Chapter 5 Why Are You Here Again

The meeting lasted until noon. The participating companies would have to wait for a week for the results.

"Lucia, what are our chances of winning exactly?" Chester asked shyly. He felt really anxious after seeing how intense the competition was.

"God knows! I can't really say right now. Anyway, we've given it our best shot. Let's go for lunch." Lucia did not care about the results because she had already done the best she could.

"Yes, Lucia is right. We have done our best," Hayes comforted Chester.

Actually, Meade was the oldest one in the team. He was thirty years old. However, he did not say anything to comfort Chester. Since the other participants seemed quite talented, he understood that there would always be someone who was better than them. In fact, he was not confident about winning the project at all. Winning the project was also dependent on luck. But since the other companies that participated were just as strong as they were, it did not really matter to him. Even if they did not win, it would at least not be an embarrassing defeat.

"Let's have fun tonight. I was so nervous just now," Meade blurted out.

The others did not say anything, which only meant that they all agreed with him. After having a casual lunch at a restaurant near the Evans Group building, they all went back to the Domain Media office. They would give a report on the meeting today and assess their chances of success. Regardless of the results, there would be a review meeting held to evaluate their performance and highlight their mistakes.

In the CEO's office of Evans Group

"Sir, here is the information that you requested for." After saying that, Bob handed a file to Malcolm.

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

He looked at the file, which only had a few pages in it, and frowned in surprise. 'Was it a coincidence?' he thought. Holding the document in one hand while supporting his chin with the other hand, Malcolm leaned against his seat, lost in thought.

"Malcolm..." Enoch, Malcolm's brother, walked into his office without even knocking on his door.

"Your manners are getting worse by the day." Malcolm frowned at him.

"If you still haven't finished the job, I give you my word you will be dead." Malcolm smiled faintly, but there was something unreal about his smile.

"Malcolm, please, don't be so cruel to me," Enoch said weakly. He did not doubt a word that Malcolm had said to him.

"A traitor has divulged the company's bid price. Fortunately, it was found out right before the bidding started, and the price was changed, so we did not go through a major loss," Enoch said with a serious look.

Evans Group had been bidding for a project in Switzerland, and they were one hundred percent confident about winning the bid. However, only a handful of the senior executives knew what the bid price was, and they were all closely related to the Evans. The night before the bidding event, Enoch had checked the document and accidentally found that the documents had been moved. Hence, to be on the safer side, he had changed the bid price.

The next day, the competing company's bid was just a little lower than Evans Group's previous bid price at the bidding event. And when the bidding price of Evans Group had been announced, the competing company's representative had been obviously shocked.

"Why is he that impatient? Can't he wait for just a little while longer?" Malcolm asked with a cold expression. He remained calm except for the faint smile on his lips.

"Malcolm, what are your thoughts on this?" Enoch asked curiously. Although Malcolm was his own brother, sometimes even he could not understand what Malcolm was thinking.

Malcolm was the kind of man who liked to torture his enemies slowly until they died from fear. Before that, he would allow them to play their tricks for as long as they wanted to without interfering. His enemies often never realized that he had been watching their every move.

"Let's see what other tricks he's got up his sleeve. I'll ask Bob to transfer all the documents that you need to get signed. I won't be here this afternoon, so I would like you to sign them on behalf of me." With that, Malcolm stood up, picked up his suit jacket, and was about to leave.

"What? Oh no..." Enoch let out a cry.

"Yes, exactly." Malcolm gave an affirmative answer. But his smile was rather annoying.

It would take a long time to read and sign those documents. Enoch obviously knew that his brother was punishing him, because he had allowed someone else to tamper with the bidding document. But then, he was more curious to know why his brother, who was a workaholic, would leave his work behind.

"What? You're curious? I guess it's fine if I tell you. I am actually going to meet your future sister-in-law," Malcolm said flatly as he knew exactly what was on Enoch's mind. He then turned around, and left.

"What? Are you serious? Really? She's finally appeared?" Enoch's jaw dropped when he realized what his brother had just told him.

Not long after Malcolm left, Bob came in.

"Sir, these are the documents that need to be signed and confirmed today, so please have a good look at them," Bob said in a cold voice as he dropped a pile of documents on his desk.

"Hey Bob, do you have that evil smile all the time because you've spent so much time working with my brother? By the way, you are really efficient," Enoch exclaimed, glaring at Bob.

"Well, do you at least know who that woman is?" He suddenly thought of something and looked at Bob with bright eyes expectantly.

"I'm sorry, sir. I am the CEO's assistant, not his butler! So I don't know anything about his personal affairs. However, he informed me that you can work in his office because he did not want the documents to be moved back and forth." Bob's voice was slow, but clear. He did not want to fuel Enoch's curiosity at all.

"Huh? Fine, go on with your work." Enoch was really annoyed and snorted.

At Domain Media.

As soon as Lucia and her teammates returned, they had to sit through a review meeting to evaluate their performance. In the past, they would always reach at a similar conclusion at the end of the meeting. But now, they all seemed quite uncertain while Lloyd was unusually silent.

In terms of their qualifications, they were still inferior to the larger international companies. However, in terms of strength, execution, and planning, they were obviously better. But they still lacked experience in international promotions. Considering Evans Group's comprehensive evaluation methods, they were almost certain that they would not win the project.

"Why are you all thinking so much about this? Like Lucia said, we've all done our best, so there is no point in thinking about it or worrying about it now." Meade shrugged and put his feet on the desk.

"Lucia, tonight we'll go to a bar. It's been a really long time since we've all had a drink together," Hayes suggested.

'A bar?'

Thinking about the bar, Lucia suddenly remembered her weekend in Starry Night. Her face turned red from embarrassment at once. She would normally agree almost instantly to such suggestions. Besides, after every meeting when they would all be drained of ideas, they would kill time at a bar to lighten the mood. They would not go to a bar solely to drink; they would do it because they wanted to have fun. They found it rather amusing to watch and tease the couples that were being intimate at bars.

"Wow, Lucia, your cheeks are seriously flushed! Did you do something naughty at a bar?" Meade asked, carefully observing her expression.

"Fuck off! What the hell are you even talking about? Where do you guys want to go?" Lucia casually asked, pushing away the memories of that night in Starry Night.

"Our usual place. Is there even a better place than Angelbaby in Strinas?" Hayes asked, looking at Lucia in a daze.

"All right, then. I'll get a cab for tonight. We're still going at 9:00?" Lucia asked as she glanced at her watch.

"Yes! See you tonight. I am going to coax my girlfriend now. I have been too busy with work for the past two months. I never had a chance to be with her, so if I don't comfort her now, she will definitely dump me!" With that, Hayes left.

The others burst into laughter.

That night, there were neon lights flashing everywhere in the city while people drank and feasted. People wore heavy makeup to conceal themselves well, revealing only their dark, seductive side to the world. A man who seemed like a gentleman was actually just a wolf in sheep's clothing. And a woman who was conservative during the day would shed her morals at night and become seductive.

That was the nightlife in Strinas. It was the way that white-collar employees, who worked hard during the day, unwound at night.

After walking into the bar, Lucia and her colleagues ordered drinks and snacks as they talked about everything else except for work. A while later, Chester spotted a hot girl on the dance floor and went to dance with her.

"I need to go to the bathroom, but you guys have fun." Saying that, Lucia stood up and walked to the restroom.

She had a lot of beer without even realizing that she was drinking too fast. So she was feeling a bit uncomfortable now. Her head was starting to feel a bit light. Since she had felt nervous all day long, the alcohol caused her tiredness to surface.

In the washroom, she stood in front of the mirror that was above the sink. She had a crazy Saturday, had overthought on Sunday, and on Monday, she was extremely nervous. That caused her to have dark circles around her eyes, which she could not even conceal with makeup. 'Fuck! I shouldn't have come here! I should have just gone home and slept. If this continues, I will look like a 36-year-old in just a few weeks!'

"Who do we have here? Looks like it is Lucia, an old woman who got dumped. It sure is hard to live without a man, right?"

Lucia heard a woman's sharp and sarcastic voice coming from behind her. She then looked in the mirror to see who it was. She was too lazy to even retort, so she turned around and was about to leave. However, things didn't go as she planned as the woman stepped out of the washroom and stopped her from leaving.

"Mina, are you seriously not done yet?" Lucia asked as she looked at Mina coldly, stopping in her tracks.

"What did I do? I just want to have a good look at you, a dumped woman. Oh, poor Lucia. Look, your hair is all messed up. Are you embarrassed now? You're so ugly and old, it is no wonder that Jonah did not want you!" Mina said with a sarcastic smile.

"What I am is of no concern to you, Mina! You'd better keep an eye on your man or you might end up being dumped, too." Lucia raised her eyebrows at her and sneered.

"Huh? You really think that I would be as pathetic as you? My father owns Gomez Properties. Even after all these years, you still don't own a house, right? Are you still living in that rented house in the slum area? You're abandoned by your parents. No man would ever want to marry someone like you. Jonah was so blind that he fell for your seduction back then. But no matter how slutty you were with him, he still did not want to touch your filthy body. That must have made you very sad, right?" Mina hissed, every word she said pierced Lucia's heart like a sharp rusty 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 will definitely lose, ' she thought. Pinching her palm hard, 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.

"You guys carry on, I am leaving." After taking a look at Jonah, Lucia walked away. She could not bear to stay there for another moment because she would rather die than to see them both together. She must have been blind to have fallen in love with a man like Jonah back then.

She thought that she had moved on, but that was not the case. Even the slightest amount of provocation still hurt her. Perhaps, she was unwilling to let go of him. Perhaps, she could not forget Jonah, her first love. Or perhaps, she hated him from the depths of her heart. Lucia could not tell how exactly she felt about him.

"Don't go, Lucia. Wouldn't you like to see how much Jonah loves me?" Obviously, Mina did not want to let Lucia walk away so easily.

"Don't push your luck, Mina!" Lucia roared coldly as she clenched her fists.