Resign with Grace, Return with Fire Chapter 12
I gave a flat hum and asked, “Why are you here? And how did you get in?”
I bought this apartment so many years ago. I had never given her a key.
When she noticed how distant I was, a flicker of disappointment crossed her face. “I called for a locksmith.”
After I sat down, she followed and sat beside me before saying gently, “Fred, you’ve probably heard about what happened at Wendell Group. I heard that the client’s project lead is someone you’re close to.
“Could you reach out to him and ask him to go easy on us? I don’t want this to end up in court. I’ve already looked into it. It really was Lester’s fault.”
Her tone was heavy and filled with regret. “You’ve always said that Lester was careless and that you were helping the company manage risk. I thought you were being too harsh and worried about hurting his pride. I never imagined he’d be this incompetent.”
Well, this was rare. This was the first time Sandra had ever criticized Lester in front of me.
Then, it clicked. She wanted me to step in and smooth things over with the client to reduce their losses.
However, my relationship with that client was strictly professional. The only reason he respected me was that I was serious and accountable in my work.
But now, Lester had submitted such an unprofessional proposal that it caused real damage to the client’s finances and reputation.
Even if I could speak on it, I had no intention of burning years of hard-earned credibility just to clean up Lester’s
mess.
“Sorry, I can’t help with that,” I declined calmly.
Sandra panicked and reached for my hand. “Fred, I’m not asking you as the CEO. I’m asking you as your girlfriend. We’ve been together for many years. The company’s in trouble. Why can’t you help me just this once?
She looked at me with teary eyes.
I pushed her hand away and said coldly, “Sandra, did you forget? We’ve already broken up.’
She froze. After a long pause, she said hoarsely, “I always thought that we just needed time to cool down. You’re actually serious about this?”
She looked at me, disappointed. “I never meant to really fire you. Yes, I favored Lester, but only because he’s the son of a shareholder. There was nothing romantic going on between us. Why do you have to be so petty?”
I almost laughed. “Sandra, do you remember what you promised back when we started the company?”
She had said that once the company stabilized, we’d get married. She had said that she would marry no one but
But what happened after that? She refused to go public with our relationship, refused to acknowledge me as her boyfriend, and refused to marry me.
If I were truly the petty one, we would have broken up a long time ago.
Sandra fell silent.
She looked at me with guilt and opened her mouth to explain, but the words caught in her throat. She realized that they would only sound laughably thin.
After a long while, she finally said in a strained voice, “Fred, just help me this once, and we’ll get married right away, okay?”
I replied coldly, “Sandra, please leave. You’re not welcome here. Otherwise, I’ll call the police on you for trespassing.”
Noticing that I meant it, Sandra had no choice but to leave.
When the door closed, the apartment fell silent again.
I couldn’t understand how two people who had once been so close could end up like this.
But there was no going back.
Two days later, I heard that Sandra had paid the client full compensation as promised and had removed Lester from his position, demoting him back to an intern.
