Three Years Forgotten, Why Go Crazy When I Say Goodbye? novel Chapter 120

In his office, Julian was reviewing project files when he stumbled upon a photo that gave him pause. Willow was in it.

It was a picture taken at a company retreat a while back. She had just joined Sinclair Group then. She looked inexperienced, her styling lacking sophistication. Yet, even in a sea of faces, she stood out effortlessly, her luminous skin and striking features commanding attention.

Julian thought back to the last time he had seen her. It had only been a glimpse of her back, but it was enough to see that she had nearly returned to the stunning version of herself in this photo.

A suffocating knot formed in his chest. It had been nearly a week since Willow left the firm, yet she hadn't come crying back to him, begging for forgiveness. Instead, she had blocked him completely.

Julian lit a cigarette and walked over to the window, scoffing at the thought that she was playing a dangerous game and was bound to get burned.

A knock sounded at the door. He crushed his cigarette out. "Come in."

Vivienne had walked in fully prepared to put on a performance. Her plan was to play the victim, turn on the tears, and act sweet—a foolproof strategy that usually brought Julian to his knees and guaranteed he'd fix her project issues instantly.

But the moment she walked in, she saw the blown-up photo on Julian's monitor. Worse, his cursor was hovering right over Willow's face. Her chest tightened, alarm bells screaming in her head.

Even she had to admit Willow looked gorgeous in that photo. And based on what she had seen recently, Willow's weight-loss journey was working; she was going to end up looking even better than she did in that picture.

"Julian," she said tentatively, pointing at the monitor. "When was this taken?"

That was exactly why she had come to him. Since he had handed her the perfect opening, she took it. "It's stressful, sure, but not because the project is hard. You know this is my exact field of expertise. Throwing together a pitch deck is a piece of cake for me. What's really stressing me out is the team Willow left behind."

Julian frowned. "Why? Are they defying your orders?"

"Defying orders is putting it mildly. They're just..." Vivienne trailed off intentionally, letting a few calculated tears slide down her cheeks. "They have zero respect for me, and they couldn't care less about the project. They have absolutely no discipline. I have no idea why Willow hired people like that. And worst of all, they said this company only survived because of Willow, and without her, Sinclair Group is going to collapse."

She knew exactly which buttons to push to trigger Julian's ego, deliberately hitting him where it hurt the most.