The evening sun cast a golden glow over her, tinting her fair skin with a soft blush.
She wore a simple navy blue blouse paired with a white pencil skirt, exuding an indescribable allure.
Yet, as she held a book in her hands and wore a pair of glasses, she also radiated the gentle grace of a prominent socialite and the quiet, scholarly charm of the girl next door.
Even though Mason Sinclair had no romantic feelings for her, he had to admit that Bella Jefferson was stunningly beautiful.
Standing at five foot six, she was slender but not at all frail.
Her curves were perfectly proportioned, full and shapely where it mattered.
Her exceptionally tiny waist, in particular, made one feel the sudden urge to pull her into a tight embrace.
Mason’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, his voice turning slightly husky.
“Just now, Xavier Group agreed to the collaboration.”
Bella’s gaze shifted from her book, showing genuine happiness for him.
“That’s wonderful news.”
“It is.
However, the project Mr.
Xavier wants to collaborate on isn’t the one you’ve been negotiating, but the new technology we’re currently researching.”
Mason hadn’t expected Xavier Group to set their sights on the new technology before it was even completed.
He had wracked his brains trying to secure a partnership with the Xavier family.
Even though the outcome deviated from his original plan, he was willing to collaborate on any project as long as he could latch onto a colossal backer like them.
“It’s just that…” A troubled look flickered in his eyes.
“Just what?” Bella already knew the answer but waited quietly for him to speak.
“Assistant Monroe requested that you oversee this project and report the progress to him in person every day.”
Over the years, Mason had deliberately kept Bella away from any research and development secrets.
On one hand, it was because of her medical book; on the other, he didn’t want her crossing paths with Scarlett Sullivan.
He never imagined that Adrian Xavier would explicitly name Bella to take charge.
It wasn’t that Mason hadn’t recommended others, but Adrian had rejected them all.
Their reasoning was simple: Bella had been negotiating with them for half a year.
They were more familiar with her, which would make future communication easier.
Mason reasoned with himself that Bella was just an ordinary medical student.
Even if she learned about the progress of the new technology, it wouldn’t matter much.
She knew nothing about R&D anyway.
She couldn’t stir up much trouble.
Bella knew that Adrian was making a concession; otherwise, it would have been impossible for her to put her plan into action.
Knowing she couldn’t appear too eager, she feigned hesitation.
“But I don’t know anything about R&D.
What if I mess up your collaboration?”
“It’s fine.
I’ll find someone to help you.
All you need to do is handle the reporting,” Mason said, stroking her hair. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
His tone turned gentle.
“I promised to let you rest at home, but I’ve gone back on my word again.
Just name your compensation.
Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you.”
Resisting the urge to swat his hand away, Bella asked with a look of expectation, “Then what position are you going to give me at the company?”
“What do you want to do?”
“Project Director, is that okay?”
Most of the projects she had successfully negotiated for Mason over the years were based on technologies researched from her medical book.
Since she was going to take back the book, she certainly wasn’t going to let Mason keep those projects on a silver platter.
Mason was reluctant, but remembering how he had upset her at noon and how hard it had been to coax her, he eventually caved.
“Alright.
I’ll head back to the company and discuss it with the executives.
I’ll give you an answer later.”
He left in a hurry.
Once he was completely out of sight, Bella’s expression turned icy.
She knew that his so-called “discussion” actually meant going to see Scarlett.
She also believed that Mason would agree to her request.
After all, he had just secured a collaboration with Xavier Group.
If word got out that the person in charge of the project was just a lowly pharmaceutical rep, Mason knew better than anyone what kind of criticism he would face—and how Xavier Group might react.
That night, Mason didn’t come home, as usual.
Bella had showered early and just lain down in bed when a text message arrived right on cue.
“Honey, come in to work tomorrow.”
Bella let out a cold sneer.
It seemed that for the sake of profit, Mason was willing to sacrifice everything.
She replied with a smiling emoji: “Okay.”
Exiting the chat window, she was about to put her phone away and go to sleep when a friend request suddenly popped up.
She tapped on it casually, but her fingertips froze the moment she saw the solid black profile picture.
Even though there was no name attached, Bella could guess it was Adrian.
For a moment, her breathing hitched.
Staring at the profile picture, its abyssal color unexpectedly overlapped with that night five years ago.
She was suddenly caught off guard by the memory of standing in the wind and rain, clutching the gift she had planned to give him.
Instead, she had walked in on him celebrating his birthday with another woman.
He hadn’t even spared her a single glance as he hugged that woman right in front of her.
It felt like an ice pick had pierced her heart, violently tearing open a wound that had long scabbed over.
Bella subconsciously gripped her phone so tightly that her knuckles turned white, her eyes aching with dry intensity.
She had thought that after so much time had passed, she had finally let go of those feelings.
She never expected that time hadn’t healed anything; it had merely buried the pain deep within her.
It had just been waiting for an unguarded moment to resurface and completely drown her once again!
Her night was filled with fitful dreams.
The next day, Bella arrived at the company early in the morning.
Mason had already arranged everything.
All she had to do was head straight to the project department to assume her new role.
It was rather laughable.
Ever since she started working at Meridian Group, no one knew she was Mason’s wife in name.
After all, who would connect a lowly pharmaceutical rep with the CEO’s wife?
Moreover, she had always been out running business errands and rarely showed her face in the office.
Now that she had been parachuted into the project department as the director, many people were secretly dissatisfied.
Seeing their unfriendly faces, Bella didn’t take it to heart.
She was only here for the medical book.
It didn’t matter if others acknowledged her or not.
Since she had previously been listed under the sales department, there was a lot of work she needed to familiarize herself with after suddenly transferring to the project department.
Mason hadn’t assigned anyone to guide her either, so she could only read through the documents and get up to speed on her own.
After keeping busy for over an hour, she left the project department and headed to the R&D department, planning to check on the latest progress of the new technology.
To her surprise, just as she reached the entrance, she ran into Scarlett Sullivan surrounded by a group of people.
Every single one of them wore a flattering, fawning smile on their faces.
Bella couldn’t hear exactly what they were talking about, but she distinctly heard them addressing Scarlett as “Mrs.
Sinclair.”
A wave of icy dread washed over her from head to toe, jolting her completely awake!
Bella suddenly realized a glaring issue.
Since Mason had used someone else’s documents to legally register their marriage, then was it possible that…
Mason had already turned around and secretly married Scarlett!
Bella immediately took out her phone and sent a text to Hailey Lynch, asking her to look into Scarlett’s marital status again.
Just then, Scarlett turned her head, spotted Bella, and quickly walked over to her.
“Bella, why didn’t you tell me in advance that you were coming?” Scarlett’s face was plastered with a gentle smile as she affectionately linked her arm through Bella’s.
It was exactly this facade that had deceived her for so many years.
So much so that she had never once suspected that Scarlett would collude with Mason to deceive her.