“I truly don’t know why you’re so familiar with my project proposal.”
An Ning took out a lipstick and looked at Li Hui. “But I’m certain you lent me this lipstick as an excuse for me to go to the bathroom and touch up my makeup, just to create an opportunity for the switch.”
Li Hui’s expression suddenly changed, her eyes filled with astonishment. “Lipstick?”
She quickly snatched the lipstick from An Ning’s hand. “This is my lipstick. How did it end up with you?”
As if suddenly understanding, she laughed mockingly. “I get it now, Sister An Ning. You deliberately stole my lipstick just to turn the tables at this moment. I’ve been calling you Sister An Ning all this time, never expecting you to be so scheming.”
As Li Hui spoke, her eyes reddened. “I know you need this job. You’re afraid I’ll take your opportunity. But Sister An Ning, if you lose a job, you can always find another. How can your conscience be at peace with such false accusations?”
An Ning never expected Li Hui to argue so deceitfully to this extent.
“This project proposal was originally mine! You’re plagiarizing my work!”
Li Hui’s words left no room for doubt. Sun Liangying felt embarrassed in front of the two top executives from Ou Teng Group, her face turning grim. “An Ning! If you want to embarrass yourself, that’s one thing, but must you drag Hao Wei down with you? Without any evidence, how can you claim Li Hui stole your project proposal?”
Listening to their argument, Liang Xu flipped through Li Hui’s project proposal. None of the documents had signatures, making it truly difficult to prove who had stolen from whom.
The man sitting in the main seat, who had remained indifferent throughout, suddenly spoke. “Director Sun, I believe Ou Teng’s time shouldn’t be wasted watching your company’s drama.”
Lu Xiyan stood up, his tone carrying a hint of frivolity. “Let’s discuss the project cooperation another day. I suggest your company resolve its internal conflicts first.”
His intention to reject the cooperation was obvious. But with the nearly finalized collaboration now about to fall through, how could Sun Liangying accept it? She couldn’t let the project fail because of a newcomer who hadn’t even officially joined yet.
Seeing Lu Xiyan preparing to leave, Sun Liangying quickly tried to salvage the situation. “President Lu, An Ning hasn’t officially joined Hao Wei yet. She’s not a Hao Wei employee, and with such conduct, she won’t be joining our company either. So her words don’t represent Hao Wei staff. Our cooperation can still continue.”
An Ning’s face turned pale, her body trembling uncontrollably. She couldn’t believe Sun Liangyang would dismiss her without even clarifying the truth.
She saw the glint of triumph in Li Hui’s eyes.
Having her work plagiarized to secure a high-paying job, while being labeled as the false accuser—An Ning couldn’t accept this!
The people from Ou Teng Group gradually stood up, preparing to leave.
An Ning watched the tall figure nearly reach the doorway. Just as he was about to step out, she clenched her fists tightly and loudly declared, “President Lu! I can prove the project proposal is mine!”
As she shouted these words, An Ning’s entire body trembled.
The man at the door paused upon hearing her words. Two seconds later, he turned around, his frosty gaze meeting her red-rimmed eyes.
His voice cold, he asked word by word, “How will you prove it?”
No signature, no evidence—how could she prove it?
Li Hui quickly thought through everything—An Ning had no evidence to prove her innocence!
An Ning met his gaze for only a second before quickly looking away.
She lowered her eyes, took a deep breath, and said, “On my project proposal, I underlined the important parts with a black pen.”
Upon hearing this, Li Hui curled her lips upward. What kind of proof was that?
But the man’s eyes were waiting for her to continue.
An Ning’s heart ached with each beat. “The pen I used was specially customized. The ink contains fine fluorescent particles, and if you look through a magnifying glass, you can see two letters—A.N., my initials.”
Everyone was stunned upon hearing this.
Her handwriting actually contained such intricate details.
Assistant Jiang Yao hurried out to fetch a magnifying glass.
Liang Xu frowned slightly and glanced at Lu Xiyan. Standing close to him, he could feel an even deeper chill emanating from him.
Lu Xiyan’s hand, tucked in his pocket, slowly clenched, and his brow twitched almost imperceptibly.
“How could there possibly be a name in the ink?” Sun Liangying dismissed it as nonsense. “An Ning, are you out of your mind?”
Li Hui didn’t believe it either. “An Ning, you can’t just make things up to ruin my work.”
“This pen was specially customized in Italy,” An Ning said, looking at Li Hui. “Whether I’m making it up or not will be clear once you see it.”
At that moment, a senior executive from the Oten Group spoke up. “I have indeed heard of such creative pens, but I’ve heard they are quite expensive to customize.” He scrutinized An Ning, seemingly judging from her attire that she couldn’t afford such a custom item, and asked, “I wonder, Miss An, how did you come to own this pen?”
Though the question sounded ordinary, given Li Hui’s earlier accusation of her stealing lipstick, An Ning felt it implied the pen was of dubious origin.
“The origin of the pen seems irrelevant to today’s matter, doesn’t it?” An Ning’s voice was soft but firm. “What’s most important now is to verify whether what I just said is true.”
“Could it be stolen too?” a man at the door remarked mockingly.
An Ning abruptly turned to look at him, meeting his frivolous gaze.
In his eyes, there was disdain and sarcasm.
An Ning’s face paled for a moment, and even her rosy lips lost some of their color.
She suddenly let out a light laugh. “President Lu, you worry too much. It was a gift from my ex-husband.”
As their eyes met, a faint, imperceptible shadow flickered in Lu Xiyan’s deep gaze. His hand, hidden in his pocket, clenched into a tight fist, his knuckles turning white, yet his stern face remained unreadable.
Just then, Assistant Jiang Yao returned with a magnifying glass and immediately examined the underlined sections of the project proposal.
“President Lu! President Liang! There really is fluorescence, and there are letters!” Jiang Yao exclaimed in surprise, prompting many to crowd around and look.
Liang Xu turned to glance at An Ning, then looked at Lu Xiyan.
Of course, he knew about the fluorescence and the letters.
Because that special pen was the one Lu Xiyan had given An Ning years ago.
It was customized with the prize money he’d won after nearly breaking his leg in a racing competition.
He took a deep breath. These two were truly fated to cross paths.
Amid the noisy, chattering crowd, their gazes met across the room.
His eyes held too many emotions that An Ning couldn’t decipher, striking her heart with pain. She was the first to look away, turning her head to the side as her eyes reddened.
Li Hui continued to argue vehemently, while Sun Liangying’s face darkened.
In the end, the results confirmed that the project proposal selected by the Oten Group was indeed An Ning’s.
The moment the truth was announced, it felt like a wrongfully accused criminal being granted a chance for vindication. An Ning, overwhelmed with grievances, turned and ran out.
……
In the dimly lit stairwell, An Ning took a deep breath, tilting her slender neck back to force back the tears threatening to fall, refusing to let them drop.
Someone once told her that tears were useless.
But another had said her tears were the weapon he found hardest to resist.
Leaning against the stair railing, An Ning breathed heavily, her hand pressed against her pounding heart.
Suddenly, the partially open stairwell door was pushed aside, and a tall, lanky figure stepped inside.
An Ning’s breath caught abruptly.