Chapter 64

Chapter 64

"The person Mr. Rogers sent over must be difficult to deal with, right? Setting such a big trap for you right from the start, just waiting for you to fall in."

William asked in a flat tone, his eyes fixed on the cars ahead while his fingers lightly tapped the steering wheel.

"It's okay, he's just pulling some tricks to delay the project so I can't submit it on time."

Isabella's voice carried fatigue as she let out a long sigh.

"This guy is really tough to handle. If I hadn't used some tricks myself, today's situation would've been hard to resolve."

In front of William, she always showed a side that outsiders never saw.

Like now, facing something that frustrated her, she would unconsciously vent, her voice carrying a barely noticeable hint of vulnerability and dependence.

She didn't notice it herself, but William beside her did. He turned his head to look at her, a flash of amusement in his eyes.

When they reached the restaurant, he parked the car. Isabella bent down to get out, and the cold wind scattered her loose hair right into her face, both uncomfortable and blocking her view.

With her bag in one hand and the project proposal in the other, she had no free hand to fix her hair.

Just as Isabella was about to put down what she was holding to deal with her hair, a slender hand with defined knuckles reached over first.

William leaned in slightly, his fingers gently brushing aside the hair in front of her eyes, his movements gentle and natural. After finishing, he stepped back two paces, returning to their previous distance.

His movements were as light as a breeze. If not for the loose hair now tucked behind her ear, Isabella would have thought she was hallucinating.

She blinked, her heart pounding, unable to react for a moment, until William's voice, tinged with amusement, reached her ears.

"Wake up, why are you daydreaming while standing? Didn't you want to eat? Let's go have dinner."

He looked down and saw Isabella's collar blown open by the wind. His fingertips moved, but in the end, he lowered his hand, his movements restrained and controlled.

"Let me hold these for you. Fix your collar - it's windy, don't catch a cold."

William took the bag and proposal from Isabella's hands and waited patiently until she came to her senses and hurriedly fixed her collar, then naturally handed the bag back to her.

"Let's go, Ms. Taylor. Let's have dinner together."

He smiled, as if he had already forgotten about helping Isabella with her hair just moments ago.

Isabella looked at his back, pressed her lips together, her ears unconsciously turning red, and quickly followed behind William. One after the other, they entered the restaurant.

The meal was quite comfortable. Neither brought up frustrating work matters; instead chatting about this and that. Time passed quickly, and before long, dinner was finished.

They had talked about quite a bit. Isabella secretly glanced up at William sitting across from her, her ears starting to burn again. She lowered her eyes and took a sip of coffee, pretending to be calm.

"Let me take you home. It's late now. Go straight to bed when you get back, okay? There's still a lot for you to handle, so you need to rest well."

Isabella didn't say anything, just nodded.

William drove her home. Only after seeing Isabella go upstairs did he drive away.

Watching William's car slowly leave the apartment complex, Isabella stood by the window in a daze. Only when the lights in the building across flickered twice did she pull back her wandering thoughts.

After a quick wash, she went straight to bed, falling into a deep sleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

She didn't wake until the alarm rang the next day. Isabella opened her sleepy eyes - it was already bright outside, the sun had risen, shining through the balcony curtains into the bedroom.

The bright light was a bit harsh on her eyes. Isabella squinted and dragged herself half-dead out of bed.

Her usual image in others' eyes was always calm and composed, but she was also just an office worker who wanted to sleep in and catch up on rest.

But right now, things were urgent, and I couldn't wait. Besides, Martin and Harold were watching the project closely - she couldn't slack off or relax.

Fighting off the last bit of drowsiness, Isabella quickly finished washing up, ate a simple breakfast, then grabbed her bag and proposal and headed straight to the construction site.

Following her arrangements from yesterday, Briar had arrived at the site early in the morning to personally supervise.

Briar had witnessed all of Isabella's hard work during this time. She wanted to help lighten Isabella's load even a little, which is why she had come so early.

When Isabella arrived, Briar was wearing a hard hat, holding a piece of paper, and directing in a loud voice.

"You all must pay attention to safety - safety is the most important thing. If there's any problem or something you don't understand, come ask me. I'll be on site all day."

"Those workers over there, put on your hard hats and get to work! While the weather's still cool - once the sun beats down at noon, working will be much harder!"

Don't let Briar's small, thin frame fool you - she had a big voice that immediately commanded the attention of the workers on site.

Hearing this, the workers immediately put on their hard hats as she instructed and returned to their teams.

Almost instantly, the site began its first day of work in an orderly fashion. Isabella put on her own hard hat at the entrance, wearing comfortable sneakers as she entered the construction site.

Seeing her arrive, Briar's face lit up with a smile as she quickly ran over.

"Ms. Taylor, why didn't you rest a bit longer today? You've been working so hard lately. Just leave the site to me - even if it's just for one day, you should rest and recover a bit."

Isabella shook her head slightly, her gaze sweeping over the working laborers.

"It's the first day of construction - how can I not be here? I need to let these people see my face. By the way, who's the foreman?"

Briar pointed over, and Isabella looked in that direction.

A burly man stood not far away, his hard hat sitting crooked on his head, smoking cigarette after cigarette while chatting enthusiastically with a man beside him.

Isabella frowned slightly and said to Briar.

"Can someone like that manage the workers under him? This project is on a very tight schedule - we can't afford any delays."

Briar frowned, too.

"Ms. Taylor, find somewhere out of the sun and wait for me. I'll go check on the situation."

Briar moved quickly, turning to walk toward the foreman Willie Reed. Isabella surveyed the construction site and looked at the design plans in her hand.

Although she trusted these workers, she still needed to maintain proper vigilance, especially with Martin and Harold watching her like hawks.

The first day of construction had to go smoothly.