Of course, someone like Jacob wouldn't hassle himself to go on blind dates. A lot of beautiful women
flocked around him. Not to mention, he had such a beautiful and perfect girlfriend, Sara.
But as an ordinary person, Cindy was not as lucky. Marriage might be trivial for Jacob, but for her, it
was a big deal.
"Until recently, I had a boyfriend. He works in this company. But because the company has explicitly
banned employees from dating, we kept it a secret. Where else can I find a boyfriend other than work?"
Cindy stared blankly at Jacob's eyes. Her tone sounded sincere, but she was definitely not pitiful. She
knew that there was no excuse for her mistake. So, Cindy decided to solely take responsibility for this.
"So, your boyfriend took the file?" Jacob raised his eyebrows as he asked that question. Rage was
slowly building up in his system as he heard about the real culprit. 'Why should she defend such a
man?'
"I'm not sure, but I don't know who else went to the office except him. Besides, I always lock the office
when I'm not there. The company forbade us from dating our colleagues, so I didn't know how to tell
you this at first."
Cindy lowered her head. For some reason, she felt much better after confessing it all. More than that,
she was ready to accept any punishment––be it a termination of her employment.
"It's clear to me now. So, tell me, who is this boyfriend of yours?" Jacob asked cautiously, not certain
how he should go about this matter.
But deep down, he hoped that Cindy's boyfriend was not some typical douchebag.
"Can I not say who he is? I've already asked him about it, but he just keeps saying that he didn't steal
the file. Besides, I'm not young anymore, and I want to marry him. So, I don't want this matter to affect
our relationship,"
Cindy explained, obviously hesitating. But she, too, knew that there was no way out of this.
"Do you even know what you're talking about? Cindy, I've been nothing but good to you. So, you'd
better tell me the truth. Besides, we haven't proven anything yet. If he turns out to be innocent, you can
still go on with your plan of marrying him."
Jacob was so calm. He knew that lashing out would make her more hesitant in disclosing the guy's
identity. Even if this matter had nothing to do with Cindy, her boyfriend was still involved.
But she was evidently still firm on protecting the man and their relationship.
"Mr. Jacob, I know what I'm doing now. Can you please give me some time? You can do whatever you
want when this is all over. But right now, I just want to figure it out myself."
Cindy rounded up all her courage as she faced Jacob with determination. But deep down, she was
beginning to doubt the sincerity of her boyfriend. At the same time, she didn't want to believe that the
man approached her with a purpose.
At this point, Cindy was both disheartened and in a state of disbelief. Everything was just so messy,
and she needed time for herself to think. Even if she were to be alone eventually, it was better than
waiting like this.
And as if to confirm her doubts, her supposed boyfriend didn't come to work today. Already feeling
anxious, Cindy knew she could not get through this if he was nowhere to be found.
Standing in front of her boss right now, she tried to conceal her feelings best, but Jacob still noticed it.
Yet, if she were to be honest, Cindy had not expected this to happen.
Jacob's attitude was much better than she had expected. Although this situation was some sort of
interrogation, she felt less victimized with how he was handling and asking her questions.
Raising from her seat, Cindy looked back at Jacob with sad and desolate eyes. The latter wanted to
say something but couldn't find the right words to say.
Everyone had his or her own choice, and right now, Cindy needed to make a choice that would
ultimately change her life. Without waiting for Jacob to speak, Cindy prepared to walk out of the office.
However, when she was about to reach for the door, Jacob finally opened his mouth.
"I can give you time. Call me if you need anything. I won't blame you for this. So, don't worry. I know it's
not your fault."
Upon hearing this, Cindy stiffened but didn't dare to turn around.
Perhaps, in her pursuit of pleasing others, she had lost herself. And now, it seemed that there was no
way back.
Standing quietly at the door for a while, she managed to say, "Thank you, Mr. Jacob."
Then she rushed out of the meeting room. Jacob was left alone, not sure what to do next.
There were too many uncertain factors to consider and he was at a loss. James probably knew what to
do in this situation.
Jacob stood up and slowly walked out of the meeting room, heading to his uncle's office.
Along the way, all the employees who saw him watched him cautiously. Jacob didn't know when he had
left such an impression in the company. But at least now, he knew they all looked at him with fear,
obviously intimidated.
If a person were to sit in a high place, the only direction to look was down. Because he stood so high
and mighty, others naturally thought he was looking down on them. And this was true to Jacob.
As he traversed the halls, every employee held their breath. Although they had no idea what exactly
happened, they knew it was something big and grave.
Jacob's slender legs drew an arc in the air, and in just a minute, he was at James' office.
The door was not closed, so Jacob took the liberty of stepping foot inside. At that time, James was
busy reading some documents and constantly gesticulating something with a pen.
"Uncle, I want to have a talk with you," Jacob greeted as he closed the door behind him.
He knew that the employees were already probably talking about this, but he still didn't want them to
hear anything. Jacob had always been so serious, so the employees were pretty much used to it now.
"What happened to Mr. Jacob just now? He looked so serious and terrible."
"Isn't he always like this? Take a look! This is not new."
"How dare you scold me? Weren't you as nervous as we all were when he passed?"
"All right, all right. I think you'd better get back to work! Come on! Chop chop!"
The employees had no choice but to go back to their stations. Well, the company wouldn't certainly go
bankrupt with just the explosion incident alone. All the employees were evidently full of expectations for
the Shi Group.
As for what happened last time Cindy might not have opened her mouth, but that didn't mean Jacob
wouldn't pursue this matter and get to the bottom of it. But for the employees, they all felt safe––at least
for the meantime.
James stood up and took a careful look at Jacob. The old man already knew why his nephew was
here, but he didn't say a word.
"How's it going today?" James asked with concern before reaching for the tea set in his office and
pouring Jacob a cup.
The latter took the cup and sipped on it.
"I've almost got to the bottom of what happened today, and it's a little beyond my expectation,"
Jacob started after settling down the cup on the table. Then, he paused as if he didn't have the heart to
continue.
"Well, I know. I've guessed a little, but I'm not certain yet. So, I've been waiting for you." James sighed,
feeling slightly helpless in the situation.
"It's not just about Cindy. The entire situation is much more complicated than I had expected. Now, she
had asked for a leave to look for the file. She obviously needed time, so I gave some,"
Jacob said calmly and pulled his tie loose, to make himself feel more comfortable.
"So, what we need to do now is to sit still and wait for death?" James hit the nail on the head. Since the
matter had something to do with Jacob's assistant, it would be inappropriate to just sit around and do
nothing.
"I was thinking about what we should do, so I came to discuss with you." Jacob stuck out his tongue
and grimaced. He was scalded by the tea a while ago, but he only reacted now.
"I think we should take a long-term view on this matter. Cindy didn't seem to intentionally betray the
company. Maybe someone else set this up." James sat next to Jacob, wearing a serious look on his
face.
"Yes, that might be it, but it's not clear yet." Jacob sighed. They seemed to be close to getting to the
bottom of it, but they were actually still far from unraveling the truth.
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