Filed to story: Sweetheart Do You Still Love Me
The female employee knew Elspeth was angry, so she nodded timidly and did as told.
Callum was in his office, going through some documents with Emma. When he heard what happened, he raised his eyebrows and said harshly,
“If she wants to leave, let her leave. It seems to me that I’ve been too indulgent with her lately.”
Emma’s heart leaped with joy when she saw that he was angry, but she advised him,
“Don’t be upset with Elspeth, Mr. Winthrop. She’s a proud woman, and she won’t be happy if she heard what you said.”
“She won’t be happy? Who in this company doesn’t have a sense of pride? I’m running the company with a team of employees that perform their roles well. It’s not her one-woman show.”
His expression was grim as he spoke. He looked deeply disappointed.
“There, now. Don’t be mad. Look at this, Mr. Winthrop. We can make these arrangements for this season’s designs…”
Emma quickly changed the subject when she noticed he was getting angrier. She tapped on the report on the desk and explained her idea clearly. When she looked up, she saw Callum staring thoughtfully at her.
“What’s the matter, Mr. Winthrop? Why are you staring at me? Is there something on my face?”
He snapped out of it. His gaze was clear once more as he said,
“It’s nothing. You just look a lot like someone I knew.”
“Someone you knew? You don’t look like someone with a lot of female friends, Mr. Winthrop. Do I perhaps look like your ex-girlfriend or your childhood love?”
she teased lightheartedly but soon realized he didn’t deny it.
“It’s an honor for me to share a resemblance with your ex-girlfriend, Mr. Winthrop.”
She could tell he wasn’t in a good mood, so she dropped the topic after that.
Callum watched as she approached her work with a serious attitude and sighed abruptly.
“Elspeth used to be like you. She was serious when it came to her work. She was always full of confidence then. She was a dazzling star that made everyone else seem dull in comparison.”
When Emma heard what he said, she lowered her head to hide the calculating look in her eyes before smiling faintly.
“Then, I hope I will become as accomplished as Elspeth.”
He smiled at her.
“Do your best, and you might succeed in doing so.”
Just then, a thought seemed to occur to him as he asked,
“If I recall correctly, you graduated from the same university as she did, right?”
Seeing that Callum started to have interest in her after being let down by Elspeth, Emma found herself swelling with pride.
“That’s right. But I only majored in design, so I’m not as excellent as Elspeth.”
“I see. You can get back to work now.”
She nodded and left.
However, she didn’t head back to her desk right away. Instead, she went to the washroom. It was empty as everyone was busy working, and she made a call.
“How are things coming along, Emma?”
“Mr. Little.”
She looked at her sparkling nails and chuckled.
“I’m on the verge of completing your plan.”
Throughout the following days, tension brewed between Elspeth and Callum. Everyone could tell, but no one addressed it.
During a meeting, Emma suggested that the company should expand its offerings and branch out into making perfume. Her suggestion received unilateral support.
Elspeth was the only one who objected, but she received Callum’s criticisms and reprimands in return. The relationship between the two fell to an all-time low.
Callum gave Emma full control of the project, which inspired many thoughts and guesses from the others. Could Emma be the next Mrs. Winthrop?
However, Elspeth was still the vice president, so no one dared to voice their hypothesis.
That afternoon, the employees heard the news that she was leaving the company.
Emma’s desk was near Elspeth. When she walked over and saw Elspeth packing her things with a neutral expression, her heart sang with glee, but she pretended to be sad that Elspeth was leaving.
“Mr. Winthrop would be so upset that you’re leaving, Elspeth.”
“What do his feelings have to do with me? We’ve broken up.”
They broke up? Emma’s heart was about to leap out of her chest as she probed,
“Did you really break up with him? Why?”
Elspeth glanced at her coolly.
“We broke up over texts just a moment ago. We’re not suitable for each other, and we’ll only keep fighting if we stay together, so it’s pointless to continue such a relationship.”
Although Emma was aware that Elspeth was a decisive person, she was still doubtful about seeing Elspeth leave without a moment of hesitation or a trace of reluctance.
“Do you not have any feelings for him?”
Elspeth paused as her eyes flickered with complicated emotions.
“So what if I do? When there’s no longer any trust between two people, all that remains is suspicion and constant torment.”
This was exactly what Emma wanted to hear. Her worries melted away as she gave Elspeth a pained smile.
“You shouldn’t be so rash, Elspeth. What if it’s just a misunderstanding?”
“Do a good job. You’ll be able to replace me someday. Well, that’s it. I’m leaving now.”
Elspeth didn’t say anything more. She gathered her things and dropped by the HR Department to get her final paycheck before leaving without looking back.
Now that Elspeth’s gone, I can get the ball rolling on the plan to ruin Winthrop Group. Emma smiled smugly.
A few days later, an issue cropped up over the perfume brand that Emma oversaw.
Although the design was chic and modern, something happened during the production process, and most of the final products failed to pass the quality inspection. The other company that collaborated with Winthrop Group on this project immediately asked to terminate the contract and demanded 150 million in compensation.
After looking into the situation, Callum realized that the factory producing the perfume was known to be a problematic one as it often produced poor-quality items. Many people had filed official complaints over this matter, but for some reason, the factory was still running.
An emergency meeting was called at Winthrop Group, and during the meeting, Emma looked aggrieved as she slowly explained all the ways she had been wronged.
“This factory… Elspeth’s the one who recommended this factory to me. Before she left, she told me to work with this factory. I don’t know why things would turn out this way.”
Elspeth wasn’t around, so no one was here to expose Emma’s lies.
Once the others heard what she said, they began to assume that Elspeth had an ulterior motive behind her departure.
“Oh, that’s right. Before Elspeth left, she told me there was no future in Winthrop Group. She asked me to consider Alphascape instead.”
Listeners could ascribe any meaning they want to a person’s words, and true enough, the moment Emma brought this up in her hesitant, careful way, everyone else exploded in fury.
“She must’ve been a mole from Alphascape! She must’ve gotten Emma to do those things to land the Winthrop Group in hot waters!”
It only took a moment for Elspeth to be labeled as a mole from Alphascape Group.