Chapter 12
Compared to Justin’s furious behavior, Elena remained calm and composed. She said, “Mr. Riggs, if I remember correctly, you were the one who said not to drag personal matters into the company.”
His eyes widened.
“What’s wrong? When it comes to Nadine, you suddenly forget your own words?” she asked.
“That may be true, but you can’t just throw juice on her either,” he said irritably while tugging at his tie.
Elena immediately picked up on what he left unsaid. “So you do know that I didn’t splash her with coffee
in the pantry, don’t you?”
He knew everything, yet he still chose to side with Nadine.
Justin’s gaze flickered. “Nadi, she…”
The moment he saw Elena’s attitude earlier, he had already pieced things together. The coffee incident wasn’t her doing. It was Nadine’s little staged act. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to call Nadine out on it.
She had suffered so much. She loved him deeply, yet because of her identity as his foster sister, she could never be with him openly.
After marrying abroad, she ended up trapped with that wretched ex-husband who abused her. She longed
for a child, but fate was cruel to her. She couldn’t have one of her own.
How could he bear to criticize her? So instead, he blamed Elena.
But now, facing her steady gaze, he suddenly found himself at a loss for words.
Elena wasn’t surprised. After all, he had covered up the car accident for Nadine. Why would this small matter be any different?
After a long pause, his tone softened. “Lena, Nadi didn’t mean any harm. Don’t hold it against her.”
He walked over, took her hand, and said, “I heard there’s a new handbag out. Let me buy it for you, okay?”
She pulled her hand away. “I don’t need it.”
Who did he hear it from? Nadine again?
Was he trying to pull that “one gift for each woman” routine again?
“Come on. Don’t stay upset for my sake. When you’re unhappy, I feel it too.”
He had used this line before when she was upset. Back then, she thought it was sincere. Now, she saw it for what it was-shallow and nauseating.
This time, he wasn’t comforting her. He was smoothing things over for Nadine.
Chapter 12
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Sure enough, he continued, “And besides, Nadi’s really been under pressure today. She’s not familiar with that project she just took over, and she upset a client. Can you help her out? Otherwise, months of hard work will go down the drain.”
“I would never sabotage my team’s work,” Elena said evenly.
He thought she was agreeing and almost let out a sigh of relief, but then she added, “But I won’t help Nadine.”
“You…” His face darkened instantly. “Lena, if you keep this up, I really will get angry.”
Elena loved him so much that she would have panicked at the thought of him truly being angry. But she just stood there. Her face was blank as she stared at him without a flicker of fear.
This time, it was Justin who panicked.
“How can this be? How can she show no reaction at all? Has she stopped loving me? Impossible!” he thought.
He didn’t even realize that he was in a rare state of panic deep down. He stared hard at her face, desperate to catch some flicker of unease or sadness in her eyes or some crack in that calm facade…
Suddenly, his phone rang, breaking the tension.
He snapped back to reality, gave her one last look, then went to answer.
It was a client. Normally, they wouldn’t dare call him directly without notice, since he was now the head of Riggs Group. But this time, they must have been truly upset.
Justin picked up the call. The client’s tone was polite enough, but the message was unshakably firm-this project had to be handled by Elena. If he insisted on replacing her and the project failed as a result, they would sever ties with Riggs Group entirely.
He was deeply displeased, but losing a reliable partner over this wasn’t worth it. So, he agreed.
After hanging up, he turned back to her. “Lena, you’ll stay on the project. As for Nadi, she can be your
assistant.”
Even now, he couldn’t let it go. He still wanted Nadine to get a share of the credit.
“Assistant?” Elena let out a cold laugh. “Mr. Riggs, unless I’m mistaken, I’m the one calling the shots now.”
His brows furrowed, “What do you mean by that?”
“If you want me to lead this project, I want Nadine out completely. From now on, she has nothing to do
with it.”
Just then, Nadine, who had been hiding in the lounge, stormed out after hearing Elena’s words. She cried, ” Jus, you can’t!”
