Chapter 34

Andre's POV
　　"Fiona, I want you to explain to me why you gave an intern a job that required a team to do!"
　　The first thing I did when I got back to the office was to call Fiona in. Although I didn't know where she had gotten that project about the mall, no competent manager would have given it to an intern who had been in the company for less than a week.
　　"Do you remember what I told you before? I told you to take good care of Emily, but you're always giving her a hard time, even asking her to do risk assessments as an intern."
　　"Mr. Vincent, I think you misunderstood me. I just want to train Ms. Jones' working ability and let her get familiar with the company's working procedures as soon as possible. I can't just treat her well and arrange easy jobs for her without regard to other employees' feelings. Besides, I grew up with difficult jobs when I was an intern before."
　　Fiona seemed very upset about the fact that I was asking her to take care of Emily. I couldn't believe she was giving Emily a hard time just to work on her abilities.
　　"Fiona. You should have a clear enough perception of our company's work plan after working in the company for so long. But you've let me down too much this time. When you were working as an intern your supervisor also never assigned you to do simply impossible work!"
　　I looked at Fiona, and I wondered what was wrong with her lately. It was clear that she was able to take on the role of manager very well before Emily started working.
　　"If you want to train Emily, our company has a lot of small tasks or work arrangements for her to complete, not assigning her this kind of work that can only be done by working in a group! You've never been so embarrassed at the internship stage, your internship was because we gave you more important work to complete after doing small things seriously!"
　　"I'm sorry, Mr. Vincent. This is all my fault. I'll arrange other work for Ms. Jones here and give the project to another employee."
　　I was already beginning to doubt Fiona's abilities. She shouldn't be in management anymore, for whatever reason she was making things difficult for Emily.
　　"No need for that, Fiona. I'll only remind you of this once. You've given Emily the job, so let her do it. If she does a good job, make her a regular employee. If she doesn't get the job done, then you'll have to demote or even fire her for arranging the job!"
　　Fiona looked at me with panicked eyes. She might have tried to defend herself, but I didn't want to say another word to her.
　　"Mr. Vincent. It's almost time for your appointment with the client."
　　I walked out of the office with Lucy in tow. My company didn't need an employee who would make things difficult for good interns because of personal feelings.
　　Emily's POV
　　The drawings Nathan gave me were complete, from the framework of the building to the schematics of the final shape. I'm sure the mall will be gorgeous and spectacular when it's completed.
　　"Nathan, I would like to know how many businesses or stores are willing to move into the mall now?"
　　"Fifteen. Half of them are luxury stores. When the mall is completed we will also invite bids to attract other businesses to the mall."
　　Nathan described his plan for me. It sounded very reasonable and a profitable plan. I couldn't pick any holes in his plan and had to choose to go to the building site to see for myself.
　　"If you don't mind, we can make an appointment for a weekend morning. Emily, when your tour is over, we can go to lunch together. I know a very nice French restaurant."
　　Of course, I wouldn't refuse Nathan's offer. We agreed on a time to meet and the conversation about work was over.
　　"Emily! Don't rush off yet! You haven't answered my previous question. Are you being bullied by your boss?"
　　Nathan pulled me to get up to leave and asked the question again that made me feel embarrassed.
　　I looked into his sincere eyes and I knew he cared about me. I couldn't avoid his question any longer and had to confess to him.
　　"Nathan, I appreciate your concern. Indeed, my boss doesn't like me very much, you know, the woman we were waiting for together the other day."
　　I explained very simply to Nathan what was happening to me now, but Nathan was not satisfied with this answer and pressed me again as to why Fiona had done what she had done. "Emily, why? I need to know why. You look so good and you were so serious at work. I can't think of a reason why she wouldn't like you."
　　"Nathan, a woman doesn't need a reason to dislike another woman. She might just be targeting me because I'm prettier and younger than she is. And I'm not as good as you say I am. I was able to get into VA because of my boyfriend, not the interview. You should have met him, he was the one who picked me up that day when we were drinking."
　　Nathan didn't work for VA, and I didn't have to hide the truth from him. Although I didn't say that Fiona was deliberately targeting me because she liked Andre.
　　"No, Emily. I don't understand your words. Since you entered the company because of your boyfriend. So is he just going to watch you get bullied by your boss and not do anything about it?"
　　Of course, he couldn't make a move. If Andre did anything to help me teach Fiona a lesson, our relationship would be known to the whole company.
　　That wasn't what I wanted, but I couldn't explain any of this to Nathan.
　　"Nathan, Fiona is my minister, and my boyfriend can't be with me all the time. If Fiona gives me an order, I have to do it immediately. Just like when I came to see you today, no one could stop me. Because this is the job Fiona gave me, and disobeying your boss in the company is punishable or even dismissal. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have spoken to you like that."
　　My tone was a little bad, and I knew I shouldn't have lost my temper with Nathan, it was very rude. But I couldn't stand the thought of someone accusing Andre in front of me.
　　"Emily, it's okay. I understand. Don't be angry, I just want you to be happy. And I meant to say have you considered a different company if you're not happy staying at VA."
　　Nathan's offer calmed me down. I had thought about quitting, too. But Andre wouldn't approve, and I didn't want to upset him.
　　"Emily, I assume you chose to finish the job this time also because Ms. Fiona threatened you with dismissal. I didn't mean to say that you couldn't finish the job, but I think you should be aware that it's a very tough thing to do. You can choose to leave the company, you can come work for my company. I believe you have the ability to do very well in any company... Emily, I think we should be considered friends. As a friend I want you to be happy, at all times."
　　I didn't know how to say no to Nathan, who was thinking very seriously about my future on my behalf. His concern made me unsure of what to do. I always felt he was overly enthusiastic about me, but I couldn't say no to his enthusiasm.
　　"Well, Nathan, I will consider your suggestion. But I hope you won't bring it up again afterward. It will make it difficult for me until this work of mine is completed."
　　I promised Nathan to consider his suggestion, and he finally stopped asking me about it. It was just a way for me to stall for time. Andre wouldn't let me leave his company.
　　"It's late. I think I should get back. See you this weekend, Nathan."
　　I got up to say goodbye to Nathan, but something tripped over me, probably a table or a stool.
　　I couldn't control my body and fell to the ground, Nathan suddenly grabbed me at that moment and brought me into his embrace.
　　"What are you doing!"