Chapter 42

Isabella and Olivia first hit the restroom to splash some water on their faces and chill out a bit before heading to Vaughn's office together.

They knocked and walked in, asking Vaughn, "Mr. Johnson, you wanted to see us?"

Vaughn looked up from his computer, his eyes lighting up when he saw them.

He'd just been wandering around the company and hadn't realized there were such stunners here.

"Introduce yourselves," Vaughn said,standing up.

Isabella was about to speak when Vaughn cut her off, "Wait, let me guess first."

"You... are Isabella?" he pointed at her, and she nodded.

Then he turned to Olivia, "So,you must be Olivia."

Olivia rolled her eyes at Vaughn's childish game, but he pretended not to notice.

"This project is your baby, right?" Vaughn handed them a document.

They opened it and saw it was indeed their project plan.

Thinking something was wrong, Olivia asked, "Mr. Johnson, is there a problem?"

Vaughn replied, "No problem. I think this plan is solid. But why hasn't it moved forward?"

Olivia grumbled, "Philip said our plan wasn't perfect."

Just mentioning Philip made Olivia mad.

Philip had tried to use the plan to blackmail her for favors. She refused,and the plan got shelved indefiitely.

Vaughn slammed the table, furious, "How can such a great project be stalled? Philip needs to be dealt with. You two get ready. I want to push this project forward immediately."

"Got it, Mr. Johnson. We'll get on it right away," Isabella and Olivia nodded quickly and left his office.

"Olivia, we can finally lead our own project," Isabella said excitedly.

Olivia replied, "Yeah, Isabella. Forget men; making money and building our careers is what really matters. Let's go scope things out first."

They spent half the day outside and finally made some progress.

When they got back to the office, Eric had returned from the hospital.Hearing about their new project, he came over to check in.

Seeing him approach, Olivia snorted, didn't even look at him, and walked away with her water cup.

Eric, confused,pointed at Olivia's back and asked Isabella, "What's her deal?"

Isabella didn't know how to explain and answered vaguely, "Olivia might be a bit tired. Don't mind her. Let me fill you in on today's progress."

"No need. I trust you," Eric interrupted. "Keep following up tomorrow,and let me know if there are any issues."

"Okay, Mr. Allen. We'll do our best," Isabella replied.

"Oh, and I've already dealt with John, so you don't have to worry about

him bothering you anymore," Eric said absentmindedly, glancing towards the break room.

Isabella felt a bit awkward and quickly said, "Thanks, Mr. Allen. Sorry about that. I didn't mean to bother you with my personal matter."

Eric didn't say anything more and headed back to his office.

As soon as Eric left, Olivia stormed out of the break room, slamming her cup on the table.

Worried Olivia might provoke Eric, Isabella whispered, "Olivia, Mr. Allen may have his issues, but that's personal. It doesn't reflect his work ethic.You can't judge him for that. From a work perspective, Mr. Allen is still very good."

"I'm not judging him, I just... never mind. I don't want to talk about it,"Olivia pouted and looked down.

It was time to clock out. Olivia and Isabella walked out together.

As soon as they stepped out of the office building,they spotted a familiar car parked at the entrance.

It was Michael, there to pick up Isabella, and they left first.

Olivia trudged towards the dormitory, feeling down.

At the corner, a large hand grabbed her. She was about to scream when another hand covered her mouth.

Seeing it was Eric, Olivia slapped his hands away.

"Don't touch me. Gross!" Olivia shouted angrily.

Eric quickly let go.

When she thought Eric liked Isabella, Olivia was sad but not devastated.But knowing he was dating Michael, she felt like her world was crumbling.

At thought of this, tears streamed down her face. "I finally get why you turned down so many people in college. Turns out you're gay!"

Eric didn't expect such a cheerful person to cry, and cry so hard.He panicked!

"I'm not," Eric quickly defended.

"I saw it with my own eyes," Olivia said.

"Listen to me," Eric said, "I'm not gay. Mr. Johnson and I are pretending to be in a relationship. My dad wants to control everything in my life,including my marriage, and I don't want that. The only reason I'm doing this is to avod his matchmaking. Once that's done, we'll clear up the misunderstanding."

"So, you're pretending to be gay to rebel against your dad?" Olivia asked,shocked.

Eric nodded.

Olivia's mood seemed to lift. She couldn't help but tease Eric, "That's a huge sacrifice. You have no idea, all the women in our company are heartbroken."

"What about you? Are you heartbroken?" Eric cornered Olivia against the wall,his voice low.

Olivia's petite frame was enveloped by Eric, as if he was holding her. She blushed but pretended to be indifferent, saying stubbornly, "Of course not.I'm just really mad. We're such good friends, buat you kept this from me. It's not what friends would do."

"Can I be this close to you?" Eric lowered his head, pinching her chin.forcing her to look at him.

Olivia felt Eric's gaze was intense, a bit intimidating, making her heart race.

She lowered her eyelids, avoiding his intense gaze, saying. "Since it's an act,aren't you afraid I'll tell someone?"

Eric leaned down, whispering in her ear, "Anyone else can misunderstand,but not you. I believe you won't tell."

"Why?" Olivia blushed, her heart beating erratically.

Seeing he had scared her, Eric smiled slightly, took out a piece of chocolate from his pocket, unwrapped it, and put it in her mouth.

This was his habit in college. When faced with Olivia's curious questions that he couldn't answer, he would use something tasty to shut her up.

The memories instantly flooded Olivia's mind. According to their college rules, if she ate his treat, she wouldn't ask any more questions.

"I'm going back," Olivia mumbled with the big piece of chocolate in her mouth. Then she slipped out from under Eric's arm, waved,and smiled brightly at him. "Eric, good night!"

Eric shook his head helplessly, smiling indulgently. Olivia was still so easy to appease.

He had never told anyone that he and Olivia graduated from the same university, with him being four years her senior.

Their professor had assigned undergradulate Olivia to graduate student Eric. From then on, he guided her in her studies, took her into the student council, involved her in projects, and even brought her to his side after graduation.

Everyone knew Eric was aloof and unruly, while Olivia was enthusiastic and generous! But only he knew that he liked her, had always liked her.but didn't dare to tell her. He could only find ways to keep her by his side!

However, it seemed he could start taking action now.