Chapter 31: A Sense of Crisis
The man loomed over me, his eyes deep with malice.
“Now that you’ve gotten so close to Winston, even your tone has changed.”
I pulled a wry smile and didn’t hold back in my reply. “You’ve had too much to drink. Should I go get Davina?”
Mentioning Davina made Fletcher furrow his brow. Clearly, I hit a nerve.
I didn’t want to cause a scene, so I fell silent for a moment before reaching for the door handle again. In the next instant, I felt warmth on my lips as Fletcher pinned both of my hands to the door.
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Fletcher froze, staring at me in disbelief.
I returned his gaze, unwavering.
The lounge was deathly quiet, so silent it felt like I could hear his ragged breaths. But outside, muffled conversations continued, filtered through the door.
Fletcher and I just stood there, facing each other.
This time, I didn’t back down.
I was not sure how long it had been before he parted his lips slightly, his voice barely above a whisper. “I was afraid of scaring her.”
His voice was so soft, yet it landed on me like an invisible slap.
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Afraid of scaring her.
Oh, I see. Davina has never had sex before, she was shy and needed protecting. Unlike me, who’s already slept with him.
We parted on bad terms.
It took a while for me to come back to my senses, staring at the torn slit of my cheongsam, feeling both amused and helpless.
What a joke–he appeared abstinent, high and mighty, but he was just better at pretending.
He was truly hypocritical.
The new week had begun, and we were headed back to Lynton Group for a report.
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It was originally meant to be a task for Kaitlyn and me, but Davina, with a smile on her face, said, “Ms. Hayes, I’d like to give this report a try.”
It was a simple formality, something Kaitlyn and I didn’t really mind, so we agreed to let her take the lead.
However, since it was all so sudden, Davina wasn’t well–prepared and ended up copying the PPT I had prepared.
As she put it, she’d practiced it several times, so there was no problem.
I told Kaitlyn that I would sit this one out; after all, it was just a casual chat with
Fletcher, nothing that required too much
attention. Instead, I could make better use of my time writing a few lines of code.
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Davina seemed quite pleased with this arrangement, smiling brightly as she said, “Don’t worry, Charlene. From now on, I’ll handle these things for you.”
Such a smooth talker.
The plan was set, but shortly after they left, I felt a sudden twitch in my right eyelid. My chest tightened for no apparent reason, and I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.
Sure enough, trouble was brewing.
It turned out that today’s report at Lynton Group was far more formal than usual. It wasn’t just Fletcher in attendance, but several key members of the Lynton Group board as well.
Davina, unfamiliar with such a setting, forced a calm demeanor as she took the stage.
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However, after just a few sentences, she was quickly interrupted by the board members.
In her panic, she clicked the wrong slide on the PPT, and before she knew it, the board had her dismissed.
Kaitlyn told me all this over the phone.
I gripped my phone tightly and asked, “What’s Fletcher’s attitude?”
“She’s getting protection from Fletcher. When he saw her crying, he left the board members and went to comfort her,” Kaitlyn whispered. “I overheard a few managers talking, and they’re trying to find a way to get Fletcher to pull the plug on this disastrous project.”
Pull the plug.
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Chapter 31: A Sense of Crisis
45 Points
I thought about those words, anxiety creeping into my chest. I told Kaitlyn, “Stay calm and try to gauge Fletcher’s stance. We’ll discuss the next steps later.”
But what I didn’t expect was that later, I’d be receiving a stern call from Fletcher.
“Mrs. Lynton, Mr. Lynton wants you to come to Lynton Group right away, Duke’s voice was urgent. “He’s not looking too pleased, so prepare yourself.”
In the CEO’s office, Davina sat beside Fletcher, her eyes red, looking every bit like a wronged wife.
I turned to Fletcher and asked, “Mr. Lynton, what’s this about?”
Fletcher turned his laptop toward me and asked, “What happened?”
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Chapter 31: A Sense of Crisis
+ 5 Points
On the screen was the PPT I had created, but the formatting was clearly off, just as Kaitlyn had told me.
In that instant, something clicked in my mind, and my gaze shifted to Davina. “Davina, do you want to say something?”
Davina stared at me with wide, confused eyes, her face a picture of innocence.
“If you didn’t want Vina to give the report, you could have just said so. What’s the deal with giving her such a mess of a presentation?”
I was incredulous and snapped, “Is this how you see me, Mr. Lynton?”
“Letch, maybe Charlene didn’t notice; it’s not her fault,” Davina’s voice was soft, and she
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Chapter 31. A Sense of Crisis
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sounded apologetic. “If only I had prepared better…”
Kaitlyn, unable to keep quiet, shot back, “Davina, that wasn’t what you said before we left!”
“Ms. Hayes, Davina’s voice quivered with more distress, “So, you think I’m not qualified to do this report?”
“I’m telling you, Davina…”
“Forget it,” I cut Kaitlyn off, then turned to Fletcher. “Will Lynton Group pull the investment?”
That was the real issue at hand.
Fletcher glanced at me and replied, “I’ll
handle it, but I don’t want to see this happen
again.”
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Chapter 31: A Sense of Crisis
+ 5 Points
Those words sounded strangely familiar.
If I wasn’t mistaken, that time Fletcher had been shielding Davina and had given me the same warning.
But this time, the warning was for our entire studio.
I had initially planned to ask Fletcher if there was anything else we could do to remedy the situation, but it seemed there was no need
now.
Fletcher would handle the fallout with Davina.
Later, back at the office, Davina approached me cautiously, her voice tentative. “Charlene, I’m sorry. I’ll work harder.””
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+5 Points
I looked at her, her tone as whiny as ever, and smiled. “You’d better work hard, or you won’t even be able to produce a decent graduation project.”
At my words, Davina’s face went pale, and she silently returned to her office.
I couldn’t help but think that she wasn’t quite clever enough.
She hadn’t thought about it: causing trouble under Fletcher’s nose would only end up hurting him the most.
There was no such thing as a wall that didn’t let the wind through. Once this reached the Lynton family, those sharp, calculating minds would only look down on her even more.
Sure enough, within a day, my fears came to life.
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Chapter 31: A Sense of Crisis
+5 Points
Daphne had caught wind of the situation from somewhere and stormed into the studio, practically bursting in to unleash a tirade at Davina.
“You’re stupid, it’s fine, but now you’ve dragged Letch into this mess,” Daphne’s voice, full of force, came through the door. “You incompetent idiot!”
Davina looked pitiful as she said, “Daphne, I didn’t expect the PPT to have issues, I…”
“Don’t try to shift the blame,” Daphne didn’t give her a chance to explain, “If this keeps up, I think we should just cancel this damn project!”
At the mention of canceling the project, I couldn’t sit still anymore. I quickly stepped forward to stop Daphne, managing to
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Chapter 31: A Sense of Crisis
+5 Points
convince her to move to the conference
room.
“Lena, it broke my heart,” Daphne wiped away her tears in front of me. “Last night, Letch went to the manor, and his grandma gave him a good scolding. She said he wasn’t being responsible, and they ended up confronting each other. The Lynton family members are secretly laughing at him.”
It was then that I understood. Davina truly held a different position in Fletcher’s life.
And I could sense the looming threat of a crisis.
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