Chapter 601

It looked like everyone was gearing up for a major push at the office. However, no one really knew what came next. Some had already begun savoring the sweeter moments in life. Joseph, watching from the office, saw it all clearly. If nothing else, just seeing everyone encouraging one another and voluntarily returning to their workstations—that alone already set them apart from sixty percent of others. He’d never seen anything like this before.

Now, Joseph finally understood. It really was his past complacency that had left the company in this state. If he hadn’t been so laid-back, maybe all those things wouldn’t have happened later on. Maybe he would’ve stepped into the company earlier. No, more likely, his father would have handed over the company to him much sooner. With that thought, Joseph reached out and drew the curtains closed, then leaned back in his chair, waiting to see if anyone would come in with new suggestions.

At first, he didn’t expect much from this method. But later, he realized something was different. It turned out this approach actually worked quite well on people. So, if he got the chance, he planned to keep using tricks like this. Thinking that, Joseph felt rather pleased. That was how employees were. With a small reward on the table, they’d roll up their sleeves in no time, no matter the task.

He couldn’t wait to share the good news with Judy. He called her right away, but the next second, she hung up on him. Seeing that, Joseph straightened up from his usual lazy posture. He stared blankly at the now-dark phone screen, completely confused. What just happened? Why did Judy hang up on him all of a sudden? He wanted to call her back right away, but in the end, he held back and forced himself to wait a bit. Maybe Judy was busy with something and couldn’t answer at the moment? If he called again right away, wouldn’t that seem a bit rude? With that thought, Joseph tried to comfort himself, feeling a little less anxious.

But ten minutes passed and still no reply from Judy. Joseph started to get restless. “What’s going on with Judy? Why hasn’t she replied at all?” Panic started to creep in as he puzzled over what was happening. Truth was, he’d already sensed something was off before, especially after Judy opened her own shop; there were times when she completely ignored him. He had found it odd, but every time he asked, she would smile and reassure him there was nothing to worry about. That was the only reason he didn’t dwell on it and kept the doubts buried.

But people were like that—once they noticed something felt off, they couldn’t stop noticing more, and the doubt only grew stronger. That was why Joseph had always been slightly wary of Judy. Still, he never asked her directly, just to keep the peace between them. But now, after so much time had passed and she still wasn’t picking up his calls, it was starting to feel unreasonable. With that in mind, Joseph called her again.