The Cost Of Betrayal

Chapter 4

On the day of the negotiation, Michael brought me along.

Before entering the room, we met James, who had arrived with Lily following behind him. When she saw me, she frowned slightly.

James's expression was complicated. He looked at me and seemed like he wanted to say something.

I passed by him without even glancing at him.

As the meeting began, we sat facing each other. I looked at James, feeling a mixture of emotions.

It was the first time I didn't sit next to him, but I didn't expect to sit across from him.

Truly, fate is a fickle mistress.

The manager of Morning Star pushed his glasses up and said, "The project is critical to us. Thank you for gracing us with your presence. Please introduce your plan, and we will choose one."

Lily eagerly stood up and began to present her proposal,

"XHA has a strong advantage in precision marketing. As you can see from our past successful cases, including the marketing we did for Lean Catering, their market deployment, market share, and sales have all significantly increased in six months. There's also Ruoch..."

I looked at her expressionlessly. These cases were all done by me, yet she dared to present them as her own.

As I listened further, I realized that the content of this proposal was all too familiar. It was the same one I had written before!

I was filled with rage and turned to glare at James. I never expected him to be so shameless as to give my hard work to Lily!

I had given that proposal to David before leaving, so James must have stolen it and given it to her.

I couldn't decide whether I was angrier or more heartbroken.

I had been James's secretary for nine years, working hard and diligently, even though he didn't like me. We were at least partners, so how could he be so shameless?

James must have felt guilty as he dared not meet my gaze.

In that instant, I was finally thoroughly disappointed in him.

After Lily finished speaking, I saw a hint of satisfaction in the eyes of the person in charge of Morning Star. He praised, "Truly worthy of being XHA, consistently maintaining a high standard. Lily's proposal is excellent."

Lily accepted the praise without guilt, saying, "Thank you."

"Well then, please let Shin also speak," said Michael as he nodded toward me, and I walked to the front with the proposal in my hand.

This proposal was made hastily, and I cannot say it is better than the one in Lily's hands.

After Morning Star finished listening, they only nodded their heads. "Since that's the case--"

"Wait a minute," I interrupted. "I have a question I would like to ask Lily. In your proposal just now, you mentioned that XHA has 18 marketing agencies in S City, but as far as I know, XHA only has 8. I wonder where the remaining ten came from?"

It was a mistake I made when I was preparing the proposal, and I left the error uncorrected when I left.

In a panic, Lily was taken aback and flipped through the proposal in her hands, but the more anxious she became, the harder it was to find where that data was.

After all, that was not something she had prepared herself; she was reciting it by rote.

I sneered, "Could it be that you can't even remember the data in something you prepared yourself, or are you intentionally exaggerating and lying to achieve your goals for this project?!"

I pressed forward step by step, "Is this how you handle this cooperation with such an irresponsible attitude? How can the other party trust you like this?!"

Lily was thoroughly panicked. She clenched her teeth and glared at me angrily, "It's you; it's you on purpose!"

I shrugged my shoulders innocently and replied, "This is the XHA proposal; what does it have to do with me?"

The head of Morning Star frowned deeply. Data falsification is highly frowned upon in the business world, and he spoke sternly, "Lily, what exactly is the meaning of this?"

Lily stuttered and couldn't speak. James quickly intervened and said, "I'm sorry, General Manager, it was our intern's mistake. It's eight companies."

"XHA has always had a good reputation. You can look at our previous cases," he didn't finish his sentence before I coldly interrupted, "I handled all those previous cases. What does that have to do with you?"

"Ruocha Tea, Aroara Women's Clothing, which I didn't market,? Are you trying to take credit?"

Michael smiled at the right time, "General, I forgot to introduce you. Our company's vice president, Betty, used to work at XHA. She handled all the successful cases you've seen. If you choose to work with Shin, Betty will also be responsible for this marketing project."

...

When we left the building, James's face was darker than carbon.

Morning Star rejected XHA's proposal and signed a contract with us.

"XHA has disappointed us greatly," General Miller spoke rather impolitely, and his face turned cold. "You're too irresponsible. You can't even figure out how many institutions you have. We won't consider working with XHA again in the future."

This project directly affects which company can occupy most of the S City market, which is very important for both companies.

James attached great importance to this project and had prepared for it for a long time. This failure will be a heavy blow to him.

When he was with me before, he rarely experienced failure, so it was tough for him to accept

this time.

When I stepped out, he looked at me with an unmistakable reproach in his tone.

"Betty, you are truly ruthless," he said.

I arched my eyebrow. "In business, it's every man for himself, James. Don't tell me you expected me to play nice?"

He clenched his fists and furrowed his brow as he looked at me. "So you're willing to sacrifice our relationship for the sake of being a mere vice president?"

I gazed at James and saw the sincerity in his eyes. He genuinely believed that I had made a mistake.

It was all so absurd!

But instead of getting angry, I laughed and smirked. "James, it's one thing to be a loser, but to be a loser without any shame is another."

"When I was there, you relied on me constantly. And now, you try to suppress me and bring in this useless ." I glanced at Lily with disdain, "Vice-president to steal me away. And you expect me to blame myself for being too practical?"

"You make me sick," I said, my smile fading as I spoke each word deliberately.

James's face turned pale, and he opened his mouth to speak but found no words.

He looked at me in disbelief, as if he couldn't believe the person who had always stood by his side was suddenly turning against him.

I didn't look back at him as I turned and walked away.

Ever since the day he let Lily kick me out of XHA Corporation, James had completely extinguished my last traces of feelings for him.

These past ten years have been nothing but a long dream.

Now that I've woken up, it's time for me to move forward.