Standing Before Love (Myra and Sean) novel Chapter 24

“How dare you?” Elsie was livid. It was a huge blow to me when Sean brought up the news of breaking up with me that night. Initially, I wanted to salvage the relationship in the morning, but he warned me that I would have to leave the Chase Group if I do not behave myself. I do not want to leave the Chase Group at all. I still have a chance if I stay here but everything will be ruined if I leave. Furthermore, the woman who is standing in front of me is the culprit! If it weren’t for her, why would Sean accuse me of not making a clear distinction between work and my personal matters before breaking up with me? Elsie gritted her teeth in anger. Myra’s phone rang at that moment, so she looked away from Elsie to answer the call. It so happened that the phone call was from Logan. He sounded very polite and he spoke with Myra respectfully. “Miss Stark, may I know if you are free after three today?” Elsie commented sarcastically, “He is even phoning you now, but you have the audacity to claim that there’s nothing going on between you two.” Myra ignored her while speaking courteously into the phone, “Yes; I am. Is it about the design draft?” “It is. Director Hart mentioned that since there’s some issues with the Reid Group, he wants to discuss with the people in charge of the design drafts from the Chase and Hay Groups.” Tony is the one showing up for the discussion… Myra thought and she paused before answering, “Sure. I’ll be at the Hart Group at three.” “Don’t worry.” Logan must have sensed Myra’s stiffness because he chuckled good-naturedly. “It is a mere formality from Director Hart’s end to say a few words. Miss Stark, please don’t feel pressured.” Myra could tell that Logan was being reassuring, so she breathed out a sigh of relief. “Alright.” “Are you going to the Hart Group later?” Elsie asked hastily once Myra hung up. Without waiting for a response, Elsie snorted in disdain. “I heard it this time and I do not need you to inform me. I’ll go to the Hart Group with you at three!” Myra scowled in response. I’ve invested a lot of effort in the Sunny Bay Project and I don’t want to jeopardize it due to the sudden mistakes of a certain someone. However, Elsie is also one of the people in charge of the project this time, so I do not have the right to exclude her. And so, Myra and Elsie arrived outside of the Hart Group at two forty in the afternoon. Staff members from the Hart Group’s Project Department led them directly to the 48th floor that housed the Hart Group Director’s Office. The front area of this floor was the secretaries' workplace, where more than ten secretaries could be seen attending to their affairs in an orderly manner. A trace of greed flashed through Elsie’s eyes. “Well, I told you that the Hart Group is the largest company in Bradfort City. In fact, you can tell by just looking at this floor. The Chase Group might be large but we are not on par with them. I heard that Director Hart is handsome, rich and capable; the most important thing is that he is loyal. If one were to succeed in becoming his woman, I’m sure that she would be the happiest woman in Bradfort City.” Myra couldn’t help but smirk when she heard what Elsie was hinting at. She has just broken up with Sean but she’s already thinking of ways to get together with another man. Does she actually like them or is she only interested in their money? Soon, the person in charge from the Hay Group arrived too. As Myra expected, Sasha was in the lead and the person behind her was most probably the Hay Group’s designer. Sasha was slightly embarrassed when she saw Myra but she composed herself swiftly. She approached Myra to tug on her arm in a friendly way. “Myra, this is such a coincidence. We just had lunch today. Who would have expected us to meet again in the afternoon?” Myra smiled while discreetly pulling her hand away. “Yeah.” Her response made them look like strangers. Nevertheless, Sasha did not take her distant behavior to heart. “Myra, Mr. Logan sang your praises just now; he thinks highly of your design. He is the manager of the Hart Group’s Project Department and it seems that your design is great. The Hay Group would like to learn from you if there’s a chance.” Logan was standing off to one side while instructing his assistant to serve coffee for the four guests. Upon hearing Sasha’s comment, he smiled faintly. “Miss Hay, you must be pulling my leg. I am merely Director Hart’s subordinate. It all depends on him—something is only considered good if Director Hart says that it’s good.” On the surface, Logan seemed to be avoiding the limelight but in reality, everybody could tell that he was implying that Director Hart thought Myra’s design was good. Sasha’s smile froze and it so happened that Logan took a glass from his assistant to serve it to Myra. “Miss Stark, a glass of lemon water.” Apart from Myra’s glass of lemon water, the other three had identical coffees. Myra was bewildered but she did not overthink the situation; instead, she had a sip straight away. Nevertheless, Elsie’s expression darkened and she commented sarcastically in a quiet voice, “I’d like to see you weasel your way out of this!” Meanwhile, Sasha glanced at her cup of coffee but she did not say anything. Soon, Tony came out of the conference room. He was tall and well-built, his handsome face void of emotion. There were dozens of men wearing suits and leather shoes following him from behind. The atmosphere wasn’t grave but it wasn’t a relaxed one either. Everyone seemed to be discussing something in hushed tones. The lot of them left for the elevator since they saw that Tony still had matters to attend to. Tony seemed calm when he glanced at Myra and the group of people. He signaled at Leo before walking toward another conference room. He had taken off his suit jacket, and his necktie was probably too tight for comfort because he had loosened that too. His white shirt accentuated his perfect figure and proportion. Tony did not have an overpowering aura, but he had an air of cold and detached indifference to ward off strangers. Myra was about to stand up when Elsie snatched the folder away from her hands. “You were the one who presented the last few times, so I should be the one doing it this time,” she stated arrogantly. Then, without waiting for Myra’s reply, Elsie carried the folder and followed Tony into the conference room. Myra’s gaze reflected her complicated feeling in that instant. The matter of discussion this time was mainly on the Reid Group’s plagiarism and the Hart Group’s punishment for said plagiarism. They also wanted to re-check the design drafts from the Chase and Hay Groups. Without waiting for the Hay Group, Elsie stood up hurriedly. Her hip-hugging workwear flaunted her perfect figure and she was smiling charmingly. “Director Hart, I am Elsie Foster, the Leader of Team B from Chase Group’s Design Department. This is the Chase Group’s design draft.” Her voice was especially melodious. She was holding onto the design—which she snatched away from Myra earlier—while swaying her hips as she made her way to the head of the table where Tony sat. “Director Hart, you can rest assured because the Chase Group will never commit plagiarism. Miss Stark and I worked hard to produce this design, and I can guarantee that with my honor.” Elsie stared at the man in front of her directly and her voice sounded sweet. When she placed the design in front of Tony, she brushed against his arm consciously, as though afraid that she wasn’t being obvious enough. Myra immediately scowled deeply; she could feel the disgusted gaze from the Hay Group’s designer boring down on her. Myra was starting to regret allowing Elsie tag along to the Hart Group. Tony was still wearing a blank expression. However, when he saw Myra’s scowl, he immediately suppressed the bubbling disgust and annoyance within his chest. Instead, he accepted the draft while discreetly avoiding contact with Elsie. Seeing as Tony did not push her away, Elsie’s eyes flashed with triumph. Then, she glanced at Myra defiantly. Myra glanced at Tony in silence. I wonder if he hasn’t noticed Elsie’s intentions or he is pretending to be oblivious despite being aware of it. Myra could not help but feel irritated, so she turned away to look at the Hay Group. Meanwhile, Sasha had stood up already and she handed her draft to Tony. Contrary to Elsie’s bold and unconstrained moves, Sasha handed the draft over respectfully. However, Myra also noticed Sasha’s love and admiration toward Tony was reflected in her eyes.