جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 40

“I think you know very well,” Vince said calmly, “that a designer not attending the meeting is a huge sign of irresponsibility toward the project. The Boucheron Group just gave you a mild criticism—that was already being lenient.”Cecily’s retreating figure stiffened.Her back was to Vince, her teeth biting hard into her lip.Yes, she knew. If the designer wasn’t there, they couldn’t explain the data behind the design, give input, or respond to changes. But…“I never intended to skip the meeting.” She turned around, teeth gritted. At some point, Vince had walked up behind her. He was a head taller, and she had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes—eyes that always seemed cool and unreadable. Just like Adam’s… another cold, unfeeling man.She shut her eyes briefly. “If I told you I didn’t attend because Chloe wouldn’t let me, would you believe me?”Her throat burned with every word, but what hurt most was the long, drawn-out wait for his answer.Adam wouldn’t have believed her—no matt

When Cecily got back to Garcia Group, the atmosphere felt… off.She could tell people were gossiping about something, but whenever she looked over, they pretended to be busy.Back in the design department, the tension was even thicker.Laura came over, giving her a big thumbs-up. “Cecily, you’re amazing!”Cecily had a pretty good guess why, and just shook her head.“Good thing Boucheron Group knows how to be fair. Otherwise, no matter how I explained, there’s no way we’d have gotten the Windsor Place project back.”Laura glanced around, then lowered her voice. “Not only did you get it back—guess what? Manager Wilson from Boucheron Group just called. He basically said Garcia Group was being irresponsible, sending a total amateur to work with them, then trying to blame others when things went south. He said they’re willing to give us another shot, but only if the person who actually made the design draft is in charge of the project.”Cecily froze for a second. When she’d explained thing

Cecily nodded.Everyone went to drop off their luggage, freshen up, and then headed to the meeting room that had been booked on the itinerary. They spent the morning going over proposals from both companies, and in the afternoon, the group walked to the nearby construction site that hadn’t broken ground yet, discussing ideas as they went.By the end of the day, Cecily felt she’d gained a lot.After the last incident when the Boucheron Group had criticized her design, she had a nagging feeling that part of their comments were out of misplaced frustration. Still, since her work had been questioned—and because she’d had new inspiration—she had started a fresh draft recently. As soon as she got back to her hotel room, she eagerly pulled out the paper and began revising, hoping to finish the design before the trip ended and hand it over to the Boucheron Group.Time flew by, and when she finally realized she was hungry, it was already past nine in the evening.She went down to the restauran

Her gaze was direct, unflinching—warm with desire yet carrying the coy reserve of a young woman—fixed squarely on Vince.Even without much perception, Cecily could read Gina’s intentions. She had her eyes on Vince.Well, who could blame her? With a man as flawless as Vince, few women could remain indifferent.A pang of unease stirred in Cecily’s chest. She looked away with an awkward little laugh. “Oh.”Gina turned back to Vince, resuming their conversation.Bored, Cecily glanced at the table and noticed a can of coconut juice in front of her. Odd—everyone else had a tall glass of red wine, yet she alone had a canned drink.Without thinking, she picked it up to open it.But whether it was from the sweat on her palms or something else, the tab wouldn’t budge no matter how she tried.Frustration built, a light sheen of sweat forming on her brow.Suddenly, a hand holding a lit cigarette reached in from the side.Still chatting casually with Gina, Vince plucked the can from her hands as t

This way, at the Riverton Hotel, he could keep pushing Cecily closer to Vince Boucheron.Miles was quite proud of his little idea. He tilted his head slightly to sneak a glance at his boss.Vince usually hated it when subordinates acted on their own, but just now, when Miles spoke, he’d clearly seen Vince’s thin lips twitch upward—just slightly—and a glimmer of approval in his eyes.Cecily had just pulled her suitcase out of the car when she heard Miles speak. Instinctively, her gaze shifted to the man standing beside him.Vince was the tallest among them, and his presence was unmatched. At the moment, he was idly fiddling with a black phone, his side profile sharp and defined, carrying a trace of laziness. If you looked closely, you could almost catch a flicker of amusement in his eyes. He seemed to be in a pretty good mood.But thinking of what had happened that morning—both at the hotel and in the car—Cecily couldn’t share that mood. Without thinking too much about it, she said apo