Chapter 4

Due to the tense relationship between Sawyer and Jessa, things for the upper management in the company became tense as well.

For half a month, Jessa lived at the office, working through the night with her team.

“Ms. Darling, I’m done here.”

With the last Enter key pressed, everyone relaxed.

Jessa stood up and said, “I ordered takeout for everyone. Handle any leftover work while I bring the food up. We’re having dinner together.”

As everyone cheered, Jessa went downstairs. However, when she returned, she saw her team sitting dumbfounded as they looked at their laptops with their blue screens.

Vanessa was sitting next to her desk.

“What’s going on?” Jessa’s heart started racing.

Vanessa sent a pitiful look in Jessa’s direction.

“Mrs. Pitt, it’s all my fault! It’s my butter fingers! I only wanted to strengthen security and clear up the trash in the system, but then… But then this happened.”

Clear the system’s trash?

A buzzing started up in Jessa’s head. She did not have the energy to deal with Vanessa at all, so she sent Sawyer a message to handle it. It would be best if she could delay the meeting she had. Then, she turned on her laptop and went back to working nonstop.

They needed to retrieve the key documents that had been lost, even if they could only get one of them back.

Jessa led her team in trying to salvage the situation, so she did not even notice when Sawyer had arrived.

However, at the key moment, Vanessa let out a loud sob, and Jessa’s laptop screen went black.

She was done for. They were all done for.

Jessa was devastated, but she did not even have the energy to show it on her face. She turned around and saw Vanessa with her knee on the plug point switch. She slapped herself repeatedly.

“You should just kill me, Mrs. Pitt! I only wanted to help you because Mr. Pitt keeps saying the company’s internet access wasn’t safe…”

Meanwhile, Sawyer stood behind Vanessa. As he watched Vanessa’s eyes turn redder and her face swell up, his anger lessened.

He sighed and looked at Jessa, who had not spoken a single word. “Jessa, she’s only trying to help. You’re so capable. You should be able to redo the work if you work through the night, right?”

Jessa looked at Sawyer for a moment before suddenly letting out a laugh.

Had he rushed here in the middle of the night to comfort Vanessa?

How could he ask her so easily to use her skills and knowledge as an excuse to let Vanessa keep messing up?

But she had no energy to argue with Sawyer about this.

She could only muster a cold and sarcastic, “Sure.”

That night, she held a meeting with everyone in the company except for Sawyer.

She needed more time to leave, but at that point, she first had to make sure everyone in the company had a way to escape this sinking ship.

Jessa did not sleep that night.

She spent the entire night producing a new proposal. At the meeting the next day, Vanessa was sitting in the seat usually reserved for Sawyer’s assistant.

But she had no right to be there at all.

Sawyer stood up and introduced Vanessa to everyone. “Vanessa Rivera is our new partner. She will be joining this meeting to learn a few things.”

It was ridiculous to have a bodyguard learn about their upper-level business strategies.

Everyone showed their disapproval on their faces. Jessa subconsciously clenched her fists before she quickly regained her composure.

Once she got everything together and took the Pitt Group away with her, Sawyer could let Vanessa learn whatever she wanted.

During the meeting, one of the shareholders, Mr. Covey, spoke up suddenly. “Ms. Darling, your proposal is solid as usual. However, it’s too conservative.”

Mr. Covey had always gone against Jessa. As one of the old guards in the company, he always felt the need to question whatever Jessa said. As such, no one ever bothered to take his comments to heart. Even Jessa did not plan to answer him.

However, right then, another voice piped up. “I think Mr. Covey is right.”

Vanessa stood up and added, “Ms. Darling, your proposal is too conservative. I would go all out. Isn’t market share something you fight for control over anyway? What is there to be afraid of?”

Everyone at the meeting was shocked. They all looked at her like she was a madwoman.

Jessa shot Sawyer a look, silently asking him to stop this drama. But when their gazes met, Sawyer let out a soft chuckle. “Jessa, you should be as passionate as Vanessa sometimes.”

With that, the meeting ended on this absurd note.

Even after everyone left, Jessa remained in her seat.

In a daze, she recalled what happened five years ago. They were in this same conference room, but the company was still new, and every bit of progress they made was hard-won. They faced the doubt and questioning of the company’s old guard all the time.

Sawyer constantly supported her and was the loudest voice backing her plans. “I will say this again. Jessa is my partner. If anyone has anything to say against her, you can get out now!”

Back in the day, Sawyer had been her shield against everything ugly in the world. But five years later, Sawyer was shoving her forward to be judged by a pack of wolves.

The contrast nearly tore her apart inside.