Chapter 173: Unchanged

Jason went up the stairs in silence. He didn't talk about the preparation but just said calmly, "Get some rest. You'll be going to the office starting tomorrow."

Charlotte looked at his broad back when she blurted out, "Thank you, Mr. Langley."

He paused slightly in his footsteps and seemed to chuckle. "This is nothing. It seems that it's quite easy to please you, Charlotte."

She sincerely thanked him, but he merely teased instead. Charlotte instantly stopped feeling touched and no longer bothered to dwell on it.

The next day, Charlotte was full of energy, waiting downstairs early. Jason looked her up and down as he descended the stairs. He had breakfast and read the newspaper as usual. They arrived at the office with half an hour to go.

Charlotte had thought she had left enough time to organize her recent work papers, but she hadn't expected someone to beat her to it.

Stella was sitting quietly in the lobby, and as soon as she saw Jason, she immediately got up and greeted him with a smile, "Jason, how come I couldn't reach you yesterday?"

Only then did she see Charlotte and act surprised. "Ms. Seinfield, have you fully recovered?"

Charlotte was used to her two-faced behaviors. She nodded calmly. "Thanks to Mr. Langley."

She said it to hurt Stella.

Stella's smile stiffened. Refusing to admit defeat, she smiled with mockery. "Speaking of which, have you considered it?"

"You don't need to worry about me, Ms. Lloyd." Charlotte faintly brushed her off. Not wanting to continue to stay there, she took the initiative to propose, "I still have documents to organize, so I'll go up first."

Jason did not utter a word, and Charlotte just assumed that he was acquiescing.

Only after Charlotte left did Stella look at Jason and smile. "It seems that Ms. Seinfield still respects me a lot."

From the conversation between the two of them just now, Jason realized that something was wrong and narrowed his eyes to ask, "What do you mean?"

Stella pretended to be surprised and said, "Didn't Ms. Seinfield tell you that she wants to set us up?"

In an instant, Jason's face darkened and he asked in a gloomy voice, "Is that so?"

His reaction was not within Stella's expectations.

Stella felt a little embarrassed but still tried to maintain her smile. "Don't be angry. Ms. Seinfield is just trying to be nice."

However, Jason didn't react as she wanted it. He harshly said, "I remember I told you to stay home for a while."

"I came here today to talk about cooperation. Won't you think about it?" Stella could barely keep her smile, so she had to mention work to cover it up.

Since it was about work, Jason's complexion eased a little.

Charlotte had spent almost two hours in the CEO's office organizing the files before she could get her work on track. When she glanced at the time inadvertently, her first thought was why Jason hadn't come up yet.

She wondered, 'Does he have so much to talk about with Stella? Didn't he tell her not to come here last time?'

It so happened that Jason pushed the door in. At a glance, he saw her frowning face. He returned to his position silently with a gloomy face.

A weird and awkward atmosphere spread in the silent CEO's office.

The two of them flipped the documents around. Neither one of them had the intention to take the initiative to speak, secretly competing against each other.

After holding her tongue for half an hour, Charlotte couldn't withstand the demands of her job and was forced to break the silence. "The year-end meeting is scheduled for the middle of the month next month. Do I need to make any adjustments?"

Jason stopped turning pages and looked at her, asking without answering, "Are you setting me up with Stella?"

The sudden question stunned Charlotte.

She froze and denied it disgustedly, "I might as well set you up with Mr. Hoyce."

Jason actually thought about it and frowned, but he quickly relaxed his brows. "It's best if you are not."

Charlotte had an idea and probed, "What did Ms. Lloyd say?"

"Nothing."

Jason kept denying it, which made Charlotte more sure about her guess.

It seemed that Stella was a troublemaker.

Charlotte narrowed her eyes, intending to find a time to talk to her clearly.

"How is the competition progressing?" Jason suddenly asked.

Charlotte had almost become accustomed to checking the progress every day, so she replied smoothly, "So far so good. Winning the finals is a sure thing."

"Okay." Jason tapped his fingers on the desktop, thinking about something. Only after a long time did he speak, "Stella brought a designer over and wants to keep a place in the new products. Arrange it as you see fit."

Originally, the new products had all been set. The three works as the entry made an additional quota.

Moreover, it was not certain if the works of the designer Stella brought over were qualified.

Charlotte's silence caused Jason to give her a sideways glance. He gently asked, "Won't it work?"

"No," Charlotte decisively refused, staring into his eyes and confessing, "S&C is the work of many people. Since it's the first season's opening work, we have to be serious about it. If Ms. Lloyd really wants to help her friend, she should submit the design first and go through the normal process."

Charlotte had secretly hired many people to get this done well. She couldn't have it ruined due to Stella's designer.

She thought that Jason would show a displeased expression. Unexpectedly, he just frowned slightly and thought about it, nodding in agreement. "Then we'll do it your way."

Charlotte looked at him in surprise. "Do you mean..."

"I mean everything is up to you." Jason gave her full trust.

Charlotte was stunned. With an urge, she took two steps forward, cupped Jason's face, and gave him a kiss. When she got up, she saw his astonished eyes.

"I didn't expect you to have such an expression." In order to hide her embarrassment, Charlotte said those words.

She was just about to leave when Jason yanked her back to kiss her passionately.

Stella was standing outside the door with the contract, her eyes red with anger. She thought, 'I've really underestimated Charlotte. I can only carry out that plan.'

When Charlotte came back to her senses from the kiss, she was in a daze with confused eyes, which made her look seductive instead.

Jason's voice was hoarse. In a low voice, he warned, "Charlotte, don't look at me with such eyes."

Even from a small distance away, Charlotte could feel the burning desire in his eyes, instantly avoiding them to prevent further trouble.

It was only after she had organized her mood that there was a knock on the door.

Stella walked in with a polite smile and showed the contract to Jason. "Here's the altered contract."

Jason didn't even look at it, nodding in Charlotte's direction. "Give it to her to check it."

"Huh?" Stella felt incredulous. Seeing that Jason did not mean to joke, she silently took it to Charlotte's desk.

"Put it here first. I'll contact you after reading it." Charlotte had a business-like tone.

Stella felt like a subordinate. Unwilling to be neglected like this, she had an idea and turned her head to remind Jason, "Jason, it's my dad's birthday in three days. Mr. Albert said he'll be there on time. Should I prepare the dresses with you?"

It looked like she hadn't given up on the idea of getting engaged.

Charlotte peeked over.

Jason's complexion was unchanged, and he refused calmly, "Don't bother. Charlotte will prepare it for me."