LOGINCody lifted his head and looked at Violet tearfully. "Vi, are you giving up on me, too? But I still believe that true love conquers all…"Violet rubbed her temples and didn't respond. She finally understood that some people just couldn't be woken up.Once Cody, the biggest loose cannon, was dealt with, York Group finally got back on track. The damage was serious, but the foundations were still there.Violet threw herself completely into her work. Rumor had it that she'd turned into a cold, emotionless work machine, and she'd developed a serious "sweatshirt PTSD". Any time she saw a man in it, she would instinctively keep a safe distance from them.One day, we happened to run into each other at an industry summit. She looked in much better spirits than before. There was still some of that exhaustion from being slapped by reality between her brows, but her energy was clearly back.When she saw me, she walked over and raised her glass slightly. "How have you been lately?"I smiled.
"I appreciate the compliment. With prices going up, I should thank you in advance for your understanding," I deadpanned, hitting the Enter key, my expression blank. "Right, the vulnerability's patched. The total working time was 3 hours and 52 minutes; I'll round it up to 4 hours for billing. I'll send the invoice later."I suggest hiring an in-house security engineer to deal with basic bugs like this next time. It's cheaper than calling me in every time."Violet's lips twitched as she listened. "Even if I hire someone full-time, they might not be as efficient as you. I'll just consider your fee a payment for being friends."I gave her a faint smile. "Ms. York, you and I have always had a friendly ex-boss and ex-employee relationship. We now have a very close client–vendor relationship. Talking money doesn't kill the vibe."She looked like she wanted to retort, but couldn't find the right words.…Time slipped by while I rode my wave of good luck and cash flow. At the same time,
After Cody found out I'd actually resigned, and that Violet had agreed that I could sue him, he first had a full-blown meltdown. Then, he immediately kicked off this big heroic "redemption arc".He rushed over to the tech department, saying that he wanted to boost morale. In the process, he nearly shut down code that was actively running.Then, he decided that the office atmosphere was too gloomy, so he spent his own money on a bunch of bright, colorful plants. He placed them everywhere, instantly doubling the cleaning staff's workload.He also tried to give the marketing department suggestions, saying that the slogan for the company's newest product should be changed to, "Powered by love, lighting up you and me." The marketing director was on the verge of tears as he begged Violet to take Cody away.These days, aside from scrambling to clean up the mess left by the project leak and paying me outrageous consulting fees, Violet's main job was to chase Cody around the company and cle
On my first day after quitting, I slept until I woke up naturally.I no longer needed to get up at the crack of dawn to prep meeting materials for Violet, nor did I need to deal with Cody's random ambushes anymore. I definitely didn't need to scroll through those chaotic complaint emails in the company inbox.It felt downright amazing!I took my time making myself a pour-over coffee. I'd just taken my first sip when my phone started going crazy.I had countless unread WhatsApp messages and more than a dozen missed calls. They were all from headhunters and the big shots I'd met at previous work dinners.Mr. Wade from Wade Group was the most straightforward. He called me directly and said, "Mr. Colson! I heard you finally escaped that hellhole. Come to Wade Group! We've got a VP of Technology position with your name on it."You'll get double the salary, a company car and apartment, and you can handpick your own team. Most importantly, our company's got good vibes. We absolutely won
Cody froze at my ultimatum. Then, it was like someone had flipped a switch. He burst into loud, earth-shaking sobs. He cried, "Vi, so what you two have is real! I'm the extra one here!"In that moment, half of my blazing rage was doused by his bizarre train of thought. The other half morphed into sheer absurdity. I actually felt like giving him a round of applause for his god-tier ability to self-sabotage.Everyone in the hall remained silent, leaving only Cody's dramatic crying echoing through the room.The judges and our competitors had a full range of expressions on their faces. Some were frozen in shock, some were shaking with barely suppressed laughter, and a few had already pulled out their phones to stream the whole thing.Violet's expression had gone way past hideous. It was twisted beyond recognition.I didn't wait for her to respond. I just said calmly, "Ms. York, you can clean up this mess. As for suing Cody for stealing trade secrets and my resignation paperwork, we'll
I had barely finished checking in at the front desk when Cody showed up at the hotel entrance like a bad penny.His eyes were red. Before I could even open my mouth, he fixed me with this stubborn look that told me he'd finally "seen through my evil plan".He said, "Scott, I know you're just trying to make me misunderstand what's going on between you and Vi so that I'll get into a fight with her. But you know what? I'm not falling for your tricks! I trust Vi. I'm the one she loves!"I shut my eyes for a second, silently cursing him.He clenched his fists, as if he'd finally made some huge decision, and pushed on. "But I also know why Vi can't cut ties with you. It's because you're holding that project over her head, right? Just wait. I'll prove to her that I can help her, too. I'm more useful than you are!"An ominous feeling settled in my gut as I watched him storm off with that look of righteous sacrifice.The next day, Violet and I led our team to the long-awaited project bidd







