Chapter 5

Days kept rolling by, and I was busy learning the ropes of business from Arthur.

The project with Alexander was moving along smoothly.

Alexander might be sharp-tongued and a pain to deal with, but he was insanely efficient.

Working with him was actually pretty hassle-free, as long as you could keep up with his pace.

Every now and then, when I had a bit of downtime, I'd catch some gossip about Ryan from other people. I listened for the drama.

Word was, things hadn't been going well for him lately.

His sales job was brutal, tons of pressure, strict reviews. And he was so awkward and closed-off, clients didn't like him. He was always dead last, getting yelled at by his boss every single day.

Emily wasn't making things any easier.

Apparently, their landlord was jacking up the rent, and with their meager salaries, there was no way they could afford it. So, they ended up fighting again.

In a huff, Emily stormed off to her parents' place. Her folks didn't have much money either, but at least she didn't have to pay rent there.

Ryan was left with no choice but to swallow his pride and beg for a loan, only to get shot down everywhere he went.

When I heard all this, I was sitting at my computer, checking reports. Honestly, I felt nothing, if anything, I almost found it funny.

Turns out, even so-called true love falls apart pretty easily when faced with a few hundred dollars in rent.

That afternoon, I was sitting down with David Lewis, one of Arthur's old-timers from the marketing department, going over a new brand launch plan.

David was a veteran in the industry, with tons of experience. But sometimes his thinking was a bit stuck in the past.

Drawing on some vague memories of marketing cases from my previous life, I threw out a pretty bold idea for an online campaign.

David frowned, waving his hand as if to shut it down. "Miss Evans, this is too risky. The investment's huge, and there's no telling if it'll pay off. No, no, absolutely not."

As I was about to try and convince him, my phone rang.

It was an unknown number.

I signaled to David to wait a moment and stepped aside to answer. "Hello?"

There was a pause, and then Ryan's voice came through, hoarse and a little awkward. "Uh, Charlotte?"

Wait, was that Ryan's voice?

What was he doing calling me? We've hardly ever talked, not in this lifetime.

"Yeah, it's me," I said, keeping my voice cold. "So, what do you need?"

He paused again, like the words were stuck in his throat. He was practically out of breath, and the noise behind him was loud and messy, definitely sounded like he was out on the street.

Ryan hesitated for ages, then suddenly rushed out the words, like he'd finally forced himself to say it. "I...

"Something urgent came up, and I really need some cash to get by. Not much, five thousand dollars. I'll pay you back next month when I get paid, I promise."

Wait, what?

I almost thought I'd misheard.

This was Ryan. He had always acted too proud to beg and would rather starve than ask for help. And here he was, actually asking me for cash?

And all because of the disaster left behind by his so-called pure love?

I could practically picture his face right now, humiliation written all over it, but forced to swallow his pride and bow to reality.

I was secretly amused, but pretended to be surprised. "Wow, talk about bad timing. I'm actually pretty strapped myself, invested everything I had into a project, so all my cash is locked up right now."

And honestly, that was true. I really had put every bit of pocket money I'd saved up into that little company I had my eye on.

Ryan's breath caught on the other end. He clearly hadn't expected me to turn him down so fast.

He probably thought that, because we'd once been acquainted, I'd at least hesitate, or maybe ask what was going on.

But I wasn't about to give him that satisfaction.

"Oh, right," I added, sounding all casual, "why don't you talk to Emily about it? You two are so close. When she's in trouble, you're always there for her. So when you're in a bind, she'll definitely find a way to help you out, right?"

That line hit him right where it hurt, and I could almost see him flinch on the other end.

There was nothing but dead silence on the other end.

All I could hear was his suppressed, heavy breathing.

After what felt like forever, he finally managed to squeeze out, "Sorry to bother you."

Then, with a sharp click, the line went dead.

I stared at the dark screen and snorted in amusement.

Seriously? He was already falling apart? This was the warm-up.

I put my phone away and headed back to the conference room. David was still fussing. "Miss Evans, this plan is too much of a gamble."

I dragged my chair out and sat down, locking eyes with him. "Mr. Lewis, the market's changed. Playing it safe is actually the biggest risk these days. I believe in this plan, and if it blows up, I'll take full responsibility."

David looked at me, a bit stunned by how firm I was all of a sudden.

Thinking back to that call, my voice was steady as ever. "Or are you saying Evans Holdings doesn't even have the guts to try and fail anymore?"

David opened his mouth, then sighed. "Alright, we'll try it your way, Miss Evans."

See that, Ryan?

Without you, I was not only doing better. I was calling the shots now, and people were actually listening to me.

Your little mess was not even worth a blip on my radar at work.

So go ahead, keep clinging to your precious Emily in that swamp you call home.

Don't count on that warmth lasting much longer.