I thought I had misheard him.

But seeing Cindy's hesitant expression, I knew Bruce's invitation was genuine. Or was he just being polite to me?

I didn't want to appear obnoxious, so I politely declined, "Thank you, Mr. Harold, but I still have work to attend to. Next time, the treat's on me."

Bruce persisted, "Even if you're busy, you still need to eat, right?" His tone intensified, as if I didn't know any better.

Cindy stood with her eyes looking down. She whispered, "Bruce, maybe Nancy really has something important to attend to." Clearly, Cindy had her own thoughts on this matter.

I remained still to wait and see how Bruce would handle the situation.

After a while, he patiently said, "Cindy has been with your company for over a month now, and she must have caused Ms. Fisher some trouble. I should properly thank Ms.Fisher."

I caught Bruce's underlying meaning immediately. He was

"Bruce, aren't you spoiling her too much?" Kate couldn't help but intervene. "She has hands, doesn't she? Does she really need you to cut the steak and feed her?"

She said this just as Bruce was handing Cindy a napkin.

Bruce replied calmly as if it wasn't a big deal. "You wouldn't understand."

Kate was left speechless, and her face darkened in anger.

I didn't want to get dragged into their drama, so I changed the subject. "Mrs. Harold, the pan-fried cod here is really good. You should try it."

Hearing this, Kate looked down at the cod pieces that had been deboned. She smiled and said, "Nancy, you're still the most sensible one here, unlike some other girls who aren't anything but shortsighted."

The meal was as thrilling as a roller coaster ride.

After we finished eating, the four of us stood at an intersection under the neon lights. Kate took my hand and said, "Nancy, you should c

When the topic of Facebook came up, I realized that Bruce's displeasure stemmed from me deleting him as a friend. It's already been a few days since that happened. Did he only notice it now?

Oh well, he's still our investor after all. If I addressed the issue directly, it would make me seem small-minded.

I had to find a way out. "Sorry, Mr. Harold. I have too many Facebook contacts and may have deleted you accidentally."

As soon as I finished speaking, Bruce couldn't help but sneer, "Nancy, can't you come up with a better excuse? Why would you care about deleting just one contact?"

Bruce had replied with his usual confidence, as if he had already seen through me. 

Out of nowhere, I felt instigated by his confidence. I met his gaze and said, "Exactly, it's just a contact. Why would Mr. Harold care?"

Seeing that Bruce wasn't able to respond immediately, he was clearly taken aback. Neither of us spoke as we stood in the corridor and stared at each other like lunatics. 

My fingernails dug deep into my palm as my heart trembled with a slight bitterness.

After a moment, Bruce's expression turned dark. "Nancy, you think too highly of yourself!" 

Right afterward, he disappeared into the cold night. 

I leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. It took me a while to recover, but in the end, I didn't add Bruce back into my contacts. 

Emails, work groups, and phone calls—I thought that if Bruce had any work-related instructions, he could use any of these methods to contact me.

Just because of the few words he had said didn't mean that I had to comply like I did back then again. I really didn't want to hear his sarcastic remarks anymore.

However, I still had a restless night despite my decision. In my dream, Bruce decided to seriously withdraw the investment, and I woke up covered in cold sweat. I was unable to sleep again, so I went to the company covered in eyebags. 

Unlike my gloomy state, Cindy had a bright smile on her face. She was happily distributing coffee and croissants to other colleagues. 

When she saw me coming in, she greeted me with a smile, "Nance, here's your black coffee."

I had a stomach ache just a couple of days ago, so I dared not take coffee anymore. But I couldn't turn down her good intentions, so I replied , "Thank you."

I reached out for the coffee, and in the next second, I heard Vanessa's exclamation, "Wow, a Cartier Love bracelet, and it's the diamond series! It looks great." 

Following her gaze, I saw Cindy's rose gold bracelet sparkling on her wrist. The color suited her very well, and made her wrist look even fairer and more delicate.

"Mr. Harold is really generous," Vanessa admired with a sigh, "When will I have a boyfriend like him—who picks me up and drops me off in a Maybach? I can die without regrets then."

Cindy blushed and shyly replied, "You will meet them some day."

I had no interest in joining their gossip and walked toward my desk. Just then, I heard Vanessa say, "Mr. Harold is so romantic. You're both using couple profile pictures together as well. Say, how should singles like us survive?"

The phrase "couple profile pictures" made me pause for a moment. After taking my seat, I secretly opened the workgroup. 

On the screen, Bruce's profile picture had changed from the sunset image to a cat wearing a bowtie. It matched the profile image of Cindy's cat with a pink hat. They were quite a fitting pair.

Cindy treated everyone to coffee for two consecutive days, and I also got to enjoy the benefits. 

Caroline had just confirmed her schedule on her end and said that she would be returning tomorrow afternoon. This meant that I had to head over to the Roeval Group alone for the project summary report this afternoon. 

I was contemplating whether to postpone it for a day when Cindy came over and asked in high spirits, "Nance, what time are we leaving this afternoon?"

I paused for a moment before realizing that she was talking about heading over to the Roeval Group for the project report.

It was quite sudden, but thinking about it, it made sense. After all, she was now the manager of the planning department, and it was legitimate for her to report to the Roeval Group. 

So I said, "Around three o'clock."

Cindy agreed happily, "I'll get ready first then."

Just before we left, I realized that Cindy's idea of preparation was meticulously applying light makeup. 

Not long after, we arrived at the entrance of the Roeval Group. When the receptionist saw Cindy, she politely addressed her and respectfully led us to the specialized lift. 

Her attitude was far from the arrogant tone she had used when Caroline and I first came. As expected, there was a vast difference when someone backed you up.

"Nance, please wait here. I'll be back in a moment." Cindy politely reminded me when we were at the reception. 

She then effortlessly entered Bruce's office with confidence. Her actions seemed natural, as if she was heading home, and all I could do was wait here.

However, I didn't expect to have to wait for more than an hour. By then, Cindy still hasn't come out yet.

"Nance, what are you doing here?" I looked up and saw John holding a pile of documents with a surprised look.

"Mr. Zeigler," I took a deep breath and asked, "Is Mr. Harold still busy?"

"No. There's only one meeting this afternoon, and it's the one with you guys." John glanced at Bruce's office and said, "I'll go and have a check."

"It’s fine, Mr. Zeigler. I can wait for a little more. By the way, just call me Nancy from now on."

He probably didn't know that his sister-in-law was someone else now. He hesitated for a moment and glanced at the office. 

He then sighed and said, "Nance, don't be angry, I..."

Before he finished speaking, the office door opened. Cindy maintained her composure and glanced at John. She looked at me and said, "Nance, you can come in now."

Her tone was indifferent, but I didn't take it to heart and proceeded to report about our work. 

When it was over, I glanced at Bruce who was sitting in front of me. But what I saw was him lowering his head to talk to Cindy.

Cindy had a smile on her face and seemed to be in a good mood. It was then that I suddenly felt that my presence here was quite unnecessary. 

"If Mr. Harold has no objections, I'll excuse myself." I didn't plan to continue being a third wheel.

However, Cindy, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke, "Nance, I have a suggestion. But I don't know if I should say it or not."

I paused and heard Bruce say, "You're also one of the project managers, so it's only right that you're able to give suggestions."

But Cindy continued to look at me, as if she was waiting for my response. Thus, I responded professionally, " Please go ahead, Ms.Lane."

"I carefully observed our game interface last night. How should I put it... I feel like the color saturation is not strong enough," Cindy said and glanced at Bruce, "It’s a love simulation game, and the overall color tone should be bright and vibrant to evoke a sense of romance."

A sense of romance... I silently thought of these words and asked, "Ms. Lane, what kind of feeling are you referring to?"

Cindy's expression haltered and her eyes lowered. She was hesitant to speak, as if I had somehow wronged her.

I softened my tone and said, "Ms. Lane, I'm just discussing work with you."

"It's okay, you can say whatever you want," Bruce suddenly interrupted. With a gentle tone, he continued "Ms .Fisher isn’t a stubborn person. Besides, I’m right here with you."

Should I thank him for that?

Seemingly encouraged by him, Cindy smiled and said, "Love should be pictured as bright and dreamy. So, I think that the main color should be pink instead."

Upon finishing her words, she added,  "What do you think, Bruce? "

Our game interface currently featured light blue as its main color. We aimed to create a bright and refreshing theme to provide players with a clean and comfortable gaming experience. But Cindy felt that it lacked a romantic touch.

"Ms.Fisher, what's your opinion?" Bruce asked.

His low voice pulled me back from my thoughts. I raised my head to meet Bruce's gaze and said, "I think the current interface is fine. But if Mr. Harold insists on changing it, we can make some adjustments too."

That was my biggest compromise. A project manager had to hold on to their own principles after all.

Bruce frowned slightly and gently tapped his slender fingers on the desk. He then asked, "What’s your reason?"

I stated seriously, "Love can take on a million different forms. It shouldn't be limited to a particular color." 

It may be honey to one and poison to another. No one knows that better than I do.

But as soon as I finished speaking, Cindy's face turned pale. I was only discussing the matter at hand, but she seemed to think of something else. 

"In that case." Bruce's eyes fell on me. He made the final decision after a moment's thought."Ms.Fisher, please incorporate the dreamy pink color into the current interface."

This report turned out to be more challenging than I thought. The sky was already dark when the meeting ended. While I was organizing the files, I overheard Bruce and Cindy discussing which restaurant to go to.

Cindy sounded cautious, "Bruce, I haven't finished work yet." She then glanced at me afterward. 

I pretended to ignore her and was about to leave immediately. Yet… 

"It's simple. Ms.Fisher, let's go together," Bruce said suddenly.


I thought I had misheard him.

But seeing Cindy's hesitant expression, I knew Bruce's invitation was genuine. Or was he just being polite to me?

I didn't want to appear obnoxious, so I politely declined, "Thank you, Mr. Harold, but I still have work to attend to. Next time, the treat's on me."

Bruce persisted, "Even if you're busy, you still need to eat, right?" His tone intensified, as if I didn't know any better.

Cindy stood with her eyes looking down. She whispered, "Bruce, maybe Nancy really has something important to attend to." Clearly, Cindy had her own thoughts on this matter.

I remained still to wait and see how Bruce would handle the situation.

After a while, he patiently said, "Cindy has been with your company for over a month now, and she must have caused Ms. Fisher some trouble. I should properly thank Ms.Fisher."

I caught Bruce's underlying meaning immediately. He was repaying a favor for Cindy.

Cindy seemed to sense this too, and her pale face finally cracked a sm

Chapter 16