Chapter 4

Yvonne Vance POV

Leaving the CEO's office, I returned to my desk to work overtime.

One by one, my colleagues left for the day, until I was the only person left in the office.

I checked the progress; I would likely have to pull an all-nighter.

I brewed a cup of coffee and stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, sipping it.

It was raining outside.

At the main entrance of the building, Harrison stood with Scarlett under an umbrella.

The umbrella was tilted almost entirely over Scarlett. Harrison's side was completely soaked, while Scarlett's clothes hadn't caught a single drop of rain.

The two of them talked and laughed as they got into the car.

I didn't have a driver's license back then, so I had to take taxis to and from work.

On rainy days when cabs were hard to get, I had asked Harrison if he could give me a ride.

He said there were too many people at the company entrance and he was afraid that being seen would be bad for me.

At the time, I thought he was just cold by nature and kept a strict boundary between public and private life.

But when it came to Scarlett, he wasn't afraid of anything.

"It would look bad if people saw us"?

He simply felt that I, Yvonne Vance, wasn't worth the trouble.

A love like this wasn't worth another ounce of my effort.

I downed the rest of my coffee in one gulp and turned back to my desk.

The sky outside the window shifted from black to deep blue, then from deep blue to a pale grey.

After pulling an all-nighter, I finally sent the compiled data to Scarlett's email.

Having not slept all night, my head was heavy and my temples throbbed painfully.

I wanted to request some time off to go home and sleep, but a meeting notification popped up on my phone.

9:30 AM: General Management Meeting.

I rubbed my sore eyes, closed my laptop, and headed to the conference room.

Scarlett stood in front of the projector, confidently flipping through her PPT.

When she reached the slide for the bid price, the screen clearly displayed a quote of 1.87 billion.

My entire body went rigid.

The quote I submitted was 187 million. Now, there was an extra zero.

The bidding results were already out.

The Foster Group's quote was absurdly ten times higher than its competitors', leading to an immediate disqualification.

Just like that, the bidding project with the Oceanus Group was lost.

The conference room was dead silent.

Scarlett's face paled, and she immediately turned to me.

"Yvonne, I submitted it based on your version."

I looked straight at Harrison.

"I submitted a quote of 187 million. The sending records and original files are in my mailbox, and we can pull them up for verification at any time."

Scarlett's eyes turned red instantly.

"Are you implying that I altered the data, Yvonne? And that I'm trying to frame you?"

Before I could even respond, the main screen in the conference room suddenly switched displays.

The screen was filled with photos.

Every single one was an intimate photo of Scarlett and Harrison.

Each photo had a red "X" drawn over it.

Captions like "Homewrecker," "Using casting couch rules to join the company," and "Shameless" were slapped across them.

Scarlett's face went completely white. She covered her mouth and burst into tears.

Harrison stood up abruptly.

"Turn it off!"

The IT staff scrambled in a panic to pull the signal cables.

Harrison glared at me, his gaze freezing.

"Screwing up the bidding data, shifting the blame to your director, and using the company's meeting system to humiliate and take revenge on a colleague. Yvonne, instead of wasting your energy on these underhanded tactics, you should think about how to actually do your job!"

With a single sentence, he pinned all the blame entirely on me.

Harrison swept Scarlett up in his arms and strode out of the conference room.

The gazes of everyone in the room fell upon me—some with pity, others with schadenfreude.

I remained seated, unmoved, as my fingernails dug deep into my palms.

I was not going to take the fall for this.

Neither the data error nor the photos on the screen had anything to do with me.

I stood up and went straight to the CEO's office.

"It wasn't me."

Harrison had just finished comforting Scarlett in the lounge.

Hearing my words, his face remained devoid of any warmth.

"Other than you, who else has a motive?"

"I don't even know Scarlett, nor did I know about these photos of you two. Why would I have a motive? Unless... is there actually something going on between you two?"

Harrison cut me off coldly.

"Scarlett is my childhood friend, and our relationship is completely innocent. She holds an MBA from Bocconi and is fully capable of being the director. There's no shame in losing to her, but using such disgusting methods to slander her makes me sick."

The blood rushed to my head.

Harrison looked at me, disappointment written all over his face.

"You don't need to come back. HR will send your termination notice tomorrow."

I shot back immediately.

"Perfect. I didn't want this job anyway."

I turned and walked away without looking back.

Back at my desk, I began packing up my personal belongings.

Three men in security uniforms walked over.

The leader reached out and snatched my bag directly.

"Ms. Vance, the company suspects you of leaking trade secrets to competitors during your employment. According to company policy, your personal belongings must be inspected before you leave."

Before I could react, he flipped my bag upside down.

My wallet, lipstick, tissues, keys, and loose receipts clattered all over the floor.

My phone was snatched away by another guard.

My colleagues stopped their work to stare and whisper.

I knelt down to gather my things.

"Now that the inspection is done, can I go?"

"Wait."

Scarlett stopped me, her face a mask of official business.

"We've checked the bag, but we haven't done a body search yet. After all, trade secrets are involved. If you've hidden something on your person, the company can't afford the loss."

Sadie couldn't stand it any longer and blocked her path, standing in front of me.

"Director Sterling, the company has never had a policy for body searches. Isn't this inappropriate?"

Scarlett cast a cold glance at her.

"This project involves billions of dollars in cooperation. If something goes wrong, who's taking responsibility? Can you afford to?"

Sadie was left speechless.

Two security guards stepped forward, pulled Sadie aside, and grabbed me by the arms on both sides.

I struggled with all my might, but how could a single woman hold off two grown men?

My coat was ripped open, the collar torn apart, exposing my underwear.

The office became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

A cold, deep voice echoed from the end of the corridor.

"What are you doing?"

Harrison stood there.

Everyone stopped in their tracks.

Scarlett quickly walked up to him, looking completely unbothered.

"Harrison, I'm doing this for the company's security. Surely you're not getting soft-hearted because of her?"

Harrison's gaze fell on my disheveled state. A flash of heartache flickered in his eyes, but it vanished instantly.

He looked away.

"I'm not."

He draped his arm around Scarlett's shoulders and turned to leave.

Sadie immediately took off her coat and draped it over me.

"Yvonne, they've gone way too far."

I pulled the coat tight around myself without saying a word, picked up my bag, and headed for the elevator.

Sadie followed me all the way to the building's main entrance.

I turned to look at her.

"Go back. Don't pick fights with Scarlett Sterling. If she turns out to be a terrible boss, find yourself another path as soon as possible."

Sadie nodded, her eyes rimmed with red.

The rain outside was heavier than the night before.

I wrapped Sadie's coat tightly around myself, standing under the awning to hail a cab.

A black Maybach pulled up in front of me, and the driver, Wayne, rolled down the window.

"Ms. Vance, Mr. Foster asked me to drive you back."

I glanced at the torrential rain and decided not to make life harder for myself. I opened the door and got in.

When the car stopped in front of the villa, it was still pouring.

I rushed to the door in the rain and entered the lock passcode.

The voice prompt chimed:

"Incorrect passcode."