Drowning Him In Regret

Chapter 52 Remember To Pay For It

Neither of us got much sleep that night.

Casey's design really wasn't bad-it was creative and eco-friendly too.

We just couldn't figure out which tiny step had gone wrong, but it ended up throwing off the whole design.

I went through it from the top again and finally found what caused the issue.

"Look here. You didn't change this part, right? It's off by an inch," I asked.

Casey pushed up her glasses, squinted at the screen, then smacked the desk. "No way! Someone messed up my design! No wonder all the data fell off!

"Someone must've changed the file when I wasn't paying attention. I couldn't find the original file anywhere-I thought I'd accidentally deleted it myself!"

I'd already suspected something like that, but didn't say it out loud.

There wasn't time to figure out who was behind it. Casey jumped into fixing the data while I stayed close and helped however I could.

After a few solid hours of work, we finally got all the documents sorted. Daylight was starting to creep in.

Casey, her voice hoarse, threw her arms around me. "Ada, I would've been dead without you. You're my lifesaver, my second mom!"

"Lifesaver's fine. Mom? Absolutely not. I'm not signing up for motherhood," I said, patting her head, which earned me a dramatic smack from her.

Casey's voice was nearly gone from the stress. And my head was pounding too after staying up all night, so I just called in sick.

Lately, it seemed like Jude had been deliberately keeping work away from me. The design department had been weirdly quiet.

Casey was worse off than me though. She was so out of it she could barely stand, but she couldn't skip the bidding presentation.

We talked it over and decided I'd go up there for her.

"Come on, you're already off work today, Casey said. "Help me out, will you? I'II support you from the sidelines. You've got the brains for it."

Casey was the lead designer, and no one else knew the project as well as she did. She was worried someone else would mess it up.

Besides, Casey's raspy voice clashed so hard with her boss-lady image it was honestly painful to hear.

After thinking it through, I figured I knew the project well enough to wing it.

But I didn't expect to run into Dorian and Jude at the event with their team.

My head dropped almost automatically. Casey spotted them too and let out a deep sigh.noveldrama

If I went up there as the lead designer from the Carson Group, all hell would break loose.

And I could feel a cold glare on me. It must be Jude.

Casey patted my shoulder and said in her god-awful voice, “I'll go.”

I nodded and thought, 'She really doesn't have a choice. If I go up, it'll only stir the pot.'

As soon as Casey started speaking on stage, the whole crowd reacted to her voice.

Still, Casey powered through and finished explaining the design plan.

The Carson Group's design was done by Department Three. It was solid, but Casey's version came in under budget and was just as refined.

I could tell Dorian's team was eager, but they clearly lacked experience. Their pitch didn't quite hit the mark.

In the end, Casey nailed the bid with her professionalism and sharp eye.

When she came off stage, Casey hugged me tightly. "Ada...."

"If you talk to me in that zombie voice again, I'm gonna poison you." I shoved her

off and stuffed a throat lozenge in her

mouth.

Casey giggled and clung to my arm, whining, "Ada, Ada, my dear Ada..."

Chapter 52 Remember To Pay For It

We were just about to leave, laughing and teasing, when Vivian showed up again, clearly unable to take a hint.

"Ada, you work for the Carson Group! How could you help another company? You're the design director-are you trying to stab us in the back?" Vivian snapped,

a few Design Department Three folks trailing behind her.

They must've been salty about losing. One after another, they started complaining too.

"Seriously. Everyone knows you're good at design. If you weren't gonna help us, you could've at least stayed out of it." "You're clearly trying to make us look bad. Bet you already saw her design plan."

"Exactly! Otherwise, there's no way we'd have lost!"

Jude had walked over by now too, and Vivian immediately started in with her pouty act.

Vivian said, looking so wounded, "One day you're all lovey-dovey with Jude, and the next you're helping another company.

"That's just cold. Do Jude and the Carson Group mean nothing to you?"

Hearing that, Jude froze in his tracks and stared at me, like he was waiting for me to explain.

Honestly, I was speechless. I didn't even manage Design Department Three. And we didn't work together at all. Jude set them up a few months ago to handle small projects separately.

And the Carson Group clearly didn't care about this project, which was why they gave it to a rookie team.

Now they botched the bid and had the nerve to blame me?

But I wasn't about to explain myself. I turned to Vivian instead. "Who's Jude? Your Jude? Yeah, he doesn't mean anything to

1. me.

"But that bracelet you broke? That sure means something. It is worth over ten million. Don't forget to pay for it."

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