Chapter 13

The more chaotic it was, the more mistakes occurred. The more Willow wanted to avoid offending Jasper, the more things seemed to happen. Cold sweat broke out on Willow's back as she quickly bent over to pick up the shards of the broken teacup. "Ouch..." Willow cut her hand on the sharp porcelain fragments. She gasped in pain; she was about to put her finger in her mouth, when a fierce chill swept up her spine. Suddenly, a large hand grabbed her wrist. A strong pull lifted her from her crouching position, forcing her to stand. Willow looked up, and met Jasper’s eyes. Her heart skipped a beat. The man exuded an imposing presence, his gaze intense. Just by locking eyes with him, Willow subconsciously tensed and got ready for battle. Jasper lowered his head, and looked at her finger. A drop of blood oozed from her fingertip; it dripped down her slender white finger, like a blood-red snake. Jasper's heart stirred slightly. He grabbed a tissue from the meeting table, and skillfully wrapped her wound. His voice was cold as he rebuked her. "Why are you so clumsy? If you can't do the janitorial work properly, don't do it at all!" Willow was flustered. She quickly pulled her hand back, bowing apologetically. "I'm sorry! I'll be more careful next time. Janitorial work is easy, and I'll do it well." She hurriedly crouched again to pick up the fragments on the ground. During the meeting just now, Jasper's intimidating and stern image had left a deep impression on her. Each executive had been careful and restrained, not daring to breathe too loudly. Willow was also affected, and she could feel the weight of Jasper's authority. She definitely didn't want to be fired. Tyson Ward, the assistant, approached with concern. He asked anxiously, "Mr. Hughes, are you okay?" Jasper had walked over to the janitor in a blink of an eye, and Tyson hadn't had time to react. He never expected that Jasper, usually fierce and indifferent, would suddenly care about the well-being of a janitor's hand. There was a hint of undisguised astonishment in Tyson's words. "I'm fine," Jasper said, his voice calm yet authoritative. He turned around and strode out of the conference room. The woman was about to lick her injured hand, which could lead to bacterial infection. Didn't she realize that? Jasper didn't know why he had acted on impulse to pull her away from that situation. Perhaps it was because the feeling she gave him when he first saw her was reminiscent of the woman who had saved him five years ago. Driven by this familiar sensation, he had stepped forward. Back in his office, Jasper instructed Tyson, "Replace the teacups in the conference room with plastic ones." Tyson paused for a moment, then nodded. "Understood, Mr. Hughes. By the way, the autumn fashion show is scheduled for next week. Our company has yet to finalize the plan. I'm worried we're running out of time. Should we consider postponing the event?" Jasper had rejected many proposals in the conference room earlier, and his brows remained furrowed. It seemed none of the options had satisfied him. Jasper said, "No need. If time wasn't pressing, would those guys give it their all?" With that, he waved his hand, indicating for Tyson to leave. Tyson bowed, then exited the office. Willow, who had finished tidying up the conference room, came out and ran into Tyson. She nodded and smiled at him as a form of greeting, then walked past him. Tyson also nodded slightly, his gaze following her figure. She had a slim and well-proportioned body, slender yet full of charm. Her face was fair and innocent, reminiscent of a high school student. Did Jasper approach her on his own accord because he had taken an interest in her? Tyson was curious, but he didn't dare to speculate about his boss's thoughts without basis. After taking out the trash, Willow passed by the place she had mistakenly entered as a storage room yesterday. Her sharp eyes caught sight of a sign on the door, labeling it as a men's restroom. It wasn't there yesterday. Had they put up the sign specifically because she had wandered in there yesterday? Oh, she had quite an impact, didn't she? They should have put up the sign in the first place. How would anyone know what it was for otherwise? What if someone else wandered in by mistake, and offended the CEO? Seeing the sign put up because of her actions, Willow felt her mood soar. She could feel that she still mattered in this world, and was needed and valuable. Once work was done for the day, Willow hummed a tune as she left Hughes Corporation. However, she was stopped at the entrance by Dale. He was still fuming from her earlier rejection of him, his expression dark and fierce. He said harshly, "Lara, don't act so high and mighty! It's your lucky day that I've taken an interest in you. Come with me!" He grabbed hold of Willow's wrist, and pulled her by force. Willow struggled to pull her hand back, but she couldn't break free. She planted her other hand against the wall to steady herself and resist getting dragged away by him. Frightened, she cried, "Help! Somebody, help! Hughes Corporation’s security is blatantly kidnapping a civilian woman! What will happen to the company’s reputation if this gets exposed?" Dale hurriedly turned back, attempting to cover her mouth and silence her cries. His greasy hand was about to reach her mouth when a sudden force pulled it away, flinging his hand to the side. Dale seethed with anger. His furious gaze turned towards the person who intervened. He was about to start cursing, but his expression instantly turned pale with shock when he saw exactly who was standing beside Willow. He quickly changed his tune. "Mr. Ward, she was the one who seduced me first!” he babbled. “I was just about to teach her a lesson, so she'd understand her place. Who would've thought she'd start yelling?" Tyson was Jasper's chief assistant. All the employees in Hughes Corporation knew him. Willow was both annoyed and amused. Dale was fantastic at twisting the facts. Her chest heaved with anger. "You were clearly the one harassing me! You even threatened me that I wouldn't be able to stay at Hughes Corporation if I didn't listen to you!" Dale flushed, and quickly defended himself. "You're lying! How could I possibly be interested in someone like you?" "Do you need me to play the recording of you saying that to me during lunch earlier?" Willow took out her phone, and acted like she was about to play the recording. Dale grew anxious, and immediately tried to snatch her phone away. However, Tyson kicked him to the ground before he could reach her. "Enough! Dale White, Hughes Corporation isn’t a place for you to act recklessly. You're off security duty tomorrow." Dale doubled over in pain from the kick, and remained on the ground. His face was twisted in agony. When he heard Tyson's words, he was on the verge of tears. Willow felt satisfied. It seemed Hughes Corporation was a place with clear distinctions between right and wrong, and was quite humane. She said to Tyson, "Mr. Ward, thank you." Tyson's lips curved into a professional smile. "Dealing with internal garbage is part of my job. No need to thank me." After that, he walked away. Willow quickly caught up, unable to resist chatting a bit more. "Don't you usually leave with our CEO?" "Mr. Hughes is working overtime." "What? He's the CEO, but he's voluntarily working overtime?" Willow was surprised. Even more incredulous was the fact that while the CEO was working overtime, his assistant was off duty. "Yes. Mr. Hughes has a lot on his plate. I'm going to get him some lunch to keep his energy up," Tyson replied as he glanced back at her. This woman seemed to be on edge around Jasper. Was there something between them that she wasn't letting on?