Chapter 14 Company in Trouble
Windy's voice was filled with panic. "There's a huge problem with the Blue Moon Project! The client says there are major errors in the plan we submitted!"
Olivia paused mid-bite and looked up.
Windy continued on the other end of the line, "The client is furious. They've invested billions, but there's been no progress in R&D. Now they're threatening to sue us. Olivia was in charge of this project before, and she submitted the final plan. What are we going to do?"
Olivia's face changed slightly as she listened.
The Blue Moon Project was indeed a key project she had finalized. But she had checked the plan multiple times and was certain there were no issues before submitting it. How could something go wrong out of nowhere?
Luca's expression turned serious too. This project involved massive investments. Their company had provided the research plan and even sponsored billions in R&D funding. There couldn't be any mistakes!
"Alright, I got it," Luca said, hanging up the phone. He looked at Olivia, whose face didn't look good either. "You heard everything?" There was a hint of blame in his tone. "There's a problem with the plan. Windy said you were in charge of it before."
"That's impossible!" Olivia shot back immediately. "Every plan I submitted went through at least three rounds of checks. There shouldn't be any mistakes!"
"But the client is insisting there is," Luca said coldly. "We need to deal with this right now. Come back to the company with me."
Olivia didn't hesitate and left with Luca right away.
Feeling agitated, she felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen as they stepped outside.
Her mind was on the project, so she ignored it and got into the passenger seat.
Luca drove while calling the company's person in charge for more details. As he listened to the report, his face grew darker.
"The project only started a week ago, but do you know how much they've already put into early R&D?" he said. "Billions every single day. Now the client is saying we gave them a faulty plan. If this really ends up being our fault..." Luca glanced over at Olivia in the passenger seat. "Olivia, since you submitted the final plan, you'll be the one held mainly responsible. The client is going to come after you for this massive loss."
"That's impossible!" Olivia's voice trembled but remained firm. "Luca, I swear I did everything right when I submitted that plan! I'm willing to work with any investigation the company wants to do. But until then, don't just put all the blame on me!"
She was so worked up that her body shook, and she pressed her hand hard against her lower abdomen.
For some reason, she suddenly felt a faint sinking sensation there.
Luca noticed her pale face and held back the accusations he was about to make.
She must be feeling unwell.
He glanced at her abdomen, then looked away and focused on driving. "Let's get to the company first and figure this out. Getting worked up now won't help."
Olivia bit her lip and didn't argue further.
She leaned back in her seat, closed her eyes, and tried to calm herself down.
The baby…
She couldn't get too emotional. She had to take care of herself.
But if the company decided it was her fault, she couldn't even imagine how she'd handle such a massive compensation.
Still, Olivia was absolutely confident that this wasn't her fault.
The car slowed down and stopped in front of a breakfast shop.
Olivia opened her eyes, confused.
At a time like this, Luca still had the mood to eat?
Luca unbuckled his seatbelt, got out, and went straight into the shop. A few minutes later, he came back with a cup of steaming hot milk in his hand.
He got back into the driver's seat and handed the milk to Olivia.
Olivia was stunned, looking at the cup in surprise.
"Take it," Luca said with a hint of impatience. "Aren't you having stomach pain? Drink something warm. Don't faint before we even get to the company."
So that's why.
Luca didn't actually care about her. He just didn't want her to faint before they got to the office and mess up the whole compensation process.
Olivia's heart turned cold.
She pushed down all her emotions, quietly took the hot milk, and sipped it slowly.
The discomfort in her lower abdomen didn't ease up.
When they arrived at Vettel Group's headquarters, the top-floor meeting room was already packed. Besides a few executives, Windy was there too. Her eyes were red, and she stood anxiously by the door.
When Luca and Olivia walked in, Windy immediately stood up. "Luca, you're finally here! The situation is really bad. The client is demanding an explanation and a compensation plan right now."
Windy's gaze shifted to Olivia. "Olivia, I know you're really capable. But how could you make such a basic mistake on such an important project? Now the whole company is caught up in this…"
"Windy! The situation hasn't been investigated yet. Please don't start throwing accusations," Olivia cut in, walking over to the conference table and picking up the printed plan.
The content of the plan shocked her.
This plan was indeed wrong. It wasn't the final version she had submitted.
There were some small details that were hard to notice, but they led to errors in the research direction as a whole.
"This isn't the plan I submitted," Olivia said, looking up and scanning the room. "Someone must have swapped the final version after I submitted it. That's why the client is having issues. I request that you check the office surveillance to see if anyone went in and tampered with the plan while I wasn't at work."
"Olivia, stop making excuses!" Windy said with disapproval. "Are you saying someone framed you? You're just trying to dodge responsibility! The client trusted us and invested billions. You need to own up to this!"
Several executives immediately shot Olivia dissatisfied looks.
Luca sat at the table, listening to the argument. Suddenly, he turned to Olivia and said, "Your computer belongs to the company. All your work records can be tracked. IT is already pulling the file modification logs from your computer."
Olivia shook her head. "That won't be necessary."
Everyone turned to look at her.
"This plan was completed on my personal laptop," Olivia explained. "Check that one instead. Can someone please help me get it? It's in Luca's break room."
The meeting room went quiet for a moment, and Windy's face suddenly changed.
She quickly hid it and returned to normal, but Olivia still noticed Windy's brief stiffness and narrowed her eyes.
Windy had taken over her position just over a week ago.
Luca hadn't even informed her before bringing Windy on board, clearing out her desk, and giving her office to Windy.
And within that same week, the plan had gone wrong.
What a coincidence.
With that in mind, Olivia spoke up, "Windy, as the person who took over my role, you should have received all the materials for this project, right? In the week since you started, did you notice anything unusual or any changes to the plan?"
All eyes in the meeting room immediately turned to Windy.