Callie sighed in relief, but she was also curious about where Nelson headed.
But then she shook her head, and reminded herself that his whereabouts was none of her business. He was just her nominal husband.
…
The next morning, to avoid an awkward encounter with Nelson, Callie got up extra early and went to the office. But then she ran into Mr. Montes instead.
“Good morning, Mr. Montes,” she greeted him with a smile.
“Morning.”
He nodded, looked her up and down and said, “Come with me tonight to a dinner meeting. Dress nicely. We’ll meet business partners, and we can’t be remiss.”
Callie was surprised. “Me?”
“Who else then?” Mr. Montes suddenly became impatient. “It’s just a dinner. If you don’t want to, then don’t work here anymore!”
Callie hesitated.
She didn’t really want to attend company dinners, but if she said no…
She looked at the expression on Mr. Montes’ face, and thought to herself, ‘No big deal. It’s just a dinner.’
“Okay, I’ll be there on time.”
Mr. Montes’s expression finally softened. “Good. I’ll send you the address later. Don’t be late.”
With that, he went back to his office.
Callie let out a sign, went to her desk and turned on the computer, only to find the screen flashing with green light-clearly infected with a virus.
She panicked.
The files for her food packaging design were on that computer. If the system crashed, she was doomed.
“I can’t be this unlucky! I didn’t even back up the files!” Callie muttered as she called the IT department for help, not knowing what else to do.
Just then, Mr. Montes’ voice came from his office, “Callie! Bring me the packaging design draft, now!”
“Okay…” Callie froze.
It seemed even God didn’t want to take it easy on her.
She entered the office anxiously, and said in a soft voice, “Mr. Montes, my computer broke down. The design drafts…” Before she could finish, someone stepped in front of her and handed some design drafts to Mr. Montes.
“Mr. Montes, these are my designs, and I printed them out for you. If you like them, we can use mine.”
She discreetly glanced at this person, and it was none other than Lorelai.
Then she took a look at the design drafts, they were identical to her own own!
It weren’t Lorelai’s works, it was blatant plagiarism.
Just when Callie about to speak, Lorelai turned around and lifted her chin arrogantly.
“Callie, if you didn’t finish your work, just say so. Don’t blame it on a broken computer. It’s just an excuse for you being lazy!”
Callie clenched her fists, her voice firm. “Well then, let me ask you this, why do your designs look exactly like mine?”
“Exactly the same? Interesting! Are you accusing me of plagiarism? Where’s your proof? Without evidence, you’re just slandering me!”
Anger burned inside Callie, but she knew now wasn’t the time to lash out.
Firstly, there’s no evidence to prove it was Lorelai who did it. Secondly, with all her design drafts gone, she had no way to prove the design is hers.
Lorelai must have planned this all along.
When Callie first joined the company, Lorelai had targeted her at every turn, but Callie never thought her would stoop so low.
Callie’s eyes were filled with determination. “You may be swaggering now, but sooner or later you’ll pay for what you did. As for the proof, I will find it!”