Chapter 104
"Simple enough."
The moment those words came out, Charlotte knew she'd won.
She let a smile tug at the corner of her lips, careful not to show it too much. "I get it. You're in a tough spot right now — hard to reverse the decision, hard to explain yourself to the people above you."
"So I'll put together a more detailed supplementary proposal. It'll lay out exactly what additional resources the Langley Group will be putting into this project, and what extra value that brings to Sunrise Tech."
"You can take it to the board, or... to whoever's pulling strings behind you. That way, your position stays intact, and we get to keep working together. What do you say?"
The office fell into a long silence.
Finally, Jack clenched his fist, looked up, and fixed Charlotte with a long, complicated stare.
"Fine. I'll wait for your new proposal."
"I hope it actually shuts everyone up."
"It will, Mr. Collins." Charlotte gave him a genuine smile. "Looking forward to working with you."
She didn't linger after that. She grabbed her bag and walked out.
Her assistant Mireille had been waiting anxiously by the door. The second she saw Charlotte come out, she rushed over.
"How did it go, Ms. Johnson?"
"Done. Let's go."
Mireille's eyes lit up. "Really? What made him change his mind?"
"Just cleared a few things up..."
The two of them talked as they walked, and before long they had left the Sunrise Tech building behind.
Back in the office, Jack sat in silence for a long time. Eventually, he picked up his phone and dialed a number with no name attached to it.
"Hello?"
"It's me. Jack. Things didn't go quite the way we expected." He sounded tired.
"What do you mean?" The voice on the other end was young, with a casual, almost indifferent edge to it.
"Charlotte is nothing like the rumors made her out to be. She doesn't play by the rules at all. She showed up here with the project data and cornered me in front of all our partners. I had no choice but to give her some time."
"She negotiated with you?"
"It was more than negotiating. She pushed from every angle — soft, hard, everything. She even used the stock price as leverage."
Jack let out a bitter laugh. "I had no choice but to hold her off for now. Let her go back and put together a new proposal, go through the process again. Otherwise there's no way to wrap this up cleanly."
There was a pause on the other end.
"Don't worry, I'll stall for time on my end."
Jack thought he sounded unhappy, so he quickly added, "But I have to be straight with you about something."
"If she actually comes back with a proposal that's airtight, I can't really gamble with the company's interests. The board would never let that slide."
"Fine. I got it. Do what you think is right."
The call ended.
Jack sat there listening to the dial tone, replaying the whole thing in his head. He pressed his fingers to his temple in frustration, then tossed his phone onto the desk. A growing unease settled over him.
---
At four in the afternoon, Charlotte and Mireille made it back to the Langley Group.
The moment she stepped off the elevator, Charlotte picked up on something off about the atmosphere.
Employees in the open office were clustered in small groups, murmuring to each other. The second they noticed her walking over, they scattered — heads down, suddenly very busy. But their eyes followed her, full of curiosity and something harder to read.
"What's going on?"
Charlotte frowned and glanced at Mireille.
Mireille looked just as lost and shook her head.
Charlotte didn't press it. She went straight to her office.
The moment she was inside, Mireille was pulled aside by a colleague who wanted to know what had happened out there.
Ten minutes later, Mireille came in with coffee, her expression grim.
"Ms. Johnson..." She set down the cup, hesitating.
"What is it?"
"There's a rumor going around the company. People are saying... that the reason the Sunrise Tech deal fell through is because you were too headstrong during the negotiations — that you offended Mr. Collins, and that's why they pulled out..."
"It's gotten pretty bad. People are saying you parachuted into the director role and immediately blew up the company's most important project..."
Mireille's voice got quieter as she spoke, and she couldn't bring herself to meet Charlotte's eyes.
Charlotte listened to all of it, then slowly set down the documents she'd been flipping through. Her eyes narrowed.
She raised her head. There was something cold and dark behind her gaze.
"What time did Sunrise Tech send the email about terminating the partnership?"
"Nine-thirty this morning."
"It's four-thirty now." Charlotte glanced at the clock in the corner of her screen, her expression hardening. "Seven hours..."
"Besides you and me, who else knows about this?"
"No one!"
Mireille shook her head quickly, on the verge of tears. "It was serious enough that I didn't say a word to anyone. As soon as I got the email, I came straight to your office. I haven't told a single person."
Looking at Mireille's panicked face, Charlotte could tell she wasn't lying.
But if that was true...
Charlotte's fingers tapped slowly against the surface of the desk.
After a long moment, she pressed her lips together and gave the order.
"Find out who's behind this."
"Yes, Ms. Johnson."
Mireille nodded firmly and hurried out.
Once she was gone, Charlotte leaned back in her chair and turned to look at the sky outside, darkening as the evening crept in. Something shadowed passed through her eyes.
So someone inside the Langley Group really didn't want her to keep this position.
Well. Taking her down wasn't going to be that easy.
---
Over the next two days, the rumors about Charlotte inside the company only got worse.
What started as "new director's poor judgment tanked the deal" turned into "Charlotte's arrogance alienated Sunrise Tech's leadership," and eventually spiraled into "Charlotte demanded kickbacks for personal gain, and when they refused, the deal collapsed." Each version was uglier than the last.
Whenever Charlotte walked through the open office, the chatter would die down. Everyone would look up — some openly, some pretending not to — their expressions impossible to read.
Mireille was beside herself. She tried several times to post something on the company's internal forum to set the record straight, but Charlotte stopped her every time.
"Ms. Johnson, people are actually starting to believe it. Some of the clients we've had long-term discussions with have even called to fish for information. Are we really just going to do nothing?"
Mireille stood in front of the desk, visibly stressed.
Charlotte, as calm as ever, picked up her cup and took a sip.
"Leave it. The wider the rumor spreads, the more confident whoever's behind it gets."
"When they think they've already won, they'll slip up."
"But the board—"
"They only care about results." Charlotte cut her off. "Once I close the deal, the rumors won't matter anymore."
"Keep your eye on what's happening with Sunrise Tech. Everything else — let it go."