Chapter 131

Timothy glanced at Trevor and said, “Abigail gave you a chance, but you blew it. Mr. Robinson’s message is clear: if everyone in our R&D department acts like you do, we might as well shut down. So you better step up your game before you get fired.”

At the mention of getting fired, Trevor’s face went from red to white, and he had nothing to say. He wasn’t a young guy anymore. He’d been doing this job for almost 10 years. If he got fired now, his family would lose their main source of income.

“I understand,” Trevor finally said when he noticed Timothy still staring at him.

Timothy looked satisfied. “I know you’ve got a family to support. I told Mr. Robinson that you’re a technical guy, and meeting summaries just aren’t your strong suit, like they are for younger people. You get that, right?”

“Yeah, I shouldn’t mock Abigail at all. I’ll focus on my work from now on and stop stirring up trouble over petty stuff,” Trevor sounded more relaxed.

“Abigail, this goes for you too. I know you’re technically strong and can communicate with Mr. Robinson without any problems, but when someone offers you an out, you should take it. Don’t be so aggressive.” Timothy put on a stern expression deliberately.

Abigail just nodded without saying much.

After everyone finished reading her meeting summary, they filed out of the conference room. Abigail sat down and got busy working on database programs with the rest of the team.

Half an hour later, Trevor came over with a coffee and a piece of cake and handed it to Abigail. “I was really out of line yesterday. I was being petty and jealous of you. I want to apologize again."

“My wife loves this brand of fruit cake. She actually used to work at one of their coffee shops. She says their fruit is really fresh. Let me buy you this one.”

Abigail glanced at the fruit cake on the table, then looked up at him. “So, we’re even now?”

“Only if you accept my fruit cake,” Trevor said.

Abigail took the cake and coffee. “Thanks.”

Trevor finally relaxed and smiled. He still thought Abigail relied too much on Sebastian, but when he really thought about it, she was the one who’d secured the partnership with Celestial Group. Without her constantly pushing Sebastian about the project, they never would have landed it.

Trevor had to admit Abigail was incredibly capable. Her meeting summaries had outlined every key point the database needed to cover.

Compared to her, Trevor knew he was way out of his league. Whether it was writing code or negotiating projects, Abigail was better than him at everything.

Abigail took a couple of bites of the fruit cake and found it surprisingly good.

After Trevor returned to his seat, Leon walked over to Abigail and asked quietly, “So you two just made up like that?”

Abigail nodded. “Yeah, we’re all going to be working on the same project anyway. If things get too tense, we won’t be able to get anything done.”

Abigail figured Timothy had said what he did earlier to give Trevor a way to save face and help her understand how tough things could be for middle-aged guys.

Even though Trevor had been pretty nasty with his comments, his apology seemed genuine enough that she decided to forgive him this time.

“Makes sense. Is that fruit cake any good?” León asked.

“It’s pretty tasty,” Abigail replied.

Leon nodded, then said after a moment, “Maybe I’ll go order one and try it myself.”

“Thanks for today, by the way,” Abigail smiled at him.

Leon waved it off. “We work for the same company. It’s normal to help each other out.”

Abigail turned back to her work, but then a coworker sitting near Leon asked curiously, “Dude, you like her, right?”

He didn’t keep his voice down, so Abigail heard it too. She instinctively looked over at Leon.

Leon’s entire face turned red as he shoved his coworker away. “What’s wrong with you?” He quickly looked at Abigail. “I don’t mean it like that. I just think of you as a friend.”

Abigail saw how flustered he was and knew that wasn’t the whole truth. If he really just saw her as a friend, he wouldn’t be reacting this strongly.

Abigail was curious. ‘Shouldn’t they be keeping their distance from me since I’ve been to prison?’ she thought. ‘Even if I don’t care, wouldn’t their parents worry about it?’ She couldn’t understand it.

“I really didn’t mean anything like that,” Leon explained frantically again.

“It’s fine, I’m not bothered by it. I just see you as a friend anyway,” Abigail said calmly.

Everyone watched their reactions. Leon’s words were hard to believe, but Abigail seemed much more convincing.

“Okay.” Leon saw how calm she was and realized she truly didn’t have any feelings for him. A wave of disappointment washed over him, but he quickly forced a smile. “Seriously, why are we even talking about such scary stuff?”

Their coworker laughed too, “I was just making conversation. Abigail can take a joke, but you can’t?”

“Cut it out. That kind of joke isn’t respectful,” Leon shot back.

The two of them kept bickering, and the awkward atmosphere disappeared. But Abigail felt confused.

The way the Gibson family treated her with disgust, including how Ralph used to be so cold to her, had made her think she was someone people naturally disliked.