The Wife He Forgot to Marry (Winona and Yule) novel Chapter 595

Because Giselle was completely zoned out at work, she accidentally deleted a batch of raw data that had just been uploaded to the database before it could be backed up.

An entire week of the team's grueling effort was instantly wiped out.

Dean Ziegler called her into his office. Seeing the dark, heavy bags under her eyes, he knew immediately she hadn't been burning the midnight oil for the project; she had been out partying all night.

He genuinely couldn't understand how Giselle had spiraled into this.

While the old Giselle had never been the prodigious genius Winona was, she was highly competent, had a stellar work ethic, and was a great team player.

He gave her a harsh dressing-down, but Giselle stood there looking completely unbothered.

Left with no other options, Ziegler dismissed her.

Then, he called Zack Charlton into his office.

Right now, Zack was the only one holding the team together. Ziegler thanked his lucky stars he had recruited him when he did.

The moment Zack stepped in, he couldn't hold back his frustration.

"...Professor Ziegler, someone like her has absolutely no right being a project lead. If only Winona could replace her. Winona has ten times her talent."

Ziegler let him vent before offering a few soothing words.

Then, his expression turned grave. "I know how difficult this is for all of you, but Mr. Scully is our primary investor. We can't afford to offend Giselle, or the entire project will lose its funding, and all your hard work will be for nothing.

"As for Giselle, we'll let her keep the title of project lead in name only. Moving forward, do not send her any core data or confidential information.

"I’ll reassign her to handle external communications and PR. I won't allow her back into the lab to interfere with your work. Just bite your tongues and endure it a little longer. In three months, we might just be able to get rid of our little mascot."

Zack nodded, though he looked deeply dissatisfied. "Understood. But I still say her mere presence is a massive liability. If she stays at the institute, I'm refusing to participate in any future projects she's assigned to."

Ziegler let out a heavy sigh.

Dealing with the diva that was Giselle Reed had doubled his stress levels this month. He felt like he had aged a decade in a matter of weeks.

It took a full week for Giselle to finally realize she had been completely stripped of her authority.

Her daily tasks now consisted solely of networking and PR; she had zero involvement in the actual research.

Furthermore, the updates the team sent her were heavily redacted summaries devoid of any real data.

She would have to be an absolute idiot not to see what was happening.

Clearly, Dean Ziegler was furious with her and was icing her out on purpose.

But despite her irritation, Giselle didn't go kicking his door down to demand answers.

Honestly, her job had just become incredibly easy, leaving her with plenty of free time to go out and socialize.

And with Sylvan Scully backing her, Ziegler didn't have the guts to fire her.

Giselle soaked up the shameless flattery from the wealthy mothers.

Back when she was dating her broke ex-boyfriends, their mothers had treated her like absolute dirt.

Now, she was the ultimate prize being fought over by high society. Wealth and status really were the cure to everything.

Once the women finally left, Willow pulled out a velvet box. "Giselle, you did such a massive favor for Locke Group, but my son is too dense to show proper gratitude. I bought you this ruby set. I hope you like it."

When Winona had joined the family, Willow had given her a slightly worn, secondhand bracelet.

When Tallulah had joined the family, she received a thoroughly average jade set.

But for Giselle, Willow was sparing no expense, regularly showering her with gifts in the six-figure range.

Because she wholeheartedly believed Giselle would bring astronomical returns to the Locke family.

Giselle thanked her and accepted the jewels without a second thought.

She knew exactly what these people wanted from her.

If they were going to throw free money at her, she’d be stupid not to take it.

*

Winona practically lived in the lab for three days straight, rarely getting home before 2:00 AM.