Chapter 419 Are You Playing with Me?
Layla glanced towards the CEO's office. Brian's brows were furrowed, and displeasure was written all over his face, exuding a heavy aura of frustration.
Even from several meters away, Layla could feel the cold air surrounding Brian.
Layla thought, ‘he must be mad at me.’ But from last night until now, her mind had been preoccupied with worrying about Samuel being upset. She hadn't thought about Brian at all, not even a little. If Luna hadn't mentioned him, she wouldn't have remembered him at all.
But now that she did, Layla still didn't feel like worrying about it. Her thoughts were completely consumed by Samuel.
"You, you better not look. Mr. Evans will know I'm talking about him." Luna quickly reminded her. "I'm just trying to help you avoid trouble."
"It's fine," Layla responded calmly, "Just focus on work."
Saying that, she picked up the second draft of the design and walked into the office.
"Mr. Evans, this is the second draft. Please take a look," she said, handing it over.
"Revise it." Brian's rejection was firm and cold.
He didn't even glance at it.
He probably didn't even look at it.
But Layla wasn't sure. She quietly acknowledged and left the office.
Distracted, she didn't notice the dissatisfied eyes following her.
Brian gripped his pen tightly, his face tense.
Staring at the design, Layla was lost in thought, unsure how to revise it. Her mind wasn't on the task at all.
Every two minutes, she nervously checked her phone. From morning until now, the six messages she sent had gone unanswered.
Samuel must have seen them but didn't want to reply.
Thinking back, it was always her who had arguments with him. He rarely got upset. It was only the second day, and she already felt like she was being eaten alive by anxiety. She sent another smiley face emoji, then put her phone aside to distract herself and continued drawing.
For over an hour, she kept glancing at her phone, but the screen remained dark.
Layla took the revised design to Brian, but his response was still a cold "Revise it."
Brian seemed to have reverted to his early days at the company, serious and unsmiling, but even colder than before.
That day, Layla was busy checking her phone and revising the design. She checked her phone countless times, only to find spam messages or messages from others, leaving her disappointed each time.
At three in the afternoon, when Brian told her to revise it for the fourth time, Layla finally couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Evans, shouldn't you at least look at it before deciding?"
Brian still said, "Revise it."
Layla took a deep breath and held back her frustration, still speaking politely, "You were satisfied with the initial draft. If you want changes now, please give me some direction."
Brian paused, then looked up at Layla with extreme indifference. "If I have to do everything, then why do I need you as a designer? I might as well do it myself."
"I've tried my best, but our visions don't align. I'm not a mind reader. Without clear guidance, I could edit endlessly and still not hit the mark," Layla remarked, her frustration evident. She didn't want to spin her wheels aimlessly.
"Aren't you quite self-assured?" Brian sneered.
"I've never been self-assured," Layla replied. She was confident but not arrogant.
"I'm very busy. I don't have time to guide you through every little thing. Use your brain and figure it out yourself," Brian said, then lowered his head to continue reading the documents.
Layla got straight to the point, "Is it because of what happened last night?"
Brian's hand paused for a brief second, then continued, ignoring her.
Layla said, "Mr. Evans, as a professional, I hope you won't let personal emotions affect our work. I..."
Brian slammed his pen onto the document and looked up at her, his eyes filled with resentment. "Are you trying to teach me how to do my job?"
It was clear he was accusing her of overstepping her bounds as an employee.
Layla said, "I'm not qualified to teach you how to do your job. I just think..."
Brian retorted, "Oh, really? You're quite the ego, aren't you? What makes you believe you have any sway over my feelings? Can't produce quality work and now you're blaming me for your struggles? Is this the best you've got?"
Despite Brian's repeated denials and questioning of her abilities, Layla was convinced that this was entirely due to his personal emotions.
Layla uttered, "I believe you're professional. No matter what personal conflicts we have, I don't want it to affect our collaboration."
Layla spoke kindly, but Brian responded with a mocking, sarcastic laugh. "So I should just pretend nothing happened and still smile at you after being deceived?"
Brian couldn't hold it in any longer.
He had been sleepless all night, repeatedly telling himself not to bring it up again. Bringing it up would only make him lose more dignity in front of Layla. But after holding it in all morning, his emotions had reached their limit.
After being single for years and losing all interest in relationships, Layla made Brian’s heart beat again. He confessed with all his passion, thinking the worst outcome would be her rejection. But he never expected her boyfriend to see it.
Brian felt like a ridiculous homewrecker, utterly humiliated.
"I didn't deceive you. I never said I didn't have a boyfriend," Layla emphasized.
Her words left Brian speechless for a few seconds. Yes, she never said that. But he was unwilling to accept it and retorted, "But you never said you had a boyfriend either. If you had shown any sign of having a boyfriend, I wouldn't have been so clueless."
Layla said, "Everyone in the company knows. I don't think I need to tell every man I meet that I have a boyfriend." She didn't think every man was interested in her. Brian's feelings for her had caught her completely off guard.
Brian said, "You misled me."
"I didn't intend to mislead you. I never wanted you to like me," Layla blurted out her true feelings.
Layla's intention was to clarify, but her words sounded completely different to Brian at this moment. His smile grew colder. "You don't care at all, do you?"
Her boyfriend was so outstanding that even the usually proud Brian felt inferior in his presence.
This was perhaps one of the reasons for Brian's anger; if she had such an excellent boyfriend, why give him the wrong impression? What did she take him for? A cheap toy?
Brian's pride couldn't tolerate it. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
In all these years, even when Brian had just graduated and started from the bottom, he had never been humiliated like this.
Grinding his teeth, he asked, "Layla , are you playing with me?"
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