Chapter 74
Frank never did answer that question.
Josephine watched his retreating figure and let out a soft sigh.
"Feel sorry for him?"
Cedric walked past her.
"Not really." Josephine quickened her pace to catch up. "I just think it's kind of sad. I read through the file you gave me. I know he's dedicated his whole life to research—doesn't socialize, doesn't play office politics, doesn't kiss up to anyone. His personality might not win him any popularity contests, but he's genuinely talented and knowledgeable."
Too bad someone like that, after going through all this, would probably take a massive hit. She worried he might never recover.
Cedric shot her an odd look.
That look left Josephine completely baffled. She wondered if she had something on her face. "What?"
Cedric shook his head. "Too naive."
"Who?"
He couldn't possibly mean her, right?
But Cedric refused to elaborate.
Josephine hurried after him. "Wait, explain yourself. Why am I naive? I'm not naive at all. I think I'm pretty shrewd, actually..."
Cedric ignored her.
She kept pestering him about it the whole way until Cedric finally got annoyed.
He looked at her directly, his voice low and firm. "Never underestimate how far a man will push himself to reach his goals."
In reality, truly ambitious men could often set aside concerns that others couldn't.
Josephine didn't understand. She used to think she had men pretty well figured out. Now she was realizing she actually didn't.
"You're saying he won't fall apart?"
"Do you think Gideon would fall apart if he took a hit?" he countered.
"No," Josephine answered without hesitation.
Gideon was stubborn by nature, possessive to a fault. Everything he did was domineering and overbearing. If he took a hit—actually, no. He wouldn't take hits at all. He only dealt them to others.
Something suddenly clicked for her. Why the boyfriend who'd once seemed so perfect had suddenly become so imperfect. Maybe he'd never changed. Maybe he'd always been this way.
...
When Gideon returned to the office, staff from the research lab informed him Frank hadn't shown up for work. They couldn't find Frank anywhere, and his phone was going straight to voicemail.
"Useless," Gideon said coldly. "Can't even handle a little setback without running away."
With that, he turned and headed for the exit. He didn't call his driver—just got in his car and drove to Frank's place himself. The moment he stepped inside, the stench of alcohol hit him. Food scraps littered the table. Frank was sprawled on the couch.
Gideon walked over and kicked him. Frank was completely wasted, didn't even flinch.
"Out like a light."
Gideon let out a cold laugh, grabbed the half-full glass of water from the coffee table, and dumped it on Frank's face.
That did the trick. Frank jolted awake, sat bolt upright on the couch, water dripping down his face, eyes barely able to open, looking completely shell-shocked.
"Who the—?"
"Open your damn eyes and look at me."
Frank pried his eyes open. When he saw Gideon, he fell silent.
"If I'd known you were this pathetic, I never should've recruited you in the first place."
Nothing disgusted him more than men with no backbone.
Frank gave a bitter laugh. "Then you definitely shouldn't have. I never thought your company would stoop to theft."
"What do you mean, 'theft'?" Gideon's tone turned icy. "Didn't you realize from the start that the manuscript had questionable origins?"
Frank had no comeback for that.
"You knew. But you used it anyway." Which meant he had no right to judge anyone. Gideon's gaze was glacial. "Listen to me, Frank. What's done is done. Regret's worthless. Right now, your only option is to buckle down, do your job, finish this research, and help the company recover from this disaster."
"Help the company recover?" Frank laughed bitterly. "Why the hell should I? I'm not the one who stole anything! I busted my ass, worked day and night on this research, and now my reputation's trashed, and the project's gone."
"I'll fund you. A new project."
Frank looked skeptical. "You've still got money?"
Gideon's jaw tightened, his expression tense. "As long as you can create something that beats the Getty Group's version, I'll invest however much you need."
He was going to make Cedric lose. Just once.
Frank hesitated. "If you're willing to fund me... I can try."
In the end, he couldn't give up on his research dreams.
"But remember," Gideon said, his face expressionless. "This time, I want a completely clean project."
"As long as you keep Ms. Kelly away from it, I guarantee this project won't be dirty."
Frank was beyond sick of Lorelei.
"Don't worry. I won't let her anywhere near it."
That assurance finally put Frank at ease.
Gideon frowned at him. "Go take a shower. Clean yourself up, then get to the office. I'm calling a meeting. This is your last chance. If you can't pull this off, you'll be completely ruined."
"I won't fail."
Frank didn't need to check the internet to know what people were saying about him. Even if he claimed he'd been deceived, plenty of people were making malicious assumptions—that he'd known all along, that he'd lost his touch, that his talent had dried up.
All kinds of speculation.
He didn't want to read any of it, couldn't accept any of it. He'd let his work speak for itself.
...
Josephine had been swamped lately. Cedric had taken back the project concept from Gideon, but hadn't accepted any of their developed content. So after taking it over, everything had to start from scratch.
Josephine's team let out a collective groan.
But for all their complaining, everyone was actually pretty happy.
During lunch break, Josephine made a special trip to buy cake and boba tea for everyone. "You've all been working so hard these past few days. Wanted to treat you all to something."
"Wow, Josephine's the best!"
"Thank you, Ms. Kennedy!"
"Don't even think about taking that strawberry one—I want it."
"Who's fighting you for it? I'm getting boba!"
The office filled with cheerful laughter.
Josephine sat in her chair watching them scramble for treats. Once everyone was happily munching on cake and sipping boba, she spoke up.
"Things are about to get busy around here. We've got this new project in hand, and I want us to deliver results. Our goal isn't just to surpass Version 1.0—it's to absolutely crush it."
Sounded badass. Also insanely difficult.
The team, who'd been all smiles a second ago, immediately groaned.
Someone wailed: "Josephine, you're basically a demon!"
Josephine smiled sweetly. "My cake doesn't come free."
If her marching orders were the starting point of everyone's breakdown, Oscar's arrival was the accelerant that ignited their enthusiasm.
But that excitement didn't last long. They quickly realized Oscar was strict. Extremely strict. Even stricter than Josephine.
During experiments, any mistake—even the tiniest error—earned you a brutal verbal beatdown.
The problem was, Oscar had the credentials, the reputation, the skills. When he chewed you out, all you could do was take it and make damn sure you didn't mess up again.
After several days of this brutal work pace, it was Josephine's turn to get reamed out by Oscar.
"You're regressing. How could you possibly screw up data this simple?"
When everyone filed in, they found Oscar laying into Josephine. No one dared make a sound.
Kenneth stepped forward. "Mr. Carter..."
"Shut it. This doesn't concern you." Oscar kept his eyes locked on Josephine, his expression deadly serious. "You've been away from research way too long. A mistake this basic should never come from you. Starting now, you're going back to basics."