The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 40 Paula's Blunder in Charles' Office

After all these years of open rivalry and veiled strife, Paula was deeply pleased with herself. She was relieved that she had finally elbowed Autumn out. She drove her car to the Shining Company and called David to make an appointment with Charles.

David was surprised on receiving Paula's call. He learnt that she was here to discuss their cooperation, but he still couldn't resist his urge and asked, "Miss Ye used to be our contact person, no? Won't she be coming here?

Paula's good mood sank down with the words of David.

Miss Ye, Miss Ye, Miss Ye!

Why did she deserve the spotlight of every one? Paula had been trying for a long time, yet she was still overshadowed by Autumn.

Paula clenched her teeth, but she dared not speak bluntly to David. So she tried her best to control her anger and said, "She has resigned. So I'll handle the future cooperation matters with the Shining Company. Please be assured. I will handle everything with due care."

"Resigned?" David frowned slightly. 'Mr. Lu chose Cloud Advertising Company only because of her. Now that she has resigned, would Mr. Lu continue this cooperation?'

"Miss Pan, can you do me a favour and tell me why did she resign?" David was afraid that Charles would ask him these questions, so he made detailed inquiries to be able to answer Charles.

Standing across the building of Shining Company, with the vast French window reflecting her distorted face, she still spoke with gentle voice void of any dissatisfaction,"I don't know the exact reason. She solely needed consent from Mr Zhou. But I've heard... It was probably because of some financial issues..."

Paula gave vague remarks, leaving David perplexed.

Paula didn't hear a response from David on the phone, so she asked, "David, is Mr. Lu available right now? I want to make an appointment at..."

11

You may come up." Charles had already given orders in the morning that in case Cloud Advertising Company sent someone over, David should ask them to wait for a while in the office. He would attend them after his meeting.

Now that Paula was here, he had no choice but to invite her in.

David waited in person for Paula outside the elevator and directed her to Charles's office,"Miss Pan, Mr. Lu is in a meeting. You can sit for a while. Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Oh, no, thank you." Paula smiled and said, "Don't bother, I'm fine by myself.

"Sorry if I caused you any trouble." After accommodating Paula in the office, David went to the meeting room and waited for Charles at the doorway.

At first, Paula sat down on sofa but as time passed, she could no longer behave herself.

She had always wanted to lure Charles. Now that she had the honor of visiting his office, she naturally wanted to look around to learn more about Charles.

Charles's office had no other color except for black, white and grey.

With no flashy decorations, his office was simple. Charles had set aside a room for leisure where he could play indoor golf. The sofa and tea table were extremely simple but comfortable and elegant. The chair in Charles's office allowed him to lie on his back. The several green plants by the French window were the only colourful ornaments in the office, making it look less dull.

He also set aside a small room next to his office for rest and equipped it with a single bed, a television, a loudspeaker and a few daily necessities. It also had a bathroom and an independent toilet. Paula could even conjure up a picture of Charles working here. She thought Charles might be resting here during noon break or whenever he was working late at night.

There was a photo on Charles's desk, which caught her attention. It was probably clicked on the day of his wedding. But she couldn't see the face of the bride clearly since she was standing too far.

To see the face of the bride, Paula walked over to pick up the photo frame. She heard a sudden yell burst out from the entrance of the door,"What are you doing?"

Though Paula caught hold of the frame but before she could look at the picture, she was taken aback by Charles's voice. She got scared and couldn't hold onto the frame which was then smashed into pieces on the floor.

"Mr.... Mr. Lu." It didn't occur to Paula that Charles could catch her off guard. She was scared as hell.

Charles's face was dripping with gloomy because of the broken frame. David who was standing at his back, was shocked too.

"What are you doing here?" With a frown, Charles turned around before Paula could give a response, and asked David, "What is going on here?"

David had no other excuses but to accept his accusation. He wished to tear Paula apart. How dare she trespass in Charles's private room?

"Mr. Lu, I'm here to discuss matters related to the annual meeting." Paula just said a few words when David began organising his thoughts. She had calmed down by now,"Mr. Zhou has asked me to take over this project, so I'll handle the future cooperation matters with the Shining Company."

She looked at the shattered frame and said, "I'm very sorry. I had been waiting for quite a while. It got really boring so I decided to look around. I didn't mean to..."

Paula apologised beforehand. She thought that Charles would let this whole thing go away since there was a saying that one would never slap a person if that person had made a prior apology with good

manners.

Yet contrary to her wishful thinking, David immediately walked over and said with a frown, before Charles could vent his anger, "Miss Pan, I asked you to wait here for a while. It's not been a very long time. And who gave you the permission to rummage around the office of Mr. Lu?"

The photo was developed and brought here by Mr. Lu this morning. He even put it at the most conspicuous place on the office desk. Now David wanted to finish her given her blunder.

"I didn't mean to..." Paula looked at Charles with mournful eyes. But he still wore a cold face, and stared at David as he put away the photo and cleaned up the broken pieces of glass. David said to Charles, "Mr. Lu, I'll get someone to send over a new frame as soon as possible."

Charles gave no response. He didn't even give Paula a second glance, and said to David directly, "You told me the Cloud Advertising Company has sent over someone, didn't you?"

"Yes..." David frowned. When Charles walked out of the meeting room, David didn't know how to mention the subject of Autumn's resignation to Charles. So he simply told him that the Cloud Advertising Company had sent someone over.

Without further ado, Charles strode toward his office before David could tell him that Autumn had resigned.