Chapter 5

The room erupted in an uproar.

No one had expected such a dramatic reversal.

My good relationship with the client had already shocked them.

Now my classmate's declaration that the contract was void left them stunned.

"Impossible! How could I not know about this clause?"

"You must have altered it. Chloe, quick, go get our copy of the contract!"

Xavier's hands were shaking, but he was still trying to hold on.

I laughed coldly and said nothing, waiting for them to find the contract.

Xavier had been too eager to hand the project over to Chloe. He hadn't even noticed the clause about not being able to change project managers midway before rashly kicking me out.

Chloe panicked too. She rummaged through the office and finally found the contract.

Xavier couldn't care about gentlemanly behavior anymore. He snatched the contract and rapidly flipped through it.

Everyone held their breath. The usually noisy office now only echoed with the sound of Xavier flipping pages.

When he turned to that page and saw the clause with his own eyes, his heart sank completely.

Seeing Xavier's desperate expression, everyone understood that my classmate and I were telling the truth.

Such a major project had just fallen through?

Chloe, who'd been celebrating in advance, experienced the feeling of gaining and losing in an instant. Her eyes turned red with anger.

She pointed at me and opened her mouth furiously:

"Valerie! So that's it! I was wondering why you'd hand over the project so obediently. You were digging a pit here waiting for Xavier and me to jump in!"

"Xavier and I have been so good to you. How can you have the nerve to betray us?"

I rolled my eyes:

"Wasn't this the project you negotiated? Why didn't you read the terms before signing?"

Chloe was left speechless by my retort. Her eyes turned red with anger.

Xavier completely panicked. He even forgot to defend Chloe. He muttered "It's over" and slumped to the floor.

The other employees quickly reacted too, wailing and crying:

"It's over. I invested my entire fortune."

"Yeah, what do I do now? I saved for ten years, thinking this was a sure thing. I even borrowed from all my relatives. How am I supposed to live?"

Hearing their lamentations, I was stunned.

The market had been bad lately, and the company's funds were tight. Xavier had wanted to use this project to soar to new heights.

I only knew Xavier had thrown all the company's account money into it. I hadn't expected him to make employees chip in and invest too.

No wonder they'd all been on Xavier's side earlier. They were a community of shared interests.

Seeing the room full of wailing people, my classmate and I turned to leave.

Xavier wiped his face and stood up, looking at me with disappointment:

"Valerie, everyone's worked together for ten years. I wronged you, but your colleagues didn't offend you. Why did you pull this stunt and make it so nobody gets paid?"

With him saying this, the angry colleagues immediately turned their anger on me.

They didn't think about how if Xavier hadn't changed the project manager, or if they'd stopped things when it happened, it wouldn't have come to this.

But they didn't.

They'd only thought at the time that Chloe was close to Xavier and they needed to curry favor with the boss.

Ending up like this was their own doing.

Hearing their curses, I didn't care.

Chloe angrily blocked my path:

"Valerie, you're as selfish and childish as ever. Do you think you've won by pulling this stunt today?"

"We lost money, but you backstabbed your former company. Your reputation in the industry is ruined. From now on, no company will ever hire you!"

Hearing her defiant words, I shook my head with a cold laugh.

But my classmate smiled:

"That's not your concern. Valerie's already joined our company. You should worry more about yourself."