The secretary quickly glanced outside. “Don’t let Mr. Oconnor hear that.”
The other person immediately fell silent, then cautiously asked, “I still don’t understand. What did Cora do? Why is Mr. Oconnor treating her like this?”
Everyone had noticed the close collaboration between Cora and Nelson. They couldn’t understand why she was suddenly sidelined. To put it nicely, she was sidelined; in reality, she was close to being fired.
“I don’t know. It’s better not to ask about these things.”
Jaquan brought Callie back to the tea room. The owner, seeing him return with a woman, looked intrigued. “Mr. Scott, what’s this about?”
“Another pot of green tea, please.”
He glanced at Callie. “Alright.”
In the antique-style private room, they could see the bustling street outside. Callie was distracted. “Why did you bring me here? I want to go back to Oconnor Group.”
“To check the surveillance?” Jaquan poured her a cup of steaming tea.
“Yes.” She looked at him.
“You suspect an insider.”
“Only an insider could get my drafts.”
“If it’s an insider, they could also erase the surveillance footage. Do you think going back now will help?” Jaquan’s calm rebuttal stopped Callie’s thoughts in their tracks.
He was right; the surveillance footage would likely show nothing.
Callie calmed down and thought about who in the design department might dislike her. There were a few minor disputes, but only Litzy knew she was participating in the Golden Bund Award.
She opened her phone to check the public reaction but found no discussions about it.
Callie frowned and refreshed the page again but still saw nothing.
“Give me your phone.”
Jaquan handed her his phone.
Callie repeated the steps but still saw nothing.
“The trending topic is gone,” she said in surprise.
“Those comments threatened Oconnor Group, so PR handled it,” Jaquan explained. “It means Oconnor Group still wants to protect you.” He watched her reaction closely.
Callie was smart. If Oconnor Group hadn’t intervened, she might have been clueless. But now she realized that Nelson’s insistence on covering for her wasn’t just to protect her from attacks but to prevent the mastermind from being found out.
Her phone vibrated with several messages popping up.
-Tomorrow is prison visit day. Are you going?
-Bring some summer clothes for your father; it’s getting warmer.
Callie glanced at the messages and realized they were on Jaquan’s phone. She handed it back to him, surprised.
“Sorry.”
Jaquan glanced at it nonchalantly. “When we met in the southern city, I was visiting someone in prison.”
Callie frowned, finally understanding why Nelson had said it was about time.
“Your father?”
“Yes, twenty years.”
Twenty years was a long time. Callie took a sip of tea to calm her nerves. “A criminal case?”
“Charged with economic fraud.” Jaquan played with his phone, his eyes deep and thoughtful.
Economic fraud. Such cases were complex, especially for someone wealthy; once convicted, there was no turning back.
Callie didn’t ask further. She rested her chin on her hand. “Jaquan, is this why you’re against Nelson?”
He looked surprised and studied her seriously. “Do you know the whole story?”