Love's Bitter Edge (Eva and Leonard)

The representative gave me a polite smile before stepping into the elevator.

Astrid approached me, her expression dark with frustration. "Anyone with half a brain can see someone's trying to mess with you. Whoever did this clearly doesn't care if the company makes money!"

Though I led the project, the entire design team's involvement meant shared success and shared profits. If the deal fell through, it wasn't just me who would lose out; everyone would.

I turned toward Mackenzie, who noticed and gave an exaggerated scoff. "What are you looking at? Do you think I don't care about the company's success?"

She sneered, her tone sharp, "Don't forget who I am. I want this company to thrive more than anyone else!"

With a haughty glare, she stormed out of the meeting room.

I exchanged a puzzled glance with Astrid. For all of Mackenzie's gloating, she seemed genuinely unaware of the sabotage. And as much as she disliked me, it didn't make sense for her to risk the company's bottom line. So, who tampered with my presentation?

The elevator doors opened again, and Mr. Finnley stepped out, his face clouded with irritation. Seeing me still in the hallway, he snapped, "Why are you standing around? This is an important deal. Go back to work instead of causing trouble for the company!" I held Astrid back before she could fire back at him. "Let's go," I said calmly.

As we walked away, Annie trailed behind us. Once we were out of sight, she pulled me aside.

"You're new here, so you probably don't know this," she said, lowering her voice. "If something goes wrong with the Gray Realty project, the person in charge is responsible for three times the damages. Three times!" She held up three fingers for emphasis.

"Do you know how much money that is? Maybe you shouldn't lead this project. You should let Mr. Finnley take over. He'll make sure nothing goes wrong if his neck is on the line."

Her earnest expression made her seem genuinely concerned for me.

I smiled faintly. "Why the sudden goodwill? Because I didn't push for you to be fired last time?"

I didn't know Annie's true motives, but for now, she didn't seem entirely malicious.

She hesitated, then let out a deep sigh. "Yeah, maybe it's because of that. The company didn't fire me, and I'm grateful to you for that. I'm serious, though. Believe me or not, just be careful. Someone clearly wants to bring you down."

With that, she turned and walked away. Watching her retreating figure, I felt a sense of affirmation. Letting her off the hook seemed to have been the right choice.

...

Back at the office, the atmosphere felt tense. People's eyes lingered on me with an odd mix of curiosity and judgment.

Astrid kept throwing me pointed glances, but I couldn't decipher her message.

Just then, Mr. Finnley emerged from

his office, his expression cold and unyielding. "Rinatta, if you're in charge of this project, you should be meticulous. It's fine to enjoy your personal time, but you should keep your private life out of work. You need to be more professional."This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

I shrugged nonchalantly. "You just said it-it's my personal life. What does that have to do with work? As long as I complete my tasks, it's irrelevant."

Mr. Finnley's expression darkened, and he was clearly on the verge of losing his temper. Before he could, I raised my hand to stop him.

"Mr. Finnley, someone tampered

with my computer and inserted

those photos to frame me. As the supervisor, shouldn't your priority be identifying the culprit? It's a potential risk to our project. Focusing on my private life isn't going to solve anything."