When Love Is a Lie (Whitney and Damian) novel Chapter 129

Project 

Whitney’s prolonged il lett the entire room staring at her in confusion. 

Noel glanced up from the project documents. Before him, Whitney’s face was pale, and her expression was clouded with confusion. 

Merilted slightly in glance at her laptop serren, finding it completely black 

Someone whispered, “Her laptop’s not even working 

At that moment, Amy stood up and walked over to check Whitney’s screen. Upon seeing the blink screen, her expression tumed stem. “You knew how important this meeting was. How could you be so imprepared? 

Amy sonlded sharply before timing to Noel. “Mr. Howant, tapologize for wasting everyone’s time today. Whitney can’t present, so this meeting can’t proceed. I’ll Take her hack and report this incident to the higher–ups. She should be dis 

Whitney quickly defended herselt, “I did have a backup, but it looks like my 15 drive was invaded with a virus? 

The moment she placed in the USB drive, her laptop screen went black. It was clear that the drive had introduced a vins that invaded her laptop’s operating system. Not only washes Laptop rendered useless, but all the data on the USB drive had been completely wiped. 

“That’s your personal USD drive, right? It’s been in your bag the entire time. As you can are, no one here even touched your things,” someone pointed out. 

Whitney’s words implied that she believed someone had sabotaged lin 

1er sad it was anyone here, not have accused anyone” she replied, her cold gaze meeting the other person’s directly 

Amy tapped her watch, her initation growing. “Whitney, we’ve best waiting for you far too long. First, your file went missing. Now, your backup failed. Do you realize how important this project is for both companies?” 

est that Whitney be 

She tumed to Noel, her demeanor professional but im “Even though she’s muistant, I won’t cover for her. Mr. Howard, I strongly suggesti removed from this project.“. 

All eyes turned to Noel 

Seated at an angle, he rested one arm on the table and lightly tapped his fingers on the surface. His penetrating gaze landed on Whitney as he assessed i 

Seeing that Noel wasn’t immediately defending Whitney, a subtle smirkcrept onto Amy’s face. 

“Mr. Howard, 1 hamrat finished speaking,” Whitney said firmly, locking eyes with him. 

“Go ahead.” he replied, his voice calm and measured.. 

“May I use your laptop?” ater request was polite, almost deferential. It was an acknowledgment of the workplace hierarchy and Noel’s position of authority. 

Amy was sturned, her mind racing. “What? Did she just ask to use Noel’s laptop?” 

That was Noel’s personal laptop, 

Amy clenched her teeth in frustration. Despite years of collaboration and familiarity with Noel, she had never so much as touched his pen 

Without hesitation, Noel pushed his laptop over to her. Whitney nodded in thanks and focused intently on her task. 

Her file was gone, her USB drive was niined by a vines, and her laptop was bricked. She could only borrow Noel’s laptop. 

The room buzzed with muted curiosity. “Whiney, just stop embarrass-” Amy began, but her woods faltered mid–sentence. 

The projector screen suddenly lit up. 

Displayed on the screen was a stunning design rendering, where every line was perfectly placed to outline the structure’s form and elegance. It resembled a masterpiece crafted by an artist with an unmatched eye for detail. 

But it wasn’t just the lines that captivated the room, the color palette was extraordinary too. Lush greens infused the design, bringing it to life. The hospital’s main building stood at the center, surrounded by thoughtfully placed features–acate, a boolestoce, a garden, test areas, and achildren’s play area. 

Everyone in the room was stunned. 

Noal’s gaze remained fixed on the projector screen, his deep eyes reflecting a sharp glimmer of intrigue. 

Then, Whitney’s composed and confident voice reached his ears. “I understand how critical the designs. That’s why, in addition to saving it on my USB driw, I uploaded a backup to the cloud. 

That was why she had asked to Noel’s lap 

slaptop. 

“then your work?” someone asked, their tone filled with disbelief. 

Such plans not only required a solid foundation but also extensive design experience. This design could easily win a grand prize in a competition 

Whitney glanced at those who had doubted her. She then walked over to her seat, took out a sketchbook from her bag, opened it, and presented it to the group