Chapter 1730
No.1
Soon, Julian emerged alone to pick ingredients. Rolling up his sleeves, he carefully selected items from the freezer, occasionally turning to ask for Evelyn's input.
Melissa finally slumped forward onto the table.
Across from her, Victoria Henn didn't dare breathe.
"Not a word about what you saw today," Melissa said as she lifted her head. Her makeup remained flawless, but her eyes gleamed with venom.
......
In the Finance Department's break room, a group of female employees huddled together.
"Did you hear? Evelyn Sinclair is being transferred to our department."
No.2
"That performance harvester from Entertainment? Great, she'll steal all our resources."
"Just riding on her looks, isn't she? Alexander Kingsley, Ryan Holt, Vincent Sullivan—which exclusive interview didn't she land by batting her eyelashes?"
"Let's see how Melissa deals with her..."
......
An HR specialist escorted Evelyn into the Finance Department's workspace.
The noisy office instantly fell silent, everyone pasting on professional smiles.
Melissa emerged from her office, scanning the room.
No.3
"Welcome, Evelyn," she said with a polished smile. "Penelope, you'll mentor our new colleague."
Penelope Pope glanced around helplessly. "Melissa, we don't have any free desks."
"What about that one over there?" Melissa pointed casually.
In the corner sat a small, dust-covered table, glaringly out of place amidst the modern office setup.
Evelyn walked over without batting an eye.
Last night at dinner, Julian had asked worriedly, "What if they give you a hard time?"
"Could it be worse than now?" She'd chuckled around a bite of rib.
No.4
Those who've already hit rock bottom can't be broken by petty workplace games.
......
Julian remembered that rainy day.
He'd waited at the school gates for Evelyn, only to see Alexander's car parked nearby.
"Evelyn, come here," the young man had called coldly.
Without a backward glance, Evelyn had run to Alexander like a kite with its string cut.
As the car window passed, Julian heard her soft voice: "Alex, don't be mad. I'll never talk to him again..."
No.5
Standing in the rain, Julian had felt his heart shatter.
He'd once promised to return the financial empire to her.
But now, he couldn't even protect her.
Evelyn's phone buzzed violently.
Martha's messages came rapid-fire: [Evelyn! Check Vincent's interview now! Emergency!]
Evelyn looked up from her mountain of manuscripts, rubbing her sore neck. [Haven't seen it. What's wrong?]
Martha sent a voice message: "Still proofreading? Finance Department's treating you like slave labor!"
No.6
Evelyn smiled bitterly.
Since transferring to Finance, she'd fallen into a bottomless pit.
Editor Penelope Pope always looked half-dead: "Newbies need extra proofreading practice."
Yet the entire department's workload landed on her.
"Finance isn't entertainment," colleagues chimed in. "One typo costs fifty bucks. Can you afford that?"
Evelyn stared at the dense financial reports, her temples throbbing.
Martha texted again: [Check the byline! They put you last!]
No.7
Evelyn opened the digital edition, her eyes turning cold.
Victoria Henn, Charlie Young, Martha Nash... Her name was shoved to the very end.
Martha raged: [Why's that useless Charlie second? He didn't even attend the interview!]
Evelyn actually laughed: [Let them fight over it.]
"Evelyn!" Someone called across the office. "Can you fetch our bubble tea?"
She looked up to see a colleague's fake smile. "Accidentally chose store pickup."