Chapter 202

“Ana, you’re late,” Sharlene said the second she spotted Anastasia. “Vincent came in super pissed this morning and was looking for you. When he saw you weren’t here, he totally lost it and chewed us all out.”

Sharlene visibly shuddered remembering the scene—like a small tree that had just weathered a hurricane.

“Got it, thanks for the heads up,” Anastasia said.

She didn’t bother going to find Vincent. If he really needed her, he’d call for her himself. Her head was still pounding, and she wasn’t in the mood for drama.

“Oh, this is for you.” Sharlene handed her a delicate little box.

Anastasia was confused—it wasn’t a holiday or anything. Why was Sharlene giving her a gift?

Despite her confusion, she opened the box under Sharlene’s expectant gaze and found the silk scarf inside.

“This is…”

“I watched some YouTube tutorials on scarf repair. It’s actually not that hard, so I gave it a shot. Turned out pretty well—you can barely see where it was torn.”

Anastasia examined it closely. Sharlene was right—it looked perfect.

“Thank you, I love it.”

Sharlene beamed. “I could tell how much that scarf meant to you, and I felt bad it got ruined. I hope you don’t mind that I took it upon myself to fix it.”

“Mind? Are you kidding? I’m thrilled,” Anastasia smiled.

Just then, Narissa noticed Anastasia had arrived.

She strutted over, arms crossed, and snorted. “Well, well. Look who finally decided to show up. Why bother coming in at all? You think you’re the CEO or something? Coming and going whenever you please?”

“Our actual boss, Mr. Rhodes, shows up every single day, rain or shine. But you think you’re more important than him?”

“You’re right, I screwed up. I overslept,” Anastasia admitted.

“Oh wow, you can actually admit when you’re wrong? I thought landing that one contract went straight to your head!”

Narissa paused dramatically before adding, “Anastasia, I had no idea you were such a disgusting person. Selling yourself to close deals!”

Anastasia’s eyes went cold as ice. “Shut your damn mouth. Did you eat a pile of shit for breakfast? Your breath is toxic. Say one more word without proof, and I’ll rip your tongue out.”

Anastasia had learned that being nice to people like Narissa was pointless. You had to fight fire with fire.

“Don’t get too cocky. Vincent’s going to destroy you any minute now!”

When Narissa couldn’t win the verbal sparring match, she resorted to threats.

Suddenly, Anastasia remembered running into Narissa and Vincent at the gynecologist’s office.

“You sure love bringing up Vincent. People might start thinking you two have something going on.”

Anastasia was deliberately poking at Narissa’s weak spot. Guilt flashed in Narissa’s eyes, and she couldn’t meet Anastasia’s gaze.

Right then, Vincent emerged from his office.

“What the hell is all this noise? I can hear you from inside my office.”

His eyes landed directly on Anastasia.

Yeah, he was definitely targeting her.

“You. My office. Now,” Vincent barked at Anastasia.

Sharlene shot her a worried look, but Anastasia gave her a reassuring glance before following Vincent.

“What can I do for you, Vincent?”

The moment she finished speaking, Vincent slammed a file down on his desk with a loud bang.

Even though Anastasia was prepared for his dramatics, the sudden noise made her flinch slightly.

“Anastasia, you know damn well what you did to get that contract,” Vincent said coldly, “Using those kinds of methods will only hurt you in the end.”

Anastasia could tell Vincent was barely containing his rage.

Clearly, his meeting with Griffin Orlando yesterday hadn’t gone well.

After getting humiliated by Griffin, he was taking it out on her.

But Anastasia wasn’t anyone’s punching bag.

She looked at Vincent innocently. “So you think there’s something wrong with the contract? Do you need me to revise it, or…”

“Cut the act. I kissed ass for an hour yesterday, and Mr. Orlando wouldn’t even look at me. He said only you were qualified to handle this partnership.”

Vincent’s voice dripped with contempt. “Fine, I’m giving you the opportunity. I’ve even assigned team members to work with you on the Orlando account. If anything goes wrong, that’s on you. Don’t drag me down with your mistakes.”

Anastasia had known all along that Vincent couldn’t steal her project.

Now he had no choice but to hand it back to her.

But she also knew guys like Vincent didn’t take humiliation well. She’d have to watch her back—he’d definitely try to sabotage her somehow.