Chapter 29 Has He Lost His Mind?
Fiona just bounced off Instagram, and bam, Darwin's message popped up again with a question mark.
She ghosted him. But then, he straight-up called her.
Fiona really didn't wanna pick up.
But since she was planning to dip out soon, she figured she should keep him chill for now.
So, she answered, "Mr. Solomon, you know what time it is?"
"What's up with your Instagram? Why can't I see it?" Darwin shot back.
"I set it that way," Fiona said, flopping back down, feeling sleepy again. "Mr. Solomon, if there's nothing else, hang up. I'm super tired."
"You're so tired but still got up to change the settings?"
"Yep," Fiona replied.
Her soft "yep," like a kitten's purr, brushed across Darwin's heart, making him feel all kinds of ways.
Darwin licked his lips.
"How's Miss Ross?" Fiona asked.
"She's fine," Darwin replied.
"That's good, otherwise I'd feel really guilty." Fiona, probably too tired, just let it slip.
Darwin's heart clenched, and he said in a low voice, "Don't talk nonsense, you didn't do anything wrong."
Fiona didn't respond.
Darwin listened as her breathing evened out.
Since Fiona suggested breaking up, Darwin had been on edge every day, nothing tasted good.
Until yesterday, he held her in his arms, feeling her presence, all his bad emotions slowly faded, like a wanderer finding his way home.
Listening to Fiona's breathing, Darwin couldn't bear to hang up.
The next morning, Fiona woke up and saw the call was still connected.
Her first thought was, 'Good thing the phone's charging, or it would've died after a whole night of this.'
Her second thought was, 'Darwin must be really nuts, right?'
"Awake?" Darwin's voice came from the other line.
Fiona was about to speak.
She heard a gentle voice from Darwin's side. "Darwin, what do you want for breakfast?"
Fiona froze.
Her body reacted before her mind did; she hung up immediately.
Then, she quickly added Darwin's number to the block list.
Holding her phone, she felt absurd.
Darwin wasn't just a jerk; he had such a disgusting habit.
Last night, he was talking to her while being with Hathaway.
Fiona's stomach churned, and she rushed to the bathroom to dry heave.
After puking, she found her phone had several unread messages from Darwin.
Darwin: [Did you block my number?]
[Unblock it immediately!]
[Fiona, you're getting feisty!]
If it weren't for work-related issues, Fiona would have blocked all contact with Darwin.
She ignored it.
Then, she got dressed, grabbed her laptop bag, and went downstairs.
A black business car was parked downstairs.
Seeing Fiona, the driver got out and opened the door.
Wyatt, dressed in a flashy suit.
He stretched his long legs and greeted her lazily, "Ms. Woods, good morning."
"Morning." Fiona got in the car.
Her face was colder than usual.
Wyatt sensed she was in a bad mood and didn't push it.
After the driver started the car, Wyatt put on an eye mask to catch up on sleep.
Since arriving here, he had trouble adjusting and didn't sleep well all night.
Fiona didn't bother with him.
She was busy firing off emails to someone.
When they rolled up to the construction site, Rufus and his crew greeted them with big smiles.
"You guys didn't have to come all the way out here. The place is a mess, and you still insisted on showing up!" Rufus said, shaking his head.
"Since there's an issue, we gotta check it out ourselves," Fiona said, cool as a cucumber.
Rufus nodded, still smiling. "It's just that the villagers keep causing trouble, and I'm worried you might get hurt!"
Fiona didn't say a word.
Wyatt chuckled, "If there's a clash, the villagers will be in trouble."
Rufus looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"If it's just about money, we can talk. But if they hurt me or Ms. Woods, they won't see a dime, and I'll have them hauled off to the police," Wyatt said with a grin.
Rufus's smile faded. "I'm just concerned, that's all."
Wyatt nodded.
The group headed to the meeting room on-site.
When they opened the door, a dozen people were already inside.
Judging by their looks, they were locals.
As soon as they saw someone enter, these dozen people started banging on the table.
"Are you the ones in charge? You're inhuman. You even want to dig up our ancestors' graves! I'm gonna fight you!" The leader rolled up his sleeves, ready to charge.
Seeing this, Rufus quickly stepped in, trying to calm the guy down with winks and gestures, signaling not to get physical.
He didn't expect that a rich heir and a delicate female secretary wouldn't be scared by threats.
"Don't be rash, Mr. Durham and Ms. Woods flew all the way from Bay City to address your concerns!" Rufus pushed the guy back into his seat.
"No negotiation. You must avoid the graves!" the leader shouted.
"Avoid?" Fiona sat down, calmly asking, "It's not impossible."
Rufus and his team were shocked.
"Ms. Woods, we're already halfway through the second phase, how can we avoid it?"
"Yeah, how much will that jack up the cost?"
"Mr. Durham, do you agree with this?"
Wyatt definitely didn't agree.
Avoiding it would cost at least billions more.
"I haven't finished speaking, why are you in such a rush?" Fiona looked kindly at the villagers. "Avoiding it would cause our company significant losses, so if you cover the cost, we can avoid it."
Wyatt almost burst out laughing.
These people came to extort them.
Fiona turned the tables and extorted them back.
Rufus and his team were dumbfounded.
"You bitch, are you playing me? You're the one who owes us! How dare you ask us for money!" The guy, in his anger, revealed his true intentions.
Rufus turned gloomy.
His original plan was for the villagers to insist they didn't want money, leaving Fiona and her team stuck.
Then, he could raise the price.
Now the plan was ruined.
"Our company legally bought this land, including the graves, three years ago," Fiona said slowly, "Out of goodwill, we agreed not to disturb your graves. You can buy the land and cover our losses. What's wrong with that?"
She smiled. "You don't actually expect us to foot the bill for honoring your ancestors, do you?"
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