Chapter 4

On my second day in Mapleward, Brian contacted me again.

This time, he made a video call.

On the screen, he had dark circles under his eyes and a crooked tie. He looked as though he had not slept in days.

“Natalie, the overseas account has been frozen.”

“Oh.”

“This is serious! They say the authorization chain is incomplete. If we don’t get them the missing paperwork by this afternoon, the acquisition will fall through.”

I took a sip of coffee.

“Mr. Lynn, you’re talking to the wrong person.”

“Just tell me where the supplementary authorization is.”

“I don’t remember.”

“How can you not remember?”

“Well, that’s because I’m on vacation.”

Brian took a deep breath.

“Natalie, the company’s willing to negotiate. Come back and help us.”

“Mr. Lynn, you should ask the company who signed off on letting me go first.”

He fell silent.

The day Morgan used Duncan’s written authorization to force me out, Brian had been in a meeting next door.

There was no way he had not known.

Like everyone else, he had simply assumed I would come back eventually.

The next person to contact me was Moon Lionel, the head of PR.

She knew exactly who to flatter and who she could afford to look down on.

Whenever Morgan visited the office, Moon would rush to bring her coffee.

When I stayed up late revising her proposals, all I got was, “That’s what assistants are for.”

At the moment, she sounded like she was crying.

“Natalie, the charity dinner’s press list has been leaked. Ms. Eddy already sent out the invitations, but Mr. Tohn is meeting with Nardini Group that day. We can’t cancel, and he can’t attend, either.”

“Then, follow your crisis response plan.”

“Ryan said he didn’t know which option to go with.”

“He might not know, but you should. You’re the head of PR.”

Moon had no answer.

I smiled.

“Ms. Lionel, stop expecting the assistant to handle everything. Your team gets paid more than I ever did.”

The third call came from Gracie Leahy, the board secretary.

She was usually composed, but at the moment, she sounded strained.

“Natalie, the eight directors can’t agree on the authorization documents. Ryan’s managed to offend them all. Can you help me work out who’s actually opposed and who’s just holding out for better terms?”

I leaned against the terrace railing.

“Ms. Leahy, I no longer work there.”

“I know.”

“Please talk to Mr. Tohn.”

“Mr. Tohn doesn’t have time for this right now.”

“Neither do I.”

“What are you doing?”

I glanced at Alan, who had just walked over.

He held up the two glasses of juice.

“I’m on a date.”

Gracie said nothing, and I hung up.

The fourth problem was more serious than all the others.

After George was admitted to the hospital, the emergency consent paperwork was emailed to the CEO’s office.

Ryan mistook it for a routine email and failed to forward it to Duncan promptly.

By the time Duncan found out, doctors were already fighting to save George’s life.

Mr. Sade told me about it in secret.

I stared at the chat for a moment without replying.

Alan asked what was wrong.

“An older man I know is in the hospital.”

“Are you going back?”

I shook my head. “He has people to look after him.”

On the day I left, I had set up a separate group chat with Dr. McCrae, Mr. Bach, and the family estate’s lawyer.

I had put all the necessary safeguards in place.

Duncan had just never bothered to read through them properly.

On the fifth day, Morgan finally called me herself.

She was no longer pretending to cry.

The moment I answered, she started shouting, “Natalie, you did this on purpose, didn’t you? You wanted everything to go wrong for us!”

“Ms. Eddy, all I did was resign.”

“Tohn Corp is in trouble! The stock’s crashing! The entire board is blaming Duncan!”

“How is that my problem?”

“You never would’ve let this happen to the company before!”

“Well, I was getting paid before.”

Morgan caught her breath.

I continued, “That was also before you used Duncan’s written authorization to fire me.”

“But I never meant to...”

“What you meant doesn’t matter now. You told me to pack my things and leave that day, and Duncan never objected.”

Morgan fell silent.

When she finally spoke again, her voice trembled.

“What will it take to get you back?”

“I’m not coming back.”

“Aren’t you worried Duncan will hate you for this?”

I chuckled.

“Ms. Eddy, weren’t you the one complaining that I spent too much time with him? Well, you got your wish. Now you’ll have more time with him than anyone else.”

I hung up.

On the sixth day, Tohn Corp’s plunging share price made the financial news.

There were merger rumors, stalled projects, chaos among senior management, and one board meeting after another.

All the little problems I had quietly kept under control were surfacing one by one.

It was like a blocked storm drain.

Most of the time, nothing seemed wrong.

Then, a downpour hit, and the whole street flooded.

That night, Duncan finally got through to me.

I had changed my number.

Somehow, he had found the new one and called dozens of times.

I had not intended to answer.

Alan sat across from me and asked with a smile, “Aren’t you going to get that?”

I glanced at the screen.

“Might as well. I’ll tell him where I stand.”

After I answered, Duncan said nothing for a long time.

There was a lot of noise in the background.

People were arguing. Someone was calling his name.

Eventually, he said in a low voice, “Natalie.”

“Yes?”

“Come back.”

I said nothing.

His voice was softer than I had ever heard it. “Name your terms.”

I leaned back in my chair on the terrace.

Alan raised his glass to me. The city lights were glittering in the distance.

Duncan probably thought I would give in.

After all, in those three years, I had never once said no when he asked for something.

I just picked up my juice and gently clinked my glass against Alan’s.

Then, I said calmly into the phone, “I’m sorry, Mr. Tohn, I’m afraid I’m a little busy now.”