The Seventh Miserable Bride

Chapter 193

When Yasmine and Gabriel returned to the hotel, she said in a gloomy face, "I won't stay here. You should find my replacement."

"Other than taking care of your aunt, do you actually have another reason?"

"Why must you insist that I do? Isn't there any suitable candidate at all among the thousands of people in Goldeap Corporation?"

"Madeline, this cooperation is incredibly crucial. Whether it's for me or Sebastian, if this project succeeds, we would be able to venture into the international market. The early stages of this collaboration are full of sensitive and confidential information. If I'm sending any Tom, Jack, and Harry to fill in your role, it's easy for them to get compromised and leak our secrets to our competitors. By then, all our effort will have gone to waste. Besides, I have said before, you are the only person who can truly represent my interest. No one else does a better job at that than you."

"How do you know that I won't be bought off by others? Maybe I'll be tempted if they gave me enough reason to. After all, no one in this world hates money!"

Gabriel laughed unconcernedly, "Well, if that's true, why don't you marry me? It'll be more lucrative than selling out our company's secrets. There's only a one-time payment for the latter, but if you marry me, it's basically earning yourself a limitless amount of checks. What do you think? It's a great suggestion, right?"

Yasmine turned speechless as she wondered how the conversation revolved around their relationship again. She rolled her eyes and said, "The point is, I won't consider staying here! Will you let me go if I resign?"

"If you do, I'll follow you all day long and tell the company you are in that you work for me. If you can afford to have that happen, then sure!"

"You're so despicable!"

Yasmine was already furious, and now that she was threatened by Gabriel, she could feel herself on the verge of collapsing.

"You call this despicable? Do you want me to show you what despicable really look like?"

Gabriel immediately lowered his head and attempted to kiss her, but Yasmine immediately panicked and retreated. She said helplessly, "Alright alright. I understand. However, my aunt still needs someone to take care of her."

Gabriel didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Do you only have this excuse to fall back to?"

"It's not an excuse. It's a fact."

As soon as Yasmine finished speaking, her phone rang. When she saw that it was her aunt, she answered immediately, "Hello, Aunt?"

"Yasmine, how was your business trip so far? Is everything alright?"

"Yes. Everything is alright. What about you?" "Everything is okay here too. Director Smith was so kind to send over a caretaker here, I am basically spoiled by the care I've been receiving. You don't have to worry about me, just work hard over there. It's the best way to repay Director Smith's kindness!"

"Aunt!!"

Yasmine was so shocked. She had never thought that Gabriel would make his move first and render her only defense useless.

"Well, alright then. Take care of yourself. I'm hanging up now."

"Hello? Aunt? Hello, wait a minute!"

Mindy Yard hung up before her niece was able to react. Gabriel walked up to Yasmine with a smugly and said, "So? Your only reason is already taken care of, it's time to stop resisting and give in."

Yasmine took three deep breathes to compose herself, "Fine. You're such a pain."

She started walking towards her room angrily, while Gabriel followed after her and said, "Come on, it's just two weeks. You're not going to be here forever anyway. If that was the case, I wouldn't be willing to let you stay here either!"

"Maybe I'll actually stay here for the rest of my life!"

Yasmine entered her room and slammed the door shut, leaving Gabriel outside.

The next morning, Gabriel was about to return to F City. Before he left, he sent Yasmine to Yaslor Corporation and said to Sebastian, "President Sebastian, I'll be leaving my capable special assistant in your care now. Please treat her well." Sebastian nodded calmly and said, "Sure, I will."

"I'll head back first. There are lots of matters that demand my attention on the other side. I'll come over once I'm free."

"Let me see you out."

Gabriel went beside Yasmine and whispered, "Come on, don't be mad. When this collaboration concludes, I will make sure that I make it up to you."

"Who cares about your compensation?"

Yasmine turned her head away angrily.

"Hey, since I'm already leaving, can't you just give me one last smile? I wouldn't feel at ease if I leave while you're like this."

Gabriel started to tease her, "Can't you smile? Come on, President Sebastian is watching you from aside."

Yasmine peeked at Sebastian and out of nowhere, she managed to let out the gentlest smile she ever had and said to Gabriel, "Are you satisfied now?"

Gabriel was flattered and nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, of course! I'm already melting inside."

"You should leave now."

"Well then, guess I'm leaving now. Take care!"

Sebastian had been standing at the door, calmly observing the duo's interaction from afar. His face remained calm, but his mind was stretched in all directions.

After seeing Gabriel off, Sebastian went back to his office. When he saw Yasmine sitting on the sofa, he wrestled with a gush of mixed emotions and approached her, "Come with me."

Yasmine followed him to an office on the same floor. As soon as the door opened, there were more than a dozen people seated inside. Sebastian introduced Yasmine to the crowd, "This is Miss Lorris, the representative of our partner. She will be joining you in taking charge of the product's latest development. For the next two weeks, I hope everyone can get along well and strive for greatness together."

Sebastian looked at her and said, "Please give a brief introduction about yourself."

Yasmine bowed politely and greeted, "Hello, it's my pleasure to be working alongside all of you. I'm looking forward to learning so much from this team."

Clap! Clap! Clap! The office welcomed Yasmine with a round of applause. Sebastian briefed Yasmine further, "This is our newly formed special project team. It's a team that operates outside the typical structure of our company, which is why other than you and these members who are present here, no one else is allowed into this office. Similarly, do not speak even half a word about this project to anyone outside this room." Belonging to NôvelDrama.Org.

"Got it."

Yasmine pretended to be calm and nodded.

"Then let's work. I'll come over and join in the discussion from time to time."

After Sebastian left, Yasmine took a quick glance at her new colleagues. There wasn’t anyone whom she personally knew nor was there anyone who might know of her true identity. This was definitely a good sign for her. At least, she could still complete her assigned task as Miss Madeline.

After a busy day, Leah came into the special project's office said, "Miss Lorris, President Sebastian would like to have you at his office."

Yasmine was a little flustered when she saw Leah. After all, this girl knew of her true identity.

"Okay."

She cleaned her workstation up and went to the president's office. Standing in front of Sebastian's desk, she asked indifferently, "Why did you call me here?"

"You're living in a hotel now, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"There's an apartment near our company. It's specially prepared for the representatives of our clients. You should move there."

"No, it's okay. I'll be fine staying in the hotel."

"The development of the product is still at its earliest stage. Three days from now, you will probably have to start working overtime until late at night every day. It's very inconvenient for you to stay in the hotel."

Yasmine thought for a moment and finally accepted his proposal.

The guest apartment was only five minutes away from the company, and the condition was even comparable to the hotel. After Yasmine moved in, she went to the nearby supermarket to stock up daily necessities to last her two weeks of closed-off life. She had also agreed with Sebastian's proposal because she didn't want to wander out too much and risk bumping into familiar faces.

As Sebastian had predicted, Yasmine's schedule started becoming hectic on the third day when the project was properly launched. She worked overtime till 10 o'clock that night. Everyone was exhausted, but no one dared to relax, because Sebastian was also working overtime with the team. No one dared to complain in his presence.

"Let's take a break."

Although Sebastian was a man of few words, he still treated his employees kindly. Unlike most employers, he would not force them to work as hard as a horse.

When everyone heard that they could rest, they all stood up and stretched themselves. Some took a toilet break, while others went for the water cooler. In less than a minute, everyone has left the room except Yasmine and Sebastian.

Yasmine had been lowering her head for so long as Sebastian's presence in the team had made her awkward and uncomfortable. She did not even realize that they were the only ones left until the office had completely quieted down. She was shocked and immediately stood up, prepared to march outside.

"Bring me a cup of coffee."

When she walked to the door, she suddenly heard Sebastian's hoarse voice. She peeked from her side and saw that Sebastian was still working, so she said nothing and went out. After resting for about ten minutes, everyone gradually made their way back into the office. Yasmine placed a cup of coffee in front of Sebastian and sat back in her seat.

It was another round of hectic grinding. At midnight, Sebastian finally announced, "Alright, let's wrap up for today."

"Yeah!"

A group of people stood up and cheered. The team leader of the development team joked, "President Sebastian, everyone is hungry. What should we do?"

Sebastian smiled slightly and said, "Alright, let's go. It's my treat."

"Yeah!"

There was another wave of cheering. Everyone was delighted at the news except for Yasmine.

As it was late at night, many restaurants had closed its doors. It was only after a while of searching that they came across a 24- hours restaurant. The development team leader read the menu and said, "Let's have it here. Having a bowl of hot soup in such cold weather doesn't seem like a bad idea."

"Yeah, let's go."

A group of people entered the restaurant one after another. The owner of the restaurant warmly welcomed them and introduced their specialty dishes. The leader of the development team asked Sebastian, "President Sebastian, what would you like to eat?"

"You can order whatever you like. Please feel free." Yasmine was also a little hungry as she didn't eat much for dinner. However, when the waiter served the table their orders, she could feel her appetite disappearing - it was all the food that she hated.