The Times We Had

The next morning, Lisa hurried to the office after cleaning up. There was an invitation for a tender that day, which was the final project she would be handling here.

If she won the bid, it was the perfect finish of her career here, before moving on to the English branch where she would be promoted directly to the CEO position.

When she arrived at the meeting room, the representatives of several other companies joining the bid also arrived, with Chuck among them.

When he saw Lisa, he winked at Lisa while no one was watching.

Lisa did not respond but was staring pointedly at his secretary who stood right behind him.

Naturally, it was Susan.

Lina certainly found the situation ironic.

Chuck would tell her everything that happened at work, which included today's tender, but not that he had just changed his secretary.

She certainly wouldn't be aware how long they had been together, out of her sight…

Still, there was thirty minutes before the actual tender, and Lisa told her assistant to keep both eyes on her laptop and their computer while she freshened up in the washroom.

She took just a few minutes and was heading back when she heard loud shouts from the conference room.

Lisa's heart skipped a beat as she remembered the provoking smile Susan had flashed her before she left.

As she rushed in, she saw that everything and everyone was in place, except for her corner of the table.

There was coffee all over it, and her tender documents were soaked through!

Her assistant was holding her laptop, anxiously wiping the coffee stains on it.

When he saw Lisa coming back, he immediately cried, "Ms. Adams! That woman was hovering around our corner suspiciously for so long. I got worried and demanded to know what she was up to… and that was when she poured her whole cup of coffee directly on your seat!"

And where Lisa's assistant pointed, Susan stood looking helpless as she had coffee stains on her blouse too.

Lisa caught on to Susan's intentions right then, and the latter was at once pouting. "I'm sorry, Ms. Adams… It's all my fault, though it's just an accident…"

Before Lisa could snap, Chuck quickly stood in front of Susan protectively. "I'm sorry, Lisa—I asked Susan to get me my coffee. It's an honest mistake."

Lisa and Chuck's relationship was well known among the other business elites, and everyone was at once at ease gossiping as Chuck intervened.

Still, he soon wheeled on Susan, glowering coolly, "How could you screw up this bad? Don't you know how important today's tender is?! Apologize to Ms. Adams now. If this happens again, you can just resign!"

Susan shuddered, her body trembling as she looked as helpless as she was pitiful.

Her eyes were red, and tears were threatening to fall even as she bowed deeply to Lisa.

One of Lisa and Chuck's mutual friends came up and joked just then, "Come on, girl—we're all in this sorry affair together. You know you have to prepare backups just in case."

"See? Your darling loves you so much that he really doesn't want you to get hurt. Just look at what he did to that little girl…"

Lisa felt a myriad of different emotions.

She wanted to be cold, but she had no choice but to smile.

Chuck was pursing his lips, clearly apologetic even as other representatives came up to her to deescalate the situation.

They would remark on her successful career and envy how her husband treasured her so much.

But Lisa was speechless for a moment, her throat too dry to argue.

Treasured her? In the past, maybe. But now…

In the end, even fresh wildflowers outshone old gems—she would probably just be a burden if she insisted on staying.

-

Nonetheless, Lisa's assistant managed to bring a backup copy of their tender documents, and she won the bid without further problems.

Everyone present had expected that much, but as everyone congratulating her left, Lisa realized that she did not see Chuck.

She was heading to the washroom to freshen up again when she heard a strange ruckus in a room behind her.

It sounded like a splatter, and a woman's panting…

Lisa frowned and was about to leave when she heard Susan's voice—soft, shuddering, and complaining, "Ahh… You scolded me in front of so many people… I'm so humiliated that I can't show my face ever again!"

Lisa's footsteps stopped before she knew it, and she shuddered when she heard Chuck snorting. "Come on, girl—be good now. You know the broad has a temper, and she would've torn you a new one if I didn't snap at you… Also, how are you still so lively after crying so much? Don't you think you deserve some punishment?"

His voice was so quiet that Lisa could hear their bodies clapping together, and Susan's voice was suddenly less complaining as she purred sweetly, "But you told me to do it…"

"Shush now—I just told you to be good." Chuck chuckled. "Also, it's just a gamble—I mean, there was an 80% chance of me winning if she screwed up her bid. Then wouldn't you get rich too, with the way you're sucking up to me?"

Susan giggled even as the audible splatter seemed to fade.

Lisa had to keep her hand firmly over her mouth because her stomach was churning.

It was Chuck's idea all along…

She believed it was Susan's own bright idea at first, and that Susan just wanted to harass her, but Chuck was the one who had put Susan up to it!

And when he talked about how he wanted Lisa to lose, Lisa certainly discerned the jealousy and ruthlessness that she was all too familiar with.

She trembled so much that she had to lean on the walls of the hallway to stand firm.

The mental image of that earnest, diligent youth suddenly paled as her impression of Chuck distorted, her previous impression of him gone with the wind.

As scalding tears finally flowed out of her eyes, streaming down her chin and dropping on her feet, she felt a chill that seemed to cut her to the bone.

There, in that empty hallway, there was only the sound of her stifled sobs.