Leave Her in the Dust

Zion blinked innocently and voiced a question on purpose.

"What's wrong, Joanna? Was it something I did? Should I spit out the food? I'll do it right now!"

Joanna's expression darkened as well, while the client shouted, "If you keep this man around, there's no need for us to continue!"

I immediately stepped in to smooth things over. "Please don't be angry, Mr. Devon. He's just an intern who doesn't know better. I'll have him apologize!"

Zion acted personally wronged, tearing up immediately. "You're just using this chance to get back at me… Fine, I'll apologize!"

Joanna instantly flew into a rage for his sake and stood up with a flourish. "You're the one who wants to ask for partnership, not me! Our company won't allow you to bully us like this!"

She proudly dragged Zion away, once again leaving me behind alone to clean up after the disaster she caused.

Had she completely lost her mind?

Mr. Devon, the head of Nextech, was one of our company's core clients. Losing him alone would cost the company ten percent of its revenue!

In the past, whenever Joanna offended clients with her cold attitude, I was always the one bowing and apologizing, drinking myself into the hospital just to repair the relationship and secure the deal.

I’d spent years patiently teaching her how to compromise. Seeing how miserable I became cleaning up after her, she had slowly learned restraint.

But now, for Zion's sake, she'd completely lost all reason once more.

Meanwhile, I was no longer the clown who would waste my time stabilizing her position as CEO.

Looking at the furious client, I sighed helplessly and apologized quietly.

Mr. Devon was so angry his chest heaved violently. "This doesn't have anything to do with you! To think that she'd become so arrogant after becoming CEO… I'll reflect this directly to your chairman!"

With that, I knew those two weren't going to get away with this scott-free.

As I left the restaurant, Joanna graced me with her presence once more, graciously unblocking me and sending me a message.

[Comfort the client well, and I'll let you come home tonight. I won't take rent from you anymore, either.]

How could she be so blindly confident, thinking that I'd help her again?

I scoffed, throwing her words to the back of my mind. I wasn't going to return, obviously.

Before I went to bed, I composed an email, detailing the events that happened tonight, before sending it to the chairman. Leaving behind evidence was important, after all.

The next day, at work, Joanna suddenly sent me a file, telling me to finish it and hand it back to her before noon.

The old me would have accepted the quest with a heart full of gratitude, thinking of it as a sign that she, if nothing else, trusted me.

Now, I replied with something else.

[Ms. Vale, this isn't within my job scope.]

The next second, Joanna sent me a message, telling me to go to her office.

I walked inside, expressionless. With my understanding of her, she'd probably called me to shout at me for not knowing what was good for me.

Instead, she awkwardly produced a gift box from her desk drawer, stuffing it into my palm.

I wanted to see what she was up to. The moment I opened the box, I laughed in disbelief.

It was a blue wristwatch, clearly designed for a child. Hell, even the 19.99 dollar price tag was still attached to it!

Seeing my frozen expression, Joanna actually thought I was overwhelmed with happiness.

"There, are you happy now? I nagged Zion and punished him last night, and he even came with me to pick this apology gift up. Can't you two play nice?"

She coughed awkwardly into her fist before continuing:

"Right. The chairman's coming today, so praise Zion in front of him, won't you? Tell him that Zion's the one who assisted you in achieving the results you have now. Wouldn't it be nice if the three of us could call the shots around here in the future?"

Wow, what a plan.

That very morning, Zion had proudly shown off the brand-new Patek Philippe watch on his wrist, bragging that Joanna bought it to comfort him after being "bullied" by a difficult client.

What was that about punishing, again?

I casually tossed the gift box back onto her desk.

"Thanks, but no thanks. This watch fits that kid Zion to a tee. As for my results, there's no reason for me to give them to someone else."