Chapter 44

Isabella overslept again.

When she finally woke up, the sun was already streaming through the window. Michael was fully dressed, sitting by the window with a stack of papers.

The sunlight madehim look almost angelic.

Catching Isabella's stare, Michael put down the papers and walked over. "Isabella, are you staring at me because you think I'm hot, or do you want a repeat of last night..."

Isabella couldn't handle his teasing. She grabbed a pillow and tossed it at him, her voice raspy, "I need to get up."

"You barely slept. I'lI call Eric and get you a day off. You should rest and skip work today," Michael said gently, noticing her yawning.

"No way. The new manager is personally overseeing the project Olivia and I are on. There's too much to do, and I can't leave it all to Olivia." Isabella closed her eyes. "Besides, Mr. Vaughn Johnson has high expectations for our project. We can't let him down."

Michael suddenly regretted sending Vaughn to the branch office.He sneered, "Don't worry about him. He's a disappointment on his own."

Isabella thought Michael was just bitter because Vaughn had messed up but still worked at the Johnson Group. She didn't say much, just sat up,hugged the blanket, and sweetly said, "I need to get up. Can you grab me some loungewear?"

Michael quickly fetched it from the closet.

Isabella threw on her clothes, took a deep breath like she was making a big decision, and headed to the bathroom.

Feeling bad for her, Michael called Jeremy, "Jeremy, push the start time back by half an hour."

Jeremy replied, "That's not really appropriate. Even though I set the rules,they were approved by the board..."

"If you have the guts, come back and change them yourself." Jeremy's voice was suddenly cut off, and Qiana's voice came through the phone.

Michael couldn't help but be curious. "Why are you two together? Qiana,are you finally with Jeremy?"

Qiana laughed, annoyed. "Cóme on, look at the time! You're always thinking about romance."

With that, Qiana hung up on him.

Michael checked the time and secretly set Isabella's phone an hour behind.

When Isabella came out of the bathroom, fully dressed,she said to Michael,"The driver will take me to work. You should get some more sleep."

Michael teased, "Are you feeling sorry for me because I didn't sleep much last night?"

Isabella turned her head away, ignoring him.

Michael continued, "We still have time. Let's go down and have breakfast first. I'll take you after we eat."

Isabella checked her phone and saw they indeed had time. Although she felt something was off, she didn't think much of it and had a leisurely breakfast with Michael.

While Isabella wasn't paying attention, Michael sent a message to Eric.

When the car arrived at the company entrance, Isabella checked the time and saw she still had fifteen minutes, feeling relieved.

Michael held her close for a long, tender goodbye kiss that didn't stop until her lips turned a bit invitingly swollen. Then, she flicked a sheepish glance at him and broke free fromn him.

As Isabella got out of the car and turned around, she spotted John at the company entrance.

Behind him, a screen was looping an apology video where he admitted to cheating first,falsely accusing Isabella of cheating, and blackmailing her.This drew a crowd of onlookers.

The bystanders buzzed with conversation.

"What a jerk."

"His ex-girlfriend is really pitiful, cheated on and slandered."

"Thank goodness she didn't marry him."

Isabella stood at a distance, feeling extremely embarrassed. She wanted to go up and drive John away but didn't want to attract more attention.

Michael didn't let Jerry drive off but waited for Isabella to turn back and ask for his help.

Suddenly, a woman rushed out of the building, wielding a broom and shouting,"Get out of here! Stop embarrassing Isabella. If you really want to apologize, disappear from her life forever."

Olivia's broom landed on John with a flurry of hits, scaring him into saying,

"Okay, I'll leave right away and never come back."

Then he packed up his things and ran off.

Michael felt a pang of jealousy as he watched Isabella warmly link arms with Olivia and kiss her on the cheek. Olivia had not only taken his chance to help Isabella but also stolen a kiss.

He decided to drag Eric into a romance that would make Olivia anxious.

Regarding John, Michael decided not to intervene. As long as Isabella was safe,the more people protecting her, the better. One more Olivia wouldn't hurt.

He watched Isabella's figure disappear into the company and was about to tell Jerry to drive away when Vaughn knocked on the car window and asked, "Michael, what are you doing here?"

"Nothing,just wandering around," Michael said, then had Jerry drive away.

Vaughn watched the black business car drive off, thinking, 'Silvercrest City is so big. Why would he wander here? Is he checking up on me, or is it the rumored romance with Eric...'

Vaughn immediately dismissed his second thought. With all his dating experience, Michael was definitely not gay.

He thought Michael was just checking up on him.

Vaughn made a silent vow to achieve something at the branch office to show Michael. The project Isabella and Olivia were working on was excellent!

When Isabella went to clock in, she realized she was an hour late. She incredulously took out her phone and saw that the time was indeed sixty minutes behind the company's time. Before she could think about it, Eric came over and asked with concern, "Are you feeling better? Michael called in to say you aren't feeling well, so I thought you wouldn't be coming in

this morning."

Hearing this, Olivia anxiously looked Isabella up and down and asked,"Isabella, what's wrong? Are you okay? Should you go back to the dorm and rest? I can handle the project."

Isabella felt embarrassed but was touched by Olivia's concern. Blushing.she said. "No need. I've rested enough."

Eric looked at Olivia and shook his head helplessly, smiling.

Vaughn passed by and saw the three of them talking. He walked over and sternly ordered, "Olivia, Isabella, no matter what it takes, get this project done as soon as possible. I want to see results in two weeks. Eric, you can't slack off either.Give them the maximum support."

They agreed but were puzzled, thinking what had gotten into Vaughn.

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