Chapter 4

On the day of the project kickoff meeting, I sat across from Fiona for the first time as a client.

Fiona wore a professional suit with an all-business demeanor.

Bob sat beside her in a suit.

I opened my laptop and began presenting the proposal.

Five minutes in, Bob raised his hand to interrupt me.

"Manager Johnson, there's a problem with this positioning, isn't there?"

I stopped and looked at him.

"The positioning report was confirmed through preliminary research. Your side signed off on it at the time."

Bob smiled slightly. "That was before. Now that I'm in charge of the project, if I think it's not suitable, it needs to be changed."

Fiona nodded beside him. "Bob's right. Go back and revise it."

I paused for a second, then said, "Alright."

I continued. Ten minutes later, Bob interrupted again.

"This circulation design won't work either. It's too convoluted. When you made this proposal, did you actually visit the site?"

I said, "We visited the site three times. The circulation design is based on..."

Bob cut me off.

"I looked at your analysis report. The data sources are all wrong. Redo it."

Fiona nodded again. "Revise it according to what he said."

Her gaze fell on my face but quickly moved away as she looked down at her phone.

I took a deep breath. "Alright."

After that, Bob interrupted every five minutes, his criticisms becoming increasingly absurd.

People in the conference room exchanged glances, but no one dared speak up.

When the presentation ended, I closed my laptop.

Bob smiled and said, "Manager Johnson, thanks for your hard work. Take the proposal back and revise it properly. We'll meet again next time."

After the meeting, he stopped me in the hallway, smiling with a sinister edge.

"Manager Johnson, I'll be handling project coordination from now on. Let's communicate often."

He lowered his voice and leaned in closer.

"Fiona said whether this project goes well or not affects your family's future cooperation with Tony Group."

"Don't worry, I'll 'cooperate' with you properly."

Looking at his face, I suddenly wanted to ask him:

Do you know the woman beside you went through seven boyfriends in one year?

But I didn't ask. I only said, "Then let's go by the rules."

He smiled even more deeply.

"Of course I'll go by the rules. I'm just afraid Manager Johnson won't be used to it."

He turned to leave, then looked back and added:

"Oh, by the way, Manager Johnson, Fiona said once this project ends, we'll officially announce our engagement."

I stood in place, watching his figure disappear at the end of the hallway.

For a week straight, I worked overtime until late every night.

I revised the proposal eight times. Each time I submitted it, Bob sent it back.

Colleagues complained privately that Bob was doing it on purpose.

But I only said, "Keep revising."

Because I knew he was doing it on purpose, so saying anything was useless.

At eleven p.m., I was alone at the office revising the proposal.

Someone knocked on the door. I looked up to see the security guard standing there, saying someone was looking for me.

I went downstairs and saw Susan standing in the lobby, holding a plastic bag.