Before the meeting started, lan stopped me and secretly handed me some information. Looking at me with lingering affection and regret, he said, “This information will ensure that you secure the rights to the national distribution channel.”
He left after saying that. I took a look at the document he handed me. It was filled with confidential information, including the company’s lowest offer and market reports.
I never thought that someone as principled as fan would actually commit corporate espionage. Either way, I didn’t bother using the information he gave me. He didn’t know that I no longer needed the help he presumptuously tossed my way.
Throughout the meeting, Ian kept staring at me, staying quiet the whole time. The negotiation team on his side was livid. Even Otis was grinding his teeth.
Ignoring Ian’s unprofessional attitude, I pushed forward in the negotiation without showing any interest in compromising. In the end, I succeeded in claiming the rights to the national distribution channel,
From that moment onward, Ian’s company was shut out of the market.
When I turned to leave, Ian chased after me and clutched my hand tightly. Eyes wet over the long–awaited reunion, he pleaded, “I know I made a terrible mistake, Belle. Don’t leave me, please? When you left, you said that all we had to do was find you, right?”
I pried Ian’s fingers off my hand and eyed him scornfully. “You guys failed to find me before the deadline I gave you. I was the one who chose to appear now. Plus, I had no intention of staying behind from the moment I started the game, regardless of whether you two found me. Either way, I refuse to have anything to do with you two ever again.”
Once Ian heard what I said, he could barely stay on his feet. I caught the stench of alcohol that clung to him despite his efforts to mask it with cologne.
Meanwhile, Elaine rushed over and grabbed Ian as she screeched at the top of her lungs, “You’re regretting things again, aren’t you? Well, I’m telling you right now. It’s too late for that!”
Turning to me, Elaine continued, “You haven’t heard, huh, Belle? You came back too late. I’m already pregnant with Ian’s baby. You don’t have a chance anymore. We’ll be getting married soon. It must kill you to see that the person you love has fallen in love with me and is going to marry me. We’ll even be starting a family soon!”
However, I was unusually calm in the face of her outburst.
It turned out she had inadvertently discovered that I’d kept the love letters from Ian. She picked up on the feelings I had for him, so she purposely tried to steal him from me. It was from then onward that she kept approaching Ian and making it seem like something was going on between them.
The old me was hurt, but now, I couldn’t care less. My heart had turned to stone, and my love had dried up ages
ago.
If she wanted a man whose feelings could turn on a whim, she could have him.
Pushing Elaine away, Ian roared, “You set me up on purpose! I only slept with you when I was inebriated! Who knows if I’m even the father of the baby?”
His words riled Elaine up to no end, but he whipped his head around to stare at me with a strange expression.
“E–Elaine said you loved me. Is that true, Belle?”
