جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 9

I held the invoices out in front of Cathy, keeping my voice calm. "If we submit 14,700 dollars in fake invoices and get caught, the finance department will be held responsible."I can't afford to cover that kind of loss. Either pay for it out of your own pocket, or have him submit new invoices that meet the requirements."She froze. "Come again? 14,700 dollars?"She whipped her head toward Kai, her tone sharp with disbelief. "How does entertaining one ordinary client cost that much?"Panic flashed across Kai's eyes. He snatched the invoices from me and quickly hid them behind his back."I… I was only trying to maintain your client relationship. And besides, entertaining clients is exhausting. Am I not allowed to reward myself with a few things?"The more he spoke, the more justified he sounded. His eyes reddened as he continued, "Before we started dating, you said your money would be mine. Now you're upset over me spending just this little?"Cathy massaged her temples and sighed

I quietly sat down and opened my notebook.The business team manager was the first to speak, his voice brimming with excitement."I've been tracking this project for three months. If we move in now, we can push all our competitors out within six months."Kai's eyes lit up, and he chimed in eagerly. "Then let's do it! Why hesitate when we have such a good opportunity?"Cathy looked torn, clearly still undecided.Will began his persuasion. "Cathy, what industry doesn't come with high risks and high returns? With our current resources, we can absolutely pull this off."If we wait until everyone else jumps in, there won't be anything left for us. We'll miss the boat entirely."She tapped her fingers on the table twice before turning to me. "Conrad, how much money do we currently have available in the accounts?"I flipped through my notebook. "We have 2.3 million dollars in available funds at the moment. If we put all of it into this project, the risk could be rather high."Kai sco

I froze for a second and turned to look at Julia. She simply smirked and whispered back, "Didn't you take enough crap at that company? I'm going to bleed them dry."When Kai saw us raise our paddles, his face fell. He pointed at me and shrieked, "What do you think you're doing, Conrad? You acted all high and mighty when you stopped us from investing back then!"Now that you've found yourself a new sugar mama, you came here to steal the project from us?"The hall fell silent for a few solid seconds. Their eyes turned toward us.Kai's chest heaved with rage. He glared at me as if he wanted to tear me limb from limb. "You asshole! You stopped us from investing so you could swoop in and take the opportunity for yourself! You're shameless!"Cathy frowned at me, so disapproving and disappointed. "This is beneath you, Conrad. If you're still trying to get my attention, my advice is to stop this nonsense right now."Whispers rippled through the hall. They were all waiting for the drama t

When I answered the call, Cathy's exhausted voice came through. "You were right all along, Conrad. I put money into that project three times, and in the end, they took the money and ran."She paused, her tone turning pleading. "Could you come back and help me sort out the accounts? I'll pay you double your old salary."I chuckled coldly. "No, thank you. Things are going great at my new company."Silence hung on the other end for a few seconds. Then, as if making up her mind, she said, "If you're willing to come back, I can… end things with Kai. That man is a dimwit. Being with him has ruined all my luck."I was in disbelief. My voice instantly turned cold."There's been a great misunderstanding. From the invoices I refused to approve to the procurement orders I blocked and my objections to that project, I was simply doing my job."None of it had anything to do with you personally. So, have some self-respect and don't call me again."The next morning, just as I arrived outside my