Chapter 17 Miss Hart, Mr Ross is looking for you.

When Carl heard Annie say that she could help him get the project, he became interested.
Project β was going to be bid on next month. His father had said that if he could win this project, he would hand over the position of heir to him. That's why he wanted to please Brandon and win this project.
But Brandon was too difficult to deal with.
If it weren't for begging Benjamin to introduce him, he wouldn't even have been able to meet with him.
So trying to please Brandon and win the project was almost impossible.
If Annie could help him get the project, that would naturally be best, but...
Confused, he asked Annie, "Since you have leverage over Brandon, why didn't you blackmail him into giving up his position?"
Annie quickly replied: "Who says I haven't? I did try once by saying I wanted to be his girlfriend, but he refused."
Carl narrowed his eyes at her and said: "If he already refused your request before, then there's no point in trying again."
Annie confidently declared: "If he refuses again this time, I'll send the video clip to Miss Sterling."
Carl raised an eyebrow and said somewhat regretfully: "You proposed this plan just so that I won't touch you, right?"
"Correct," answered Annie calmly. "I've told you before that I can't be intimate with someone who doesn't love me. If I love someone, then it will come naturally, like how it is with Mr Ross. But since Mr MacDonald couldn't wait and I don't want anything from you except winning Project Beta for us both, then helping you seems like my only option."
Carl thought she would explain herself after being exposed, but instead, she admitted everything directly, making Carl look at her differently.
When she cleverly convinced him a few days ago, he thought she was brilliant. Today, he admired her.
He had thought that Annie wasn't interested in money or power, but it turned out that the person she was interested in was Mr. Ross's heir.
No wonder she wasn't interested in him; her sights were higher than his.
Whether it was intelligence, ambition, tactics, cunning or mediation skills, this woman was competent.
Maybe if he handed over the project to her, then they could win Project β together, but...
Carl grabbed Annie's chin and made her look at him: "If you mess up on this project, Fiona will pay the price."
He knew Fiona was Annie's weakness, and as long as Fiona existed, Annie would always listen to him.
Annie's heart trembled with anger, but she bit down on her teeth and said: "You can rest assured."
Only then did Carl let go of her and said somewhat regretfully: "I wanted to have some fun with you before taking you somewhere exciting. But since you're so opposed now, we'll forget about it. After you get the project, we can slowly develop our relationship..."
Compared to playing women, he wanted MacDonald Inc.'s position of heir more than anything else.
As long as Annie could get Project β for him, he would be willing to wait until she fell in love with him before touching her again.
Thinking that one day soon Annie would be his own made Carl less reluctant to leave after kissing her hard once more before getting up and going.
After seeing Carl leave, Annie finally breathed a sigh of relief while lying face down on the ground. She propped herself up against the sofa and stood up slowly while shivering all over from coldness or fear caused by Brandon; either way, both were suffocating for her heart rate, which led to trembling hands reaching into her purse where pills lay waiting for moments like these when anxiety took hold of her. She took several pills to calm herself down before leaving.
It was mid-winter, and the cold wind felt like lead, penetrating her dress and making her shiver uncontrollably.
But she didn't feel the cold at all; she walked step by step towards home like a statue.
Then, suddenly, a Koenigsegg stopped in front of her blocking her way. John exited the car and approached Annie respectfully: "Miss Hart, Mr. Ross is looking for you."
Annie ignored him and continued walking forward with a cold face.
John had no choice but to stop her: "Miss Hart, you know Mr. Ross's temper; it's not something we can afford to offend."
How could an orphan like herself, who had nothing, afford to offend someone as powerful as Brandon?
If she didn't listen to his words, what would be waiting for her in the end? It was even more difficult than dealing with Carl.
Annie gave up struggling and obediently got into the car...
After sitting down, she turned sideways and looked at the man sitting in the back seat.
He was dressed in expensive suits, wearing a watch worth millions of dollars, sitting in a limited edition luxury car. He looked extremely noble.
As for her, she smelled like wine and appeared sticky. In front of him, she seemed like a clown.
The social gap made Annie not want to stay even for one second longer.
In a cold voice, she asked: "Mr. Ross, if you have something to say, please do so quickly. I need to hurry back home."
She had always been obedient and rarely spoke to him with such an attitude.
Brandon turned his head slightly and his deep and gloomy eyes were so captivating that they could make her heart tremble.
Annie instinctively avoided eye contact but he suddenly leaned over...