I nodded and spoke with no hesitation. “Everyone lives for themselves. Not only is Armond rich and good-looking, but he also willingly accepts my past. He’s a really nice guy.”
Ashton stared at me for a long while with some hope left in him. However, I kept my face devoid of emotions, forcing him to believe that I felt nothing toward him. Soon after, he gave up and scoffed, “Good! Very good!”
The three words were spoken with his teeth gritted.
With that, he turned around and headed toward his car. After taking a few steps, he halted and glanced back. “Scarlett, I’ll ask you once again. Do you mean everything you said?”
“Yes. From the bottom of my heart.” Reluctant to be entangled, I cut off every tie I had with him. It was best to end it this way.
“Haha!” He laughed, but it sounded rather forced. “Good, very good! If that’s how it is, it seems everything was all my wishful thinking.”
With that, he walked away. Hearing his footsteps getting further and further away from me and finally the sound of the engine blaring, I stayed rooted on my spot. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him and my heart felt hollow.
Grandma was correct. I was hesitant about everything. If I couldn’t let it go and make a clean cut, I would suffer in the end.
I had repeated the same question in my mind for several nights. Why do I have to leave Ashton?
I really couldn’t think of an answer. Maybe it was just like what Nora said. I was a psycho, so I chased away the people that loved me.
To be honest, I wasn’t confident if I could let the past go. Even if Ashton and I lived together for the rest of our lives, I was afraid that I would bring up the past and use them as reasons to hurt him when we fight.
When I returned to the Murphy Corporation, it was almost time to get off work. Armond wore a white dress shirt while his black coat was hanging on his right arm.
Looking at me coldly, he asked, “Is the bid proposal done?”
I nodded and handed the documents to him. “Others used half a month to prepare a proposal, while I used only one day, so I bet Ashton wouldn’t pick ours.”
Flipping through the proposal, disdain was written all over his face. “This is the worst bid proposal I’ve ever seen. Congratulations on breaking the record.”
I pursed my lips. No matter how reluctant I was to admit it, he said the truth. Other than the suggestions Linda and Nora gave, nothing else could pass as authentic.
It was done in a few hours, so there was no way it would be good. After pausing for a while, I said, “The Murphy Corporation wasn’t an expert in this field, so Ashton will not choose us.”
Knitting his brows, he threw the bid proposal aside and turned to look at me. “Let’s go for dinner.”
Frankly, I felt that he had no intention to win the bidding. Otherwise, he wouldn’t ask me to prepare the proposal at the eleventh hour.
I checked the time. Seeing that it was already 6 p.m., I suggested, “The bidding begins at 8 p.m. I’ll head to the Oasis Hotel first. Can you have your dinner outside later?”
To my surprise, the man took his car keys and said indifferently, “Take your things. We’ll head straight to the Oasis Hotel for dinner.”
I was stunned and asked subconsciously, “Are you going too?”
He raised a brow. “If I don’t go, do you think you can win the bid with your scrappy proposal? Or are you relying on your beautiful face?”
I…
He’s so harsh and vicious with his words.
Stealing a glance at him, I chose to keep quiet and packed my stuff before following him out of the company.
In the car, he drove the car and asked casually, “Do you know which companies are taking part in the bidding?”
I froze instantly and shook my head. “No. I asked my friend and only know that several state-owned enterprises are taking part.”
Armond took a side glance at me with disdain and anger. “Ms. Stovall, how do you even become the director at Fuller Corporation?”
I frowned, and the man glanced at me coldly. Then he was merciless with his insults. “Poor bid proposal and knowledge about opponents. Do you really think we, the Murphy Corporation’s joining for fun?”
I tried to reason with him. “Mr. Murphy, you only gave me six hours to do all of this. In six hours, I’ll have to understand the company’s structure and advantages. Then I’ll have to prepare a bid proposal and understand our opponents while taking the demands of the bidding company into consideration. I accept whatever reprimands you gave. However, I wish you could understand that I’ve tried my best and my intelligence is much lower than yours.”
Although I was rather angry, I calmed myself down. To rush a proposal in six hours that took others half a month, it was impossible to make it good, as I wasn’t a genius and my capabilities had a limit.
He glanced at me sideways and narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying that you felt wronged?”
“Nope,” I shook and focused on the scenery outside the car window to distract myself from the unpleasant feelings. Well, who hasn’t met psychopathic bosses in life?
The man set his eyes on the road before saying, “I can’t deny that six hours is truly too little. You could prepare a three thousand words proposal in a few hours with the analysis of our budget as well as pros and cons. Not bad, I’ll give you that. However, Scarlett, that doesn’t mean you can’t do it better.”
