Chapter 4
After Matthew's words fell, the office went eerily quiet for a few seconds.
Britney was the first to react, stepping forward immediately, her eyes unable to hide their smugness. "Eve, thanks for handing everything over to me!"
Evelyn met her gaze, her tone indifferent. "Miss Fox, you're too kind. I'll organize the work clearly."
Matthew's gaze lingered on Evelyn's face for a moment. No grievance, no resentment, not even a flicker of emotion. This excessive calm only intensified the irritation in Matthew's chest. He said nothing more, leaving with a cold expression.
The moment the door closed, the smile faded from Britney's face.
Evelyn returned to her desk and pulled up the Sparkle files. Just as she was about to explain, Britney pulled out the chair across from her and sat down. "Actually, no need to go through all that trouble. Just give me a simple checklist." Britney cut her off, her eyes challenging. "The faster we transition, the better. After all, Mr. Perkins doesn't want to see you anymore."
Evelyn's fingers paused on the keyboard. She looked up at Britney. The other woman still wore that smile, like a clown desperately trying to impress.
Evelyn suddenly found it rather amusing.
"Miss Fox," she began, her tone less polite than before, "Mr. Perkins said 'transition,' not 'charity.' Are you sure a checklist is enough? The project's penalty clause is a billion dollars. If you miss something reading on your own, can you afford to pay for it?"
Britney's expression froze.
Evelyn didn't give her a chance to argue back. "And Mr. Perkins' habits as a boss versus his preferences as a lover—those details probably won't be on any checklist. If you want to please him properly, you'd better be patient with this transition."
"You..." Britney was momentarily speechless, her cheeks flushing. She hadn't expected that the usually docile Evelyn would be so direct.
Since Matthew had signed her to the company, Britney had tried everything, but he wouldn't even touch her. She couldn't understand why, when she looked more like his first love than Evelyn did, Matthew wouldn't give up on Evelyn.
"Eve, why so aggressive?" Britney suppressed her anger, forcing a fake smile. "You know all these details, but after three years you still couldn't hold onto him, could you?"
Evelyn said "Oh," and nodded. "You're right." Her tone even carried a hint of agreement. "Can't force these things. So, after all this time without even making it into his bed, I'd suggest you stop forcing it too. Pretty embarrassing."
"You!" Britney pointed at Evelyn, trembling with rage.
But Evelyn couldn't be bothered to argue further. She pointed at the laptop and went through the transition professionally. Britney didn't dare object again, carefully taking notes.
The morning passed quickly. Britney looked at the thick stack of notes, eyeing Evelyn suspiciously. "You're being this generous?"
Evelyn smiled with detached indifference. "I've always been professional about work. I'll give you everything you need. Whether you can use it to please Matthew depends on your own skills."
"One last piece of personal advice." Evelyn looked down at Britney with natural authority. "From now on, focus on figuring out how to be his 'new favorite.' Stay away from me. Don't mess with me."
Britney instinctively stepped back, then became even more flustered and angry. "Evelyn, we'll see about this!"
Evelyn ignored her, picked up her water cup, and headed straight to the break room.
However, before she could finish filling her cup, Patrick Davis, the head of public relations, stormed in with an ashen face. "Evelyn! Lead designer Ellen just sent an official letter terminating her collaboration with us on Sparkle!" Patrick's tone was urgent with obvious accusation. "She explicitly stated that the design drafts we submitted have serious flaws and there's no basis for cooperation! The launch is next month—what are we supposed to do now?!"
Evelyn frowned. "Mr. Davis, I personally checked the final design drafts three times. There are no problems. I have absolute confidence in my designs."
"What good is your confidence!" Patrick was furious, shoving his tablet in front of her face. "These are screenshots of the problems they sent over! See for yourself!"
Evelyn took the tablet, her eyes quickly scanning the marked sections. One glance, and her brow furrowed tightly.
This wasn't her design at all.
While the external framework was similar, the core algorithm logic and parameter optimization paths were completely wrong, even making several basic mistakes she would never make.
"This draft is wrong." Evelyn looked up, her tone certain.
"Wrong? Your name is on it! The email came from you!" Patrick roared.
"What's going on?" Matthew appeared with a frown.
Britney, watching from the side, embellished the story, then added with fake concern, "Eve, even though you're leaving, you can't sabotage such an important project out of spite, can you?"
Evelyn shot Britney a cold glance that made the rest of her words stick in her throat.
"When I say the draft is wrong, I mean this version has three fatal errors." Evelyn's voice carried undeniable professionalism.
"First, incorrect reference in the dynamic target capture algorithm. Second, parameters set too high, which would cause the experiment to fail directly. Third, and most amateurish—redundancy in the data processing flow. This completely contradicts our project's original intent."
She paused, looking at Matthew. "Mr. Davis, Mr. Perkins," Evelyn asked calmly, "if this were really my design, how could I possibly make such obvious errors?"
The office fell silent. Patrick opened his mouth but couldn't find words.
Matthew looked at Evelyn. There was no panic on her face, only calm and sharpness in her eyes. This expression—he rarely saw it on her. The old Evelyn had always been soft, compliant. Now she was showing her true colors.
That irritation in Matthew's chest was strangely replaced by a faint trace of interest. But only for a moment.
"The draft came from you. Your name is on it." Matthew spoke, his voice emotionless. "The mistake is a fact. The consequences are already done."
Evelyn's heart sank the moment those words fell. He didn't believe her.
Or rather, in his eyes, she wasn't worth pursuing the truth for—not when she was leaving, no longer valuable.
But she would never take responsibility for something she didn't do.
"Mr. Perkins, what are you saying?" Her voice remained calm.
"You figure out how to fix it." Matthew's gaze locked on her. "You have one week. Otherwise, per the contract, all losses and breach penalties resulting from this will be your personal responsibility."
Britney could barely hide the smile at the corners of her mouth.
Evelyn was silent for two seconds. She could feel Matthew's gaze carrying scrutiny, and some kind of expectation she couldn't understand.
"Fine." She didn't overthink it, answering without hesitation. "I'll handle it."
Matthew looked at the suddenly ignited, unfamiliar stubborn light in her eyes. That familiar irritation in his chest came roaring back, even stronger. He hated this feeling of losing control.
Even more, he hated that right now, she looked like she didn't need him at all.
"You'd better."
He coldly dropped those words, turning and leaving again with a dark expression.