Chapter 24

Andre's POV
　　"Come in."
　　I heard a knock on the door and took my eyes off the computer. Then I saw Lucy walk in with Fiona.
　　"Mr. Vincent. This is a summary of all the projects in our department for the last quarter. The overall profit has increased compared to the first quarter. The detailed report is here. Also, here is the progress of the new projects and the next program. You take a look at it, and if there are no problems, we'll follow this program and continue."
　　"Well done. Put it all here, I'll read it when I'm done with this."
　　Fiona is a very good female employee. She has an ability at work that many men can't match, and she never tries to take shortcuts as other female employees do. That's why I admire her so much and treat her much closer than other department managers.
　　"Fiona, here's a new project for the film section, you have someone evaluate it. If the profits meet our expectations, the next new project will be this one." I took out a document from the drawer and handed it to Fiona.
　　Since its inception, my company's scope of the business has encompassed traditional financial projects like foreign exchange, gold, and virtual currencies as well as investments in the real economy like hospitals, schools, and movies.
　　"Yes, Mr. Vincent. Do you have any more instructions?" Fiona smiled and agreed, bending down to take the document in my hand.
　　I frowned, thinking Fiona's neckline was a little too low. But she always dresses in this sexy way whenever she comes to report on her work, so I think this should be her dressing habit.
　　"The new intern in your department today, Emily Jones, if she doesn't understand anything at work you should give her more guidance."
　　I remembered what Lucy told me today about Emily being assigned to Fiona's department, and couldn't help but give her a few words of advice.
　　Although Emily is capable, she is just a newcomer in the workplace and will inevitably have some missteps.
　　"Mr. Vincent, can you tell me why? Is this Ms. Jones a friend of yours? Do you know her?"
　　"Fiona, you just need to do what I say, you don't need to know the rest of the reason." I was a little unpleasant.
　　Fiona hadn't been so rude before. As a qualified employee, she just needed to do the job I had assigned. I support employees who make different and meaningful suggestions, but she shouldn't be prying into my privacy. The assistants and secretaries around me are clear about this, and I think Fiona should be clear about this too after working for the company for so long!
　　"I'm sorry, Mr. Vincent. This is my fault. I will take more care of Miss Jones."
　　Fiona hurriedly apologized to me and agreed to my request.
　　After I nodded to indicate that she could leave, she turned around and left the office.
　　"Emily? It's staff lunchtime. Why are you still working here?"
　　I had to have lunch with a partner at noon. When I came downstairs, I found that all the employees in the office area had already gone out for lunch, while Emily was sitting alone in her seat without going to the restaurant. I was puzzled.
　　"Ms. Cady asked me to finish reading these files before the end of the day. Do you want to have lunch? You go ahead, don't mind me, I'll go out for dinner later."
　　Emily pointed to the pile of papers in front of her and told me these were the jobs Fiona had scheduled. I was a little dissatisfied with Fiona. I had clearly explained that she was to take care of Emily, but she was doing things as if she was making things difficult for Emily.
　　"Baby. You remember to go to dinner. I have a dining appointment with my partner so I'll leave first."
　　I wanted to say something more to Emily, but the appointment time with my partner was coming up, so I hastily told Emily to make sure to eat lunch and left the office.
　　Emily's POV
　　I knew Fiona was deliberately trying to make things difficult for me.
　　Lilly whispered to me before dinner that the company's new interns are very idle on their first day. To let new employees get familiar with the environment, the minister usually does not assign them overly heavy workloads.
　　I thought about seeing Fiona on the top floor this morning and guessed she was getting back at me for seeing me come out of Andre's office!
　　I sighed and looked at the mountain of papers in front of me and felt depressed.
　　Although I had promised Andre that I would go to lunch, Fiona would not give up the opportunity to accuse me if I did not finish reading these papers. So I had to give up my lunchtime to stay in my position and read the papers.
　　When my colleagues came back to work in the afternoon, Lilly saw me still sitting in my seat and asked me quietly.
　　"Emily, have you been here all noon?"
　　"Yes, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to finish reading these papers before the end of the day, so I didn't go out for lunch."
　　I felt so aggrieved that I began to regret agreeing to stay at Andre's company. There was no telling how many women in this company wanted to date him. I don't know how they would torture me if they knew about my relationship with Andre.
　　"You're so pathetic, honey. Ms. Cady is so harsh, and you're just a day-old intern. How could she treat you like that?"
　　Lilly's words made me a little confused.
　　Does Fiona usually treat employees who have been in the company for a long time in such a way?
　　"Does Ms. Cady usually treat you guys this harshly too?"
　　"Of course! Ms. Cady is a very strict person! Normally, if an employee makes a small mistake, she will criticize her loudly. I know why she targets you! It must be because you are so pretty that she has a sense of crisis." Lilly grabbed my hand excitedly.
　　She looked very sure of her suspicions, which made me even more puzzled.
　　Would a pretty-looking girl be targeted by Fiona?
　　"Lilly... Don't be ridiculous. What does this have to do with my looks? I'm just a trainee, not in any position to sway her. I don't know her boyfriend or lover either, so why would I make her feel in crisis?"
　　"Oh . . Emily, you're naive. I'm telling you..."
　　"Mr. Vincent has prepared afternoon tea for everyone! They are placed in the front lobby of the company, you can just go and get them if you want! There are cakes and coffee!" The person in charge of the administration of the company suddenly appeared and interrupted my conversation with Lilly.
　　The colleagues around us all got up and left the office area to go to the front desk when they heard the news of afternoon tea.
　　Fiona was the first one to walk out. I hadn't eaten lunch at noon and was now starving, and I was only too happy to hear the news. I hurriedly dragged Lilly along to get our share of afternoon tea.
　　"Mr. Vincent ordered afternoon tea for us!"
　　"Well, I think it's a bit strange. Mr. Vincent has always given out prizes or awards directly before. Although the cake is delicious, I still prefer money."
　　"I think both the bonus and the afternoon tea are great. But it's very strange that Mr. Vincent rarely orders food for his employees. What's going on today?"
　　There was a long line in the front lobby of employees who had come to get their afternoon tea. I stood in the crowd and listened to the whispering of employees from who knows which department in front of me.
　　Andre doesn't often order afternoon tea, so did he do it today because of me?
　　I was very touched when I thought that Andre might be worried that I would choose to skip lunch and go hungry, so he changed his style and prepared afternoon tea for everyone.
　　I took the cake with Lilly and returned to my seat. We chatted about the latest entertainment news and enjoyed the delicious cake. Suddenly it became quiet around us, and Lilly stopped talking to me about the latest entertainment news she had seen and seemed to be concentrating on eating her cake.
　　I turned my head in confusion and saw Fiona walking in my direction.
　　She came over to my desk and knocked on the papers I had stacked on my desk.