Chapter 11

The weather wasn't very good.The sky above was full of ominous, dark, and ragged clouds.The
evaluation department was especially quiet today.

It was unknown if it was because of the rain outside or due to the high-level inspection that would be
conducted today.

As soon as Sophia arrived at the evaluation department, Giselle hurriedly informed her, "Lianna is
looking for you"

She sounded a little annoyed.

Giselle's expression told Sophia that she didn't want to get dragged into her mess and that she must
deal with it by herself.

Sophia nodded and thanked her as she went to Lianna's office without delay.When she arrived, she
found Lianna reviewing some documents.

The latter saw her standing at the doorway and gestured for her to sit on the chair across her.

It was silent at first, and it prolonged the tension in the atmosphere.Then, Lianna finally raised her
bowed head.

Her eyes bored on Sophia's body.

"Sophia, you seemed to get special treatment the moment you entered this company."

There was a hidden meaning in her words.

Sophia's gut feeling told her that the connection between Lianna and Patrick wasn't just a simple boss-
employee relationship.



"I'm sorry, I don't understand."

She gave Lianna a puzzled look.

Sophia didn't understand what she was saying all of a sudden.

"Tell me, were you related to someone in the top management, and that's why you're able to get
special treatment ?"

Lianna didn't beat around the bush and directly questioned her.

Lianna's tone of voice seemed to be light, but in fact, every word was meant to mock her.

"No, I don't know anyone." Sophia denied.

"If I have to be honest, you lack the ability to be the representative that can be temporarily transferred
to another company.However, the higher-ups insisted that I shouldn't replace you."

Lianna narrowed her eyes at Sophia, obviously dismayed that the top management didn't agree with
her.

Sophia had no idea what Patrick said to Lianna.

It was obvious that Lianna didn't mention the whole matter.

"Of course, I don't know if the higher-ups deliberately went easy on you or if you are someone that had
some unknown secret." Lianna snickered.

Lianna was clearly mocking her, and if she continued to be passive and take all the insults, she would
be seen as a pushover who was easily bullied.

"You mean to say that President Evans is the one giving me the special treatment?"



Sophia decided to retaliate a little and throw her a question.

Suppose Lianna wanted to trick her into admitting the truth, then Sophia also wanted to do the same
thing.

Lianna stayed silent as she gave Sophia a deadly stare.

"I called you here today to give you this."

Lianna took out the documents from the drawer and placed them in front of Sophia, "This is the
evaluation report of the client we are going to cooperate with.Review it, and I want to see a brand new
evaluation case before the weekend" she said sternly.

Sophia nervously took the documents.

Lianna forced a smile before she ordered her, "Go and get to work!"

With that, Lianna ended her meeting with Sophia.

However, she didn't get anything that satisfied the questions in her mind, and her mood turned worse
because of that.

When Sophia returned to the evaluation department, tension and nervousness still lingered in her body,
which made her stiff.She could not relax and kept thinking about what was Lianna's intention.

In the afternoon, the evaluation department still remained silent.

In addition to the sound of typing, the only noise that could be heard were the occasional creaking of
office chairs and the clacking of high-heels against the floor.

At two o'clock, Patrick entered their office to inspect, and behind him were the managers from various
departments.



There was a majestic air around him as he walked into the room.

As they started, Lianna introduced the recent work of the evaluation department and the progress of
the project as well.

Just as everyone was focused on work, a voice disrupted the serious atmosphere.

Everyone turned to look at the person who wore a uniform similar to an employee of a flower shop.

The man asked in a gruff voice, "May I ask who is Ms.Sophia Hill?"

Sophia reluctantly stood up, and she caught everyone's attention with this commotion.

The man acknowledged her presence, and he seemed to grab something from behind.

"Flowers for Ms.Sophia, please sign here and receive it!"

He presented the item and a clipboard for Sophia.

The bouquet was huge, bundled up prettily with silken ribbon that complemented the gorgeous pattern
of the wrapping paper.

The enchanting blue roses appeared in everyone's sight, and the fragrance of it quickly spread inside
the room.

The females in the room were in awe when they saw the gorgeous flowers.

But for Sophia, it was a moment of extreme embarrassment.

Her expression was stiff, and she awkwardly walked forward, signed her name, and finally received the
flowers.



However, the man was still not done, and he added, "By the way, Ms.Sophia, Mr.Brandon Phillips told
us to bring this flower from Holland overnight.It's exactly a hundred flowers, representing his hundred
percent love for you"

It was incredible that the man's professional expression didn't even shift when he spoke those words.

With that, the flower shop employee left the room.

The room was covered in awkward silence until they realized something "Brandon Phillips? Isn't that
the new CEO of Philips Corporation?' was what everyone screamed in their heads.

All the department managers looked at Sophia with surprise.

They couldn't believe that a small transfer employee like her could actually have a relationship with a
CEO; she was not simple! But they still didn't dare to speak as they saw that the president remained
silent with an unfathomable expression.

Even their breathing was low for the fear that it might aggravate the situation.

Patrick shifted his gaze to Sophia and spoke coldly, "Ms.Hill, was it necessary to show off to the entire
company that someone was pursuing you?"

To be scolded by the company's president was really a big blow for an employee.

Sophia could only lower her head and bite her lips in shame as she was reprimanded in front of
everyone.

What was Brandon trying to do? She was already in a mess, so why did he have to add to her
troubles? After a few seconds, an office chair squeaked, and Patrick's voice rang out.

"Let's go to the next department."



Then, all the department managers followed him and walked out of the room.

Even if she didn't lift her head, Sophia could feel his scorching gaze on her when he left as well as the
sound of Lianna's high-heels as it intentionally clacked against the floors due to her repressed anger.

In the hallway, Patrick continued to discuss with the company's higher-ups about the reorganization of
the department, as if the commotion earlier didn't happen.

But, Lianna could clearly see in Patrick's eyes that he was being tolerant.

During the entire afternoon, Sophia spent her time working with low morale.

Before she got off work, her phone beeped twice, and she found two messages on her screen.

She tapped on the first message, and it was sent by Brandon: [Did you like the flowers?]

After she read it, she directly deleted it.She was angry that he boldly sent her flowers to the company.

Why wouldn't he consider her situation first? It would be extremely awkward and uncomfortable for her.

Then, she read the second message.It was from Finn.

Finn: [Sophia, are you free to have a meal tonight?]

Sophia casually made up an excuse to refuse his invite.She didn't have enough energy and time to
deal with others right now.

After work, she was supposed to swipe her employer entrance pass.She rummaged inside her bag to
look for it, but she failed to find it.She could only sign on the guard's logbook to indicate that she was
already off from work.

Sophia felt strange.



It was in her bag last night; why did it go missing today? The logistics department said that she had to
spend about fifteen dollars to compensate for the lost employee pass.

Although it was a bit time-consuming for her to log off manually, she thought that it wouldn't be long
before she returned to her previous company anyway.

Therefore, that fifteen dollars could actually be saved to buy food for Emma.

As Sophia thought of that, she felt that it was acceptable.

At the building entrance, Patrick walked to his private car with several people surrounding him.

The employees of various departments hurriedly made way for the president when they saw him.

They all bowed and retreated to the side, waiting for him to go over.

Adriana was waiting in the black VIP car when she saw all of it.

And among the crowd, she caught the familiar figure of Sophia.

John rushed to the front and opened the door for his boss.

He politely gestured for Patrick to climb in.

Patrick nodded at him and sat inside.

There was an accusatory look in Adriana's gaze, and she instantly scooted closer to him.

"Patrick, why didn't you tell me that Sophia works in your company?"

Adriana interrogated him, and she was clearly unhappy.



He gave her a side glance and answered, "Does it matter? I don't even care about it at all."

He grabbed a box of cigarettes and a lighter from the side compartment.

Patrick pulled one stick out and lit it up.

Then, he pressed a button on the side, and the windows slowly rolled down.The box of cigarettes and
lighter were returned to its place, and he ordered John, "Let's drive!"

His vague words couldn't be considered an explanation, which made Adriana choke in anger.She
glared at him and looked petty.

"Why? Are you jealous?" he asked, and it evoked an ugly expression from the female beside him.

A little! Do you remember when you met her every day in the past?

She forced a smile on her face and waited for his answer.

"What would you do if I said that I remembered?"

Patrick expertly evaded her question, which irked that hell out of Adriana.

"Patrick, you're so annoying.Why do you always make jokes like they're real? If that's the case, I'll let
go because you didn't love me wholeheartedly"

Adriana spoke seriously.

Smoke curled up between his fingers and up to his head, which shrouded his face in white mist,
making it tricky for Adriana to discern his expression.

His voice was slightly hoarse because he was smoking, but it was still attractive and hypnotizing to
listen to



"You will really let go?"

His tone sounded a little off, nearly nostalgic.

The smoke gradually dispersed, and the man was pulled back to reality from his daydreaming.

Adriana panicked when she heard this.His choice of words made it difficult for her to understand

"Can't you talk to me properly? Don't use the tricks you usually do to your business partners when you
were dealing with them and handling the business” she pleaded.

"When you're being like this, it's difficult for me to guess what you say every time, and I feel that
whatever I answer will be wrong!" She continued to voice out her complaints.


62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda