Chapter 63

Chapter 63

"I'd better talk to Mr. Rogers about this. As long as he approves it, everything can move forward smoothly, and Mr. Collins won't have to feel put on the spot."

A flash of anger crossed Martin's eyes.

There was no way he'd let Isabella actually go to Harold. It was only his first day at the Taylor Group — if this got brought to Harold right away, Harold would probably tear him apart.

Getting yelled at was one thing. The real problem would be if Harold wrote him off as useless after that. That would be a much bigger deal.

Pushing down the anger inside him, Martin looked up, the corners of his mouth lifting into a polite smile.

"Ms. Taylor, there's really no need to bother Mr. Rogers with something like this. He's always busy as it is. If you bring every little thing to him, I'm afraid he might end up giving you an earful, too."

Isabella gave a slight nod, quietly letting out a breath of relief.

Martin's words were as good as agreeing to the approval. Once it went through, construction could start tomorrow, keeping her project on schedule without any delays.

She'd been pushing hard to make it work — one way or another, she could still get the project submitted on time.

"Then I'll just need Mr. Collins to sign off and approve it. I'll get construction arranged right away. We can start tomorrow, and that works out well for both of us."

"Of course, if there are any serious concerns, Mr. Collins is welcome to raise them. I'm not unreasonable — I'm happy to work with you on anything."

"I'm sure Mr. Rogers is eager to see this project succeed. Mr. Collins, you wouldn't want to let Harold down."

Martin slowly straightened up, picked up the pen beside him, and signed the proposal in one clean, steady motion — no hesitation, no sign of reluctance.

But who knows what he was really thinking inside.

Isabella didn't care what was going on in his head. Seeing his signature on the proposal, she felt a huge wave of relief, and the smile on her face became a little more genuine.

"Thank you for working with me on this, Mr. Collins. Once everything's wrapped up, I'll definitely take you out for dinner."

Martin slid the proposal across the desk toward her, sitting up straight, his smile still in place.

"No need for formalities. If this project succeeds, it's a good outcome for both of us."

"We all know how capable Ms. Taylor is. Putting this project in your hands — we already knew it would be a success."

He stood and walked her to the door, every gesture courteous and composed. Isabella couldn't find a single thing to fault.

The mood between them looked calm and pleasant, but underneath it all, they'd been locked in a quiet contest — and this round, Martin had come out on the losing end.

His name was now on the proposal. The approval had gone through whether he liked it or not, and no matter how unwilling he was, he had to see Isabella off with a smile.

"I heard Ms. Taylor has been worrying about this nonstop. Now that I'm here, hopefully I can take some of that off your plate."

They exchanged a few polite words before Isabella made up a quick excuse and left. Martin watched her walk away, composed and unhurried, and the smile slowly faded from his face.

Isabella wasn't easy to push around — his plan to stall the project by blocking the approval had failed. But that didn't mean he was going to sit back and do nothing.

Construction could start tomorrow. Martin stared at his computer screen, expression dark and unreadable. Something came to mind, and he opened his laptop and got to work.

Meanwhile, Isabella was back in her office and immediately submitted the approval request. It went through almost instantly, practically before she could blink.

A smile spread across her face. Construction was starting tomorrow, and she'd already handed that side of things over to Briar.

Briar was nothing if not reliable. She'd already briefed Isabella before today's meeting, saying everything was ready to go.

They'd just been waiting for the approval. Now that it was through, they could kick off construction tomorrow.

The sky had grown dark again, and exhaustion started to settle in. Isabella packed up her things, ready to go home and get some sleep.

Martin had taken a hit today, but he was probably already digging the next trap, just waiting for her to fall in. She needed to rest up and stay sharp for whatever was coming.

Downstairs, a cold gust of wind swept through. Isabella pulled her coat tighter and let out a long breath, her cool features softening with relief.

She'd barely taken a few steps when a pair of headlights ahead flashed twice — quick and subtle, just enough to catch her attention. Once she looked over, they didn't flash again.

Isabella recognized the car. It was William's. Something warm flickered in her eyes, and she didn't even notice how quickly her feet were carrying her toward it.

She was at the car in just a few strides. "What are you doing here?"

William rolled down the window and looked at her, a quiet smile on his face.

"I figured you'd been working nonstop on the project lately, and today you really needed to come home and rest. I just took a chance coming by — didn't expect it to actually pay off."

"Get in. Want to grab dinner together?"

Isabella pulled open the door and got in.

After spending more time together recently, she felt much more at ease around William than before.

In the past, seeing William parked outside waiting for her might have made her feel a little uneasy. But now, she felt differently.

She was actually a little happy he'd come.

Settling into the warm car, Isabella relaxed even more. She buckled her seatbelt and asked, "So what are we eating? Since you're the one who came looking for me, you get to decide."

With the weight finally lifted off her shoulders, she felt light enough to tease him a little.

The mood inside the car was easy and warm. William started the engine and slowly pulled into the flow of traffic.

"Looks like things worked out — and pretty well, from the sound of it."

Isabella nodded.

"Yeah. I handled it myself."

There was a faint but unmistakable note of pride in her voice, and the corners of her mouth curled up.

William let out a low laugh.

"Our Ms. Taylor has been working day and night, and it's paid off. To celebrate all that hard work, let me treat you to a proper dinner."

He shifted the subject and didn't bring up work again.

"Now, what should we eat?"

Isabella watched the traffic ahead, feeling completely at ease. She shot back with a teasing tone, "Don't tell me you came to find me without even deciding where to take me. That's on you."

"You'd better watch it — I might stop going out to eat with you."

The warmth in William's eyes deepened. "I already know exactly where we're going. Sit tight."

The car eased into the night, heading toward the city center. A comfortable silence settled over them, and neither spoke.

Isabella leaned back against the seat and gazed out the window, her heart perfectly still.