Chapter 7

I clenched my fists tightly in order to suppress the rage in my heart. "So, you've been waiting for my return just for this reason? You're doing this for Samuel?" Luna swept her bangs to the side, her expression now gentle. She had always maintained her domineering demeanor in front of me. I couldn't help but space out at the sight of her. "That's not entirely the case!" Luna retorted. "I'm not really doing this for Sam, you know! This is for the sake of our company. As an employee of the company—" "I have nothing else to say to you. I will never agree to this." I rejected Luna's request immediately without leaving any room for negotiation. "Edward, you can't just get back at Sam by sabotaging his work out of dislike toward him! Regardless of your response, you still have to deal with the proposal no matter what!" "Get back at Sam", she said! How ironic! "Aren't you using your job position and this work matter to coerce me into helping you right now? I thought you claimed that Sam is a capable employee! Since he's that capable, why does he need my help? I'm just a mere secretary, after all!" My response doused out Luna's flames of rage. She opened her mouth, yet she was unable to refute me at all. Maybe Luna found it difficult to register what just happened. Maybe she was wondering why Edward Richardson, the yes-man, was acting this way. Sometime later, she finally responded, "Edward, I thought differently of you. I never knew you were this vengeful. Still, I'd like to remind you not to target Sam. I'm the one who insisted on keeping him by my side. He's still young, so please don't make his life difficult." Did I even make Samuel's life difficult? I couldn't help but chuckle coldly. In fact, I wanted nothing more than to beg Luna and Samuel not to make my life difficult. If they could do that, I'd be eternally grateful to them. Luna's phone rang at that moment. She answered it and even put it on loudspeaker mode in front of me openly. An anxious voice drifted through the speaker right away, "Ms. Sherwood, Samuel ended up vomiting blood because he had too much to drink last night! But he's insisting on going to the company so that he can prepare for tomorrow's introductory meeting!" Luna's brows were knitted into a small frown. She even cast me a disdainful look. Clearly, I was painted as a petty person in this situation due to my rejection. "He has to go to the hospital. Take him to the hospital first. I'll be there as soon as possible." After ending the call, Luna grabbed her handbag and got ready to leave home. Before she did so, she even turned around to jeer at me. "Edward, you really are becoming more petty as the days go by. You're not even as gracious as Samuel, who just started his career." Once she was done speaking, she slammed the door behind her. Sure. Go ahead and slam that damn door. This wasn't my house anyway. I was just confused about one thing. Samuel was doing fine, wasn't he? Why would he vomit blood all of a sudden? Then again, I was the one who had been vomiting blood all this time. Why should I stick my nose in Samuel's business? After that, I returned to my room and took a shower. No matter how much I tossed and turned on my bed, I could never fall asleep. I wanted to wait for Luna to come home. At the same time, I kept thinking about what I should do tomorrow. But Luna never returned home, even when the sun was about to rise. To think that she'd choose to spend the night outside just to be with Samuel… I let out a small sigh before flipping the covers off me. It was time to get out of bed and wash up for the day. After that, I dug out a business suit that was custom-made by an expensive tailor. I had bought it when I first got married to Luna. As I stood before the mirror, I stared at my reflection, noting my increasingly pale and haggard visage. When I remembered my days of glory, I couldn't help feeling sad. In the past, Luna used to hug me before this very mirror. An animated sparkle had danced in her beautiful eyes back then. Back then, she had told me, "Edward, you're so handsome. Just the sight of you makes my day." No one could possibly understand the true power behind that compliment. It was even more effective than the words "I love you". Only a short time had passed since then. How did things between Luna and me sour this much? I could only sigh. Then, I did my tie and combed my hair so that I could look more presentable. Before leaving the house, I called Ian and asked him to help me do one more thing. By the time I reached the company, the preparations to welcome Mr. Hutton and his team were already in full swing. The moment I stepped into the office, I saw Luna waiting for me there. Her lips curled into a pleased smile when she noticed my sharp appearance. "You're starting to look like your old self. I'm happy that you've finally thought things through. We're running out of time, so let's hurry up and go to the meeting room." Luna grabbed my hand immediately and moved to drag me out of the office. But I paused in my tracks. "Where are we going?" "To the introductory meeting, of course! Samuel is suffering from a case of severe gastritis right now. He's in so much pain that he can't even stand properly, so he's currently being hospitalized. You'll be the one to do the introduction to Mr. Hutton on Samuel's behalf." Huh? I was speechless, to say the least. I didn't think that Samuel would choose to get himself hospitalized just so he could avoid the introductory meeting. "He said he's already told you a few important analysis points. You just have to follow his train of thought and pitch in your own opinions. There shouldn't be any problems if you do just that." It seemed that Samuel had already prepared a way out for himself by justifying the reason for his absence. In that case, I wouldn't let him off the hook. "The truth is, you know that Samuel isn't the one who came up with the proposal, right?" I asked while looking Luna in the eye. Otherwise, why else would she tell me to attend the introductory meeting on Samuel's behalf instead of anyone else in the company? There were so many employees working here, after all. Luna just turned her head away in order to avoid my scrutinizing gaze. "Edward, we're in a pinch right now. Everyone's waiting for you in the meeting room. What's the point of bringing this matter up? Can't you just let go of your personal grudge for the sake of the company?" What a joke! Had Luna seriously forgotten who was the one who had single-handedly caused this situation to happen in the first place? Also, she was terrible at changing the subject. Then again, it was completely meaningless for me to argue with Luna now. I just nodded lightly. "Of course I can do that. But in return, I want to receive all of the commission revenue generated by this project." Luna stared at me in shock. "You're demanding the full sum? Edward, aren't you being a little too greedy?"