Chapter 9

William’s gaze fell on the necklace on Samantha’s neck, and his eyes grew cold for a moment.

“I don’t know him,” he said.

Samantha’s face tightened, clearly upset.

Rachel caught the subtle changes in both their expressions, and a small laugh escaped her.

“Funny, just earlier, Ms. Judd said she’d introduce us to her boyfriend. How about next week?”

William’s gaze darkened, and before Samantha could speak, he cut in, “Other people’s boyfriends aren’t our concern. By the way, she’s new here. If she needs help, you can show her the ropes. Also, the data for the Oasis Project needs to be checked. Take a look at it for her.”

Rachel could barely hold back a laugh. He wasn’t giving her the project to manage, but now he wanted her to help Samantha look good in front of the team. How did he even have the nerve to say that out loud?

She swallowed her frustration, replying, “I have other work to do.”

Samantha nervously bit her lip, glancing at Rachel before speaking in a soft voice: “William, please don’t make Rachel do it. It’s my fault that I can’t even handle something this simple.”

“It’s alright. You’ll get the hang of it. Rachel is very capable. If you follow her, you’ll learn a lot,” William replied, his voice calm and encouraging.

To anyone else, it would have sounded like a regular compliment. But Rachel knew better.

William never tolerated mistakes at work. If anyone messed up, they were out–no excuses. But with Samantha? He was incredibly patient, even going so far as to hand her off to Rachel for help.

Samantha lifted her eyes to look at Rachel.

“Rachel, is that okay?” she asked, her voice soft and uncertain.

Rachel shrugged. “Whatever Mr. Lewis says.”

William gave Rachel’s shoulder a small pat, his gaze full of quiet approval. “Show her the ropes. It’ll be good for you to have another pair of hands to help out.”

Rachel forced a tight smile.

Was William trying to make Samantha her assistant, or was she being groomed to replace her?

Rachel shook off the thought, focusing on Samantha who was standing there, clearly uneasy.

“Bring the data you worked on to my office.”

“Okay, Rachel.”

Samantha obediently returned to her office to gather the data before following Rachel into her office. Rachel’s desk was buried under piles of paperwork; she couldn’t help but tiredly rub her forehead.

Samantha placed the completed data in front of Rachel, who scanned it quickly. The expression on her face darkened.

Her long fingers pointed to a number on the third line. “If the project starts based on your numbers, the company is going to lose a lot of money.”

Samantha leaned in, looking at the numbers with a panicked expression. “I’m so sorry, Rachel. I might have made a mistake because William asked me to accompany him to the mall to buy some things for his parents. I’m really sorry.”

Samantha had heard from William that Rachel could read lips, so there was no real need to sign. The gestures were just a courtesy–nothing more.

Rachel tightened her grip on the file, her voice cold as she said, “Ms. Judd, this is work. Your personal matters have nothing to do with me. I only care about your work results.”

Her words were direct, but Samantha acted like she had been terribly wronged. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and she looked like she was about to cry.

“I’m sorry, Rachel, please don’t be mad. I’ll fix it right now. If there’s anything else wrong, just point it out to me.”

Rachel felt exhausted. She didn’t have time to waste on Samantha’s mistakes. But still, she took a closer look, marking every mistake with the data. Minutes passed, and soon, the page was covered in red circles.

Rachel’s lips tightened as she lifted her gaze to meet Samantha’s. “Did you actually check the data properly?”

If she had, there was no way it could be this wrong. The numbers looked like they were made up.

When Samantha saw Rachel’s cold and serious face, she tensed up even more. Her hands fidgeted nervously as she tried to explain.

“I… I heard you could pull the data directly from the existing files, so I just…”

Rachel couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“You have to know that data changes. Even yesterday’s numbers might be different today,” she said sharply.

Samantha’s face turned red with embarrassment.

“I’ll redo it right now,” she whispered, wringing her fingers together.

“The project is on a tight schedule,” Rachel reminded, trying to stay calm. “Since you’ve taken it on, I expect you to treat it seriously.”

She was trying her best to keep her temper in check. If Samantha had been professional and responsible, Rachel would have had no issue. But the fact that Samantha couldn’t get something so basic right was worrying.

It was unfortunate the project wasn’t under Rachel. If Samantha was this careless, Rachel couldn’t imagine how badly things would go if the project actually moved forward.

She didn’t blame Samantha directly. The problem lay with William. Rachel didn’t believe that he didn’t know about Samantha’s abilities. He was fully aware, yet he still pushed forward, and that was what disgusted her the most.

“Go recheck everything. I want it before lunch,” Rachel instructed firmly, placing the file back on the desk.

“Okay.” Samantha, eyes red, grabbed the file and left the office.

As she walked through the office, their colleagues couldn’t help but gossip in low voices.

“Did Ms. Lloyd really make her cry?”

“Ms. Lloyd needs to change her attitude. Just because Mr. Lewis spoils her doesn’t mean she can treat new colleagues like that.” “Everyone knows how much Ms. Lloyd values the Oasis Project. Since she didn’t get to manage it, she must be upset.” Another coworker had an epiphany: “Oh, I get it. She’s abusing her power and position.”

The people around her didn’t even realize that Rachel had heard every word of their conversation. But it didn’t matter. Soon enough, she would be out of this place, and none of it would matter anymore.

By noon, Rachel had wrapped up most of the projects she was responsible for and was ready to head out for lunch.

She opened the door, only to stop short when she saw William standing next to Samantha, whose face was all flushed and red-eyed, looking like she had been wronged. If Rachel didn’t know better, she might’ve felt bad for her too. But she saw right through the act.

“William, you don’t have to wait for me. You go ahead and eat. Rachel wants me to finish these numbers before lunch, or she’ll get mad,” Samantha said in a soft, almost pleading voice, biting her lip.

William frowned, his brow furrowing deeply. “Did she scold you?”

Samantha shook her head quickly, her lips trembling as she muttered, “No… no, she didn’t. Rachel’s a senior. It’s fine. I deserve it.”

William let out a quiet sigh, his hand reaching up to gently ruffle Samantha’s hair. “The project isn’t going to get done in one day. Don’t stress. Let’s go eat first. It’s already late. I’ll take you to your favorite place, Moon & Barrel.”

At the mention of the restaurant, Samantha’s eyes lit up. “Did you manage to get a reservation? I tried calling so many times but couldn’t get through.”

Rachel froze for a moment. Just the other day, she had told William she wanted to try the shrimp gratin at Moon & Barrel. He kept saying it was impossible to get a table, but promised to take her there as soon as he could get a reservation.

But now, it seemed the real reason he hadn’t taken her there yet was that he just didn’t want to.

William stood up and pulled Samantha to her feet. “Let’s go.”

Samantha hesitated. “But… what about Rachel?”

“Don’t worry. Rachel might seem strict, but she’s really easygoing. I’ll explain it to her, and she won’t be upset with you.”

William quickly shut Samantha’s notebook and was about to leave, but as he looked up, he spotted Rachel standing at the door. His dark eyes flickered with a brief moment of panic, but he quickly masked it with a calm expression.

He made a quick sign for eating and asked, “Rachel, you haven’t gone to eat yet?”