Chapter 5 The CEO's Encouragement

The woman chiding everyone at the work area was Willow Stewart.

She was only 25 years old.

She was beautiful and had a curvaceous figure.

Even though she was dressed in a plain black suit, she exuded the aura of a professional model.

Many men in the company often talked about her in private.

Everyone hoped to have a girlfriend with such an attractive figure. However, their desires were limited to mere talk.

Not only was Willow beautiful with a sexy body, but she was also the CEO of their company.

When Willow reprimanded them, all the employees in the working area lowered their heads.

They were cursing Caspian inwardly. If he hadn't returned to the company at this time, they wouldn't have wasted their entire morning at work.

Willow swept a cold gaze around the office and finally stopped on Caspian, who was still packing up his personal belongings.

"Caspian, come with me to my office," Willow spoke sternly to Caspian.

Coincidentally, he needed to tender his resignation to her as well.

Caspian put down his belongings and followed Willow into the CEO's office. Her office was filled with a faint scent of roses.

Willow invited him to take a seat. She started rummaging through her filing cabinet to look for some documents.

Willow opened a drawer under the filing cabinet. She had to bend over to search inside the drawer which was positioned too low.

As Willow was doing so, she didn't notice that her skirt was riding up from bending over.

Unintentionally, Caspian caught sight of her exposed thighs.

His gaze wandered downward and lingered on Willow's slender legs that were clad in silk stockings.

For a moment, Caspian's mouth went dry and he felt a little thirsty.

Just then, Willow stood up and poured a glass of water. She put it in front of Caspian.

"Are you going to resign?" Willow asked, looking at Caspian.

Caspian took a sip of water and nodded.

When Willow entered the room earlier, she noticed Caspian packing up his belongings.

She guessed that he was planning to leave the company.

Caspian put himself in Willow's shoes.

In her point of view, the reason for his resignation was likely due to the bullying and ridicule from his colleagues for the past year.

"I'm not resigning because of those colleagues …"

Before Caspian could finish, Willow waved her hand and interrupted him. "What they said to you just now was inappropriate. Caspian, I can understand how you feel. However, you also need to know one thing.

"Life is about carving out your own path and letting others say what they want."

She continued, "You don't need to care about anyone else's opinion of you. If you care too much about what others think, you'll end up living in their shadows. Eventually, you'll become like them."

Caspian was taken aback. His CEO was usually aloof and distant. At this moment, she was actually encouraging him in person to strive for a better life.

Of course, Caspian knew what Willow said made sense. Nonetheless, he wasn't resigning because of the bullying from his colleagues.

He opened his mouth to explain, but Willow continued, "I know that Melanie is your wife. I also know that you're working very hard to provide for your family.

"Apart from your day job here, you even deliver parcels in this building during lunch break."

She added, "Even though other colleagues outside don't understand, I appreciate a passionate young man like yourself.

"As someone just a few years older than you, I value your energy and zeal to work toward a better life.

"I also admire the contributions you've made to the company in your position."

Willow leaned back in her chair. "Before you tender your resignation, I need to let you know that I've decided to promote you to the position of project manager of the company.

"Your base monthly salary is eight thousand dollars and a similar rate of commission as other managers.

"This isn't an easy position. I've observed all the employees in the company. I felt that only you can handle this role of project manager.

"I hope that you can stay with this company and achieve greater success in a higher position."

She continued, "With the increase in salary, your living standards will be greatly improved.

"You won't have to work so hard delivering packages. You can focus wholeheartedly on your day job.

"Most importantly, you can prove yourself using your abilities.

"Give those colleagues who had mocked you today a slap in the face. What do you think?"

After Willow said that, there was a faint smile on her lips.

She was confident that after her heartfelt persuasion, Caspian would definitely stay on and work even harder for the company.

However, Caspian rejected her. With a simple reply, he shattered Willow's confidence.

"Ms. Stewart, thank you for valuing me. I came to the company today for the sole purpose of tendering my resignation."

Willow was dumbfounded. From her point of view, Caspian had no reason to refuse her offer.

Nonetheless, Caspian not only refused her, but he did so without any hesitation.

As Willow was about to ask Caspian for the reason, her phone rang. It was Alan Cooper.

Willow took her phone and went out to answer the call.

Caspian couldn't hear what the person on the phone was saying, but he could hear Willow's reply clearly.

"Mr. Cooper, please don't scare me. I've asked you many times before. You assured me that you would invest in this project.

"I've already put all my funds into this project too. Now that the project is halfway through, you changed your mind? Are you kidding me?

"I know that we didn't sign a contract for this project, but it was based on the trust we had between us! Cash flow is dwindling on my end. What am I supposed to do if you refuse to invest?"

"Mr. Cooper, look here … Hello? Mr. Cooper? Damn it!"

Willow's vision suddenly went black, and she stumbled. She lost her grip on the phone. It fell to the ground with a loud smash.

Regaining her consciousness, Willow quickly picked up the phone again. "Fortunately, it's just the tempered glass that is cracked … "

She fiddled with the screen and breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't that she cared about the phone. Willow was more worried that if she broke her phone, she wouldn't be able to contact Alan as soon as possible.

Willow took a deep breath. She pushed open the door of her office and said, "Don't leave. Wait for me to come back."

Staring after Willow's retreating figure, a thought formed in Caspian's mind.

Yesterday, he overheard his colleagues' conversation while sitting at his desk.

The company took on a project previously, but they were having trouble with cash flow. That was why Willow had requested for Alan to invest in this project as well.

Alan agreed immediately when he heard of this. However, both companies had not signed a financing contract for this project.

Alan had used Willow's trust in him and tricked her into paying in advance for the project. He promised that his investment funds would arrive within the next day or two.

Willow had bet her entire net worth on this project. When Alan saw that the project's cash flow was on the verge of collapsing, he decided to change his mind nonchalantly.

There had to be something fishy going on.

Caspian didn't need to think too hard to figure out what was going on. Alan was either after money, sex, or both.

With this in mind, Caspian decided to help Willow.

He wasn't doing it just because of her encouragement to him earlier, but he also wanted to help out for her sake.

Based on his observation of her, Willow was an ambitious woman. She had the will and the ability to chase her goals.

Moreover, investing millions or even hundreds of millions in a company wasn't a big deal for Caspian.

When he thought of this, he ran out of the CEO's office and chased after Willow. However, Willow had already left in a car when he reached the entrance of the building complex.

There was nothing he could do. Caspian went back inside to wait for her.

When Caspian returned to the company, he was met with angry glares and resentment from his colleagues. They bombarded him with hateful remarks that grew louder and louder.

"Hey, you've grown some guts. How dare you go to Ms. Stewart and tattle on all of us? Now all of us have our salaries deducted. We were just joking around with you. How could you stab us behind our backs?"

"That's right. We've been colleagues for nearly a year, and this is how you treat us? Even my pet dog whom I've kept for a year knows how to wag its tail when I pet him. You're worse than an animal!"

"Caspian, you'd better listen to me. You have until the end of the day to reimburse my deducted salary this morning. If you fail, don't blame me for teaching you a lesson!"

"Caspian, you sly, two-faced jerk!"

His colleagues were like fleas who didn't know their place. Caspian couldn't help but feel annoyed at the baseless accusations they hurled at him.

He planned to discuss the investment matters with Willow after she returned later. In addition, he intended to become the largest shareholder in the company.

Caspian wanted to see which of his colleagues would dare to find fault with him once he became the company's largest shareholder!