Whie They Played in the Snow

After I walked out, I ran into Elliot at the end of the hallway. He flashed me a smug grin.

I walked straight past him without looking his way.

Neither of them knew that after all their scheming and running around, they would gain nothing.

The new drug that could have brought them unimaginable profits had already been ruined by their own cruelty.

Right in front of everyone, Jessica handed me a voluntary resignation form.

Several employees looked stunned. They had no idea what happened between Jessica and me behind closed doors, but everyone knew I was the backbone of the research department.

Jessica stayed unmoved.

I signed the form without hesitation.

“Good,” she said coldly. “Get lost. If anyone else wants to quit, I will gladly approve it today too.”

Many veteran employees were furious at her attitude and stood up to resign as well.

Jessica looked at them mockingly. “Let me remind all of you something,” she said. “Brandon already handed all the data over to me. If you want to leave, then leave. I can hire someone else to continue the work with this data.

“If you think you can threaten the company, dream on.”

To Jessica’s surprise, the researchers did not blame me after hearing that. They looked at her with expressions full of pity and mockery.

At that moment, Elliot looked up from his phone in excitement.

“Ms. Shaw, Mr. Foster is coming to inspect the drug development results.”

Jessica brightened at once.

She glanced proudly around the room at the remaining employees. “Anyone who stays will get a bonus once the first payment from the contract comes in.”

She then turned to me with open ridicule in her eyes. “I should thank you. You saved me a huge severance payout, and you spared me the trouble of getting rid of people one by one.

“I can hire new staff after you leave. Honestly, I was never comfortable with the entire research department being full of your people.

“And did you seriously think I would invite you back as vice president?” She laughed. “I was lying.”

I exchanged looks with the coworkers resigning alongside me. All of us knew there was about to be a very interesting show.

The partner for that deal, Griffin Foster, was one of the biggest names in the industry. He had invested heavily because he believed in the new drug I developed. He had even started building media hype ahead of time.

Hospitals everywhere already knew that Foster Group Pharmaceuticals was about to release a groundbreaking new medicine.

If the product failed to launch on schedule, it was easy to imagine how furious Griffin would be.

When that happened, every resource Foster Group could have provided would instead turn into weapons aimed straight at Jessica.

I smiled faintly.

“Since you saved money on severance pay, you should use it to hire yourself a good lawyer,” I said. “Otherwise the days ahead might become rough.”

Jessica clearly did not understand what I meant. She let out an icy snort.

“Stop acting jealous,” she said. “Once we establish a deep partnership with Foster Group Pharmaceuticals, this company will go public. By then, even if you begged to come back as an intern, you would not qualify.”

Soon, Griffin arrived with several researchers from his company. Jessica hurried forward to greet them warmly.

“The drug development was completely finalized yesterday,” she said confidently. “We only need a few more side-effect tests. We will deliver on schedule at the beginning of next month.

“Mr. Foster, this way please. I will personally show you the lab.”

The next second, Jessica opened the laboratory door herself.