“What? Called off?” Zane was stunned, his heart beginning to pound.
“Yes. The engagement with the Blackwoods is off. I’ve verified it from multiple sources. It’s true.”
“Why was it called off?”
Olena snorted, “Why else? The Blackwoods’ second son is a known playboy. The Moss family has outgrown that sort of match now. He doesn’t deserve Zora. Of course it makes sense that Zora doesn’t want to marry him.”
She paused, then added, “If you want to be with Zora, it’s not too late now. But you must be honest with Darcy and give her generous compensation. I’m very fond of that girl. She’s been with you for so long. Part on good terms.”
“Mom, I don’t have those kinds of thoughts…”
His mind was in turmoil. He understood his mother’s implication, but he had never considered breaking up with Darcy.
His eyes instinctively searched the main lobby, but he was surprised to find Darcy was gone.
He quickly ended the call. “Mom, I have to go.”
Zane searched the entire hospital lobby but found no sign of Darcy.
He called her phone. It rang for a long time before she answered.
“Sorry, something came up. I had to leave.”
“Okay. By the way, you said you had something to tell me. What was it?”
Darcy’s knuckles were white around the phone. Sitting in the back of the taxi, her body felt stiff.
Even though she had been hurt beyond repair, actually saying the words still made her heart ache.
She fought back tears, her voice choked. “Let’s talk face-to-face when I’m done here.”
She would end it in person, with dignity for them both.
That was Darcy’s way.
Zane, unaware of what she intended to say, simply said “Okay” and hung up.
…
Darcy arrived at Stratagem Tech.
The lights were still on in the R&D office.
Jethro was there too.
Seeing her, he pulled out a chair, gesturing for her to sit.
Darcy scanned the room. Her intuition told her something was wrong; otherwise, they wouldn’t have called her here so late.
She had only worked with Jethro for a week, but she’d found him very measured.
He gave her full rein over her responsibilities without interference.
His management style was to trust those he hired.
“What’s going on?” she asked, addressing both Jethro and the head of R&D.
Jethro gave a slight, apologetic smile. “A small issue. Sorry to call you here so late, disturbing your rest.”
“It’s fine. Just tell me straight.”
The head of R&D, Jax Steel, glanced at Cade and blurted out, “We can’t build the feature described in the Easemark pre-sales proposal. Personally, I don’t endorse overpromising to clients.”
As soon as he finished, Cade jumped in, frustrated. “Jax, we’ve been over this! It’s just for the pre-sales deck! We’re not actually committing to building it! What are you so worried about?
“This happens every single time! I don’t know why you’re being so stubborn!”
Hearing this, Jax lost his temper, slamming his book down on the table.
It fell to the floor with a sharp clatter.
“Yes! Every single time! You pre-sales and sales guys oversell, making the product sound like magic! It makes the client happy now, but when it comes to actual production and we can’t deliver, the blame always falls on R&D!”
Jax was an engineer, not a debater. After a few sentences, his face was red and his neck was flushed.
He unconsciously dismissed Darcy, assuming that with her sales background, she would side with Cade. Privately, he and his R&D colleagues looked down on her.
First, she was young and pretty. Second, she came from sales.
In his narrow, ugly mind, a woman like her couldn’t possibly have real ability. There had to be something behind it. Some unspoken deal.
So, Jax turned to Jethro. “Mr. Blackwood, we can’t keep doing this. It will bankrupt Stratagem Tech’s credibility. No client will trust our products in the future.”
Jethro crossed his arms. He shrugged, not answering Jax directly, and instead looked at Darcy.
“Ms. Gale,” he asked with a smile, “what’s your take?”
Jax frowned deeply. Why is he asking her?
She’s just a salesperson, all flash and no substance. What could she possibly understand?
She’ll probably just try to smooth things over.
Jax subtly curled his lip, waiting for Darcy to embarrass herself.
If she dared to side with Sales and Pre-sales, he was determined to make her lose face.
Darcy thought for a moment.
It was true; every tech company faced this issue. Sales, R&D, and Delivery were the upstream, midstream, and downstream of the business chain, often with conflicting interests.
Jax rolled his eyes internally. Putting on an act. She clearly doesn’t know what we’re talking about!
But then he heard Darcy say, “I understand Mr. Steel’s concerns. However, I’ve reviewed Cade’s pre-sales proposal. The product description isn’t incorrect. Only a product with those capabilities would meet the client’s requirements.”
“But our current product doesn’t meet the client’s requirements. Ms. Gale, do you even understand our product? You probably haven’t even seen a demo yet.” Jax felt he had caught her and couldn’t resist firing back.
Darcy smiled faintly. “I reviewed it days ago. Just because we can’t do it now doesn’t mean we can’t soon.”
Jax’s face darkened. “What do you mean? The bid is in less than two months. You don’t expect my R&D team to develop and release a new product iteration in that short a time, do you? With all due respect, even if you worked us like dogs, 24/7, it would be nearly impossible.”
Darcy raised a brow. “No need for that. I’ll help you coordinate and get it done.”
“You?” Jax’s tone was dripping with scorn. “You don’t understand the product or the tech. How are you going to help us?”
Jethro cleared his throat lightly, his fist pressed to his lips. “Mr. Steel, mind your tone.”
But Darcy wasn’t bothered.
She was the new person. It was understandable that people didn’t know her yet and were resistant.
“Who says I don’t understand the product or the technology?” she said calmly. “I’ll move my desk to the R&D department tomorrow. We’ll work side-by-side.”
The other R&D colleagues exchanged glances, looking at each other in surprise.
“Fine! We look forward to it, Ms. Gale!” Jax said with a cold smirk, already waiting for her to make a fool of herself tomorrow.
…
The next morning, Darcy had planned to go to the company after her mother’s surgery was over. She had hired a caregiver, so it should have been fine.
Unexpectedly, the chief surgeon’s previous operation ran long, delaying Ione’s surgery by an hour.
Darcy calculated it would end around noon. She thought it over, requested a half-day leave from Jethro, and messaged Jax, “Sorry, Mr. Steel, I have a family matter. I’ll report to the R&D department this afternoon.”
When Jax got the message, he snorted coldly.
The sound echoed in the quiet R&D office, making everyone look his way.
“What’s up?”
Jax took a sip of his coffee. “Oh, nothing. Just someone pretending to be something they’re not. An empty suit trying to pose as a Swiss Army knife.”
He chuckled derisively.
It was already 10 AM, and there was no sign of Darcy moving her things.
Everyone took it as proof that her talk yesterday about working alongside the R&D team was just hot air – just a trick to fool Jethro.
They’d seen plenty of people like her.
They started making snide comments, one after another. Some even began making crude jokes about her.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.