re nothing more than a leech stealing my hard work. What gives you the right to blame me?”
Her face turned pale, and her eyes instantly reddened, as if I had said something unforgivable.
“I didn’t mean to blame you, Charlene, I just—I just wanted to do a good job on this project and not embarrass Lunaris Corporation,” she said.
As she spoke, tears streamed down her face,
giving
her a pitiful, bear streaked appearance.
I noticed many of the men in the office were now looking at me with disapproval
I didn’t respond. Tamara wiped her tears and took a step closer, her voice trembling with grievance. “Charlene, targeting me won’t help this collaboration succeed”
Her words implied that I had deliberately set her up to fail.
Suppressing my irritation, 1 said, “Tamara, you can’t just take something that’s not yours. Even if I explain every detail of it to you, you’d still be a leech.”
my voice, but the office was so quiet that everyone heard me.
To be fair, I hadn’t raised my
Under everyone’s gaze, Tamara’s face turned as white as a sheet, and her cars fell even harder.
She turned and ran out of the office, sobbing
I had no time to chase after her. My attention was firmly on refining the proposal
But before I could finish. Harlan’s call came through.
I stared at the caller ID. feeling utterly annoyed.
Was Harlan coming to her rescue again?
But since he was my boss, I had no choice but to answer his call.
To my surprise, the first thing Harlan said wasn’t an accusation, but a calm question about whether I was free tonight.
I felt a bit confused but answered truthfully, “Yes”
He hummed in response. “Prepare yourself then. Come over to give me a check–up tonight.”
I paused, not quite processing it, but Harlan had already hung up.
I didn’t pay much attention to it. As long as he wasn’t causing trouble, that was for the best
After I figured out the parts of the proposal that needed refining. Tamara came back,
Her eyes were swollen and red, and she sat down without saying a word. Inst
Instead, she started crying while looking at the proposal.
I ignored her, made a copy of the revised proposal, and then deleted the original file from my computer
It was a habit of mine to prevent anyone from stealing my work.
Chrice everything was sorted, I headed home.
After getting things ready. I grabbed the medicine kit and went to Harlan’s place.
I still had a key to his apartment. As soon as I opened the door, the smell of smoke hit me,
Frowning. I walked inside. Harlan was sitting on the sofa, and his ashtray was full of cigarette butts.
how many he’d smoked
Which ar
me, be lazily stubbed out the cigarette and said, “Let’s begin”
I nodded and look out the ethoscope from the kit. He complied by undoing the buttons of his shirt
muscles were exposed to my view, and 1 quickly looked away, sitting beside him and placing the stethoscope on his chest.
Chapter 6
The stethoscope was a bit cold, causing his chest muscles to twitch slightly.
As I listened to his steady heartbeat, I heard him softly ask, “How long have you and Ashton been together?”
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