It's Love That Blinds Him
It’s Love That Blinds Him – Chapter 5

The meeting lasted until midday. Participating companies would have to wait a week for the results.

“Lucia, what are our chances of winning the competition?” asked Chester shyly. After seeing how fierce the competition was, he was really nervous.

“God only knows! I can’t really say at the moment. Anyway, we did our best. Let’s have lunch.” Lucia didn’t care about the outcome because she’d already done her best.

“Yes, Lucia’s right. Everything will be fine since we did our best,” Hayes said to comfort Chester.

Meade was, in fact, the oldest member of the team. He was thirty years old. He said nothing to console Chester, however. As the other competitors seemed to be very talented, he realized that there would always be someone better than their team. In reality, he had little confidence in winning the project. The success of the project also depended on luck. But that didn’t matter to him, because the other companies in the competition were all extraordinary. Even if they didn’t win in the end, they wouldn’t lose in a humiliating way.

“Let’s have fun tonight. I was so nervous earlier,” Meade blurted out.

The others remained silent, indicating that they all agreed with him. After a convivial lunch in a restaurant near the Evans Group building, they all returned to the DZ Media office. They will report on today’s competition and assess their chances of success. Whatever the outcome, an evaluation meeting will be held to assess their performance and identify any mistakes.

In the Evans Group CEO’s office.

“Sir, here’s the information you requested.” After saying this, Bob handed a folder to Malcolm.

Malcolm took the folder from him and asked him to leave.

He looked at the folder, which was only a few pages long, and frowned in surprise. “Is this a coincidence?” he thought. Malcolm slumped back in his seat, lost in thought, holding the document in one hand and supporting his chin with the other.

“Malcolm…” Enoch entered his office without even knocking on his door.

“Your manners are getting worse by the day.” Malcolm frowned.

“If you still haven’t finished the job I gave you, then you can get ready to sell ice cream to the Eskimos.” Malcolm smiled slightly, but there was something contrary to reality in his smile.

“Malcolm, please don’t be so cruel to me,” Enoch said weakly. He had no doubt what Malcolm had told him.

“Some traitor leaked the company’s bid price. Fortunately, it was discovered shortly before the auction began and the price was changed, so we didn’t suffer a significant loss,” Enoch said solemnly.

The Evans Group had bid for a project in Switzerland, and was one hundred percent sure of winning the auction. However, only a handful of senior executives knew the bid price, and they were all closely connected to the Evans family. The night before the auction, Enoch had checked the document and discovered by chance that it had been moved. As a result, he changed the bid price to be on the safe side.

The next day, the competing company’s bid was just a little lower than the Evans Group’s initial bid before Enoch’s modification. And when the Evans Group bid price was announced, the competing company’s representative was obviously shocked.

“Why is he so impatient? Can’t he wait a little longer?” asked Malcolm with a cold expression. He remained calm, except for a slight smile on his lips.

“Malcolm, what do you think?” asked Enoch curiously. Although Malcolm was his own brother, sometimes even he couldn’t understand what Malcolm was thinking.

Malcolm was the kind of man who patiently tortured his enemies until they died of terror. Before that, he let them play their tricks for as long as they wanted without interfering. His enemies often didn’t realize that he had been watching their every move.

“Let’s see what other tricks he has up his sleeve. I’ll have Bob transfer all the documents you need signed by this afternoon. I won’t be here, so I’d like you to take care of the rest on your own.” With that, Malcolm stood up, grabbed his suit jacket, and was about to leave.

“What? Oh no…” Enoch squealed.

“Yes, that’s agreed,” Malcolm nodded. But his smile was rather annoyed.

Enoch obviously knew his brother was punishing him. How could he let someone else tamper with the tender document he’d been carrying around all day? But he was more curious as to why his workaholic brother would leave the office earlier than usual.

“What’s up? Are you curious? I guess it’s okay if I tell you. In fact, I’m going to meet your future sister-in-law,” Malcolm said because he knew exactly what Enoch had in mind. He then turned and walked away.

“What? Are you serious? Is this for real? She’s finally appeared?” Enoch’s jaw dropped as he realized what his brother had just told him.

“Sir, here are the documents that need to be signed and confirmed today,” Bob said coldly, tossing a stack of papers onto his desk.

“Hey Bob, do you get that devilish grin from all the time you spend working for my brother? Not to mention you really work a lot too!” exclaimed Enoch, glaring at Bob.

“Well, do you even know who this woman is?” He had an idea and looked at Bob with shining eyes, waiting for him to say something.

“I’m sorry, sir. I’m the CEO’s assistant, not his butler! Therefore, I have little knowledge of his personal life. He did, however, inform me that you could work in his office, as he doesn’t want documents coming and going.” Bob’s voice was slow, but clear. He didn’t want to arouse Enoch’s curiosity at all.

“Huh? All right, get on with your work.” Enoch was really annoyed and snorted.

At DZ Media.

As soon as Lucia and her colleagues returned, they had to attend a performance review meeting. In the past, they always came to a similar conclusion at the end of the meeting. But this time, they all seemed uncertain, while Lloyd was unusually quiet.

Their team was obviously inferior to the big international companies in terms of notoriety and experience. Although their execution and planning skills were as good as those of these international companies. However, they lacked experience in international promotion. Given the Evans Group’s evaluation methods, they were almost certain they couldn’t win the project.

“Why are you all thinking about this so much? As Lucia said, we’ve all done our best, so there’s no point thinking or worrying about it now.” Meade shrugged and put her feet up on the desk.

“Lucia, tonight we’re going to a bar. It’s been a really long time since we’ve all had a drink together,” Hayes suggested.

“A bar?”

Thinking of the bar, Lucia suddenly remembered her weekend in City X. Her face immediately turned red with embarrassment. Normally, she accepts such suggestions almost instantly. At the end of every meeting where they were all drained of ideas, they used to kill time in a bar to relieve the stress. They didn’t go to a bar just to drink; they did it because they wanted to have fun. They found it amusing to observe and mock couples having intimate encounters in bars.

“Wow, Lucia, your cheeks are seriously red! Did you do something shady in a bar?” asked Meade, carefully observing her expression.

“Screw you! What the hell are you talking about? Where do you want to go then?” replied Lucia casually, pushing away memories of that night in City X.

“Our usual place. Is there a better place than Angelbaby in City S?” asked Hayes, looking at Lucia with a dazed expression.

“All right, then. I’ll take a cab. We always leave at 9?” asked Lucia, glancing at her watch.

“Yes! See you tonight. I’m going to win over my girlfriend. For the past two months, I’ve been too preoccupied with work. I’ve spent so little time with her that if I don’t comfort her now, she’ll definitely dump me!” After saying this, Hayes left.

The others burst out laughing.

As night fell, neon lights flashed all over town as people drank and feasted. People wore a lot of make-up to hide their faces from the world, exposing only their dark, seductive side. A gentleman could very well be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. And a sociable, even flighty woman could also be a conservative lady in a different guise.

It was the nightlife of S-town. It was the way white-collar employees, who worked hard during the day, let off steam at night.

Lucia and her co-workers entered the bar and ordered drinks and appetizers while talking about everything but work. Chester then noticed a beautiful woman on the dance floor and approached her to dance with her.

“I need to go to the bathroom, but you guys have fun.” Saying this, Lucia got up and headed for the bathroom.

She was drinking a lot of beer without realizing she was doing it too fast. So she was feeling a little uncomfortable now. Her head was beginning to feel a little light. As she’d felt nervous all day, the alcohol brought her fatigue to the surface.

She stood in front of the mirror above the bathroom sink. She had a crazy Saturday, thought too long on Sunday, and was overloaded on Monday. As a result, she developed dark circles under her eyes, which she couldn’t even mask with makeup. “Shit! I shouldn’t have come here! I should have gone home and slept. If this keeps up, I’ll have a 36-year-old face instead of a 26-year-old face in a few weeks!”

“Look who’s here. It looks like Lucia, an old woman who’s been dumped. Must be hard to live without a man, huh?”

Lucia heard a woman’s high-pitched, sarcastic voice coming from behind her. After seeing in the mirror who it was, she didn’t even feel like replying, so she turned and was about to leave. However, things didn’t turn out the way she’d hoped, as the woman came out of the bathroom and stopped her from leaving.

“Mina Gomez, you really haven’t finished yet?” asked Lucia, looking coldly at Mina, stopping short.

“I just want to take a good look at you, a dumped woman. Oh, poor Lucia. Look, your hair’s all messy. Are you embarrassed now? You’re so ugly and old, it’s no wonder Jonas didn’t want you!” said Mina with a sarcastic smile.

“It’s none of your business, Mina! You’d better keep an eye on your man or you might end up getting dumped too.” Lucia raised her eyebrows and giggled.

“Huh? Do you honestly think I’d be as pitiful as you? My father owns the Gomez properties. After all these years of work, you still don’t have your own place, do you? Still living in that rented apartment in the slum? You’re just a bitch who’s been abandoned by her parents. No man would ever marry someone like you. Jonah was so blind, he succumbed to your charm back then. But no matter how slutty you were with him, he still wouldn’t touch your disgusting body. That must have made you very sad, mustn’t it?” hissed Mina, every word she spoke piercing Lucia’s heart like a rusty but sharp blade.

Lucia looked at her and forced herself not to shed a tear. “Don’t cry, Lucia, if you cry in front of her, then you’re definitely going to lose,” she thought. Pinching her palm, she tried to swallow the hatred and sadness in her heart.

“Hey, Mina, you’re here! You… Lucia?” A man’s pleasant voice interrupted their quarrel.

“Do what you like, I’ll leave you to it.” After glancing at Jonah, Lucia walked away. She couldn’t bear to stay another second, because she’d rather die than see the two of them together. She must have been blind to have fallen in love with a man like Jonah back then.

That was a long time ago, and she thought she’d moved on, but she hadn’t. Even the slightest provocation hurt her. Even the slightest provocation still hurt her. Maybe she didn’t want to let him go. Maybe she couldn’t forget Jonah, her first love. Or maybe she hated him from the depths of her heart. Lucia couldn’t put her finger on how she felt about him.

“Don’t go, Lucia. Wouldn’t you like to see how much Jonah loves me?” Clearly, Mina didn’t want to let Lucia go so easily.

“Don’t pull on the rope, Mina!” roared Lucia coldly, clenching her fists.