Patricia was stunned beyond words.She had dismissed what Lily told her as hearsay.But now the
President confirmed that this was in fact true.Why on earth did Jayson choose to work as a secretary in
the Veyron Corp for this long? Wouldn't he have been better off at the Lanteen Corp.? A million
thoughts were running through her mind and they only confused her even more.
"Mr.President, I need you to explain the entire matter to me clearly.I'm tired of having important
information kept from me.I might be able to help if I'm aware of everything."
She looked him straight in the eye as she said this.
The President sighed a little more before he began explaining, "Jayson is the illegitimate son of my
friend.He was not welcome at the Lanteen Corp.because of his behavior and his only alternative was to
come work here.But I didn't realize how stubborn he was when I hired him."
The President was unsure as to how to proceed, and he was unable to bring himself to say anymore
for a few seconds.
"What do you mean stubborn?"
Patricia was still confused.
It was clear that Jayson had been up to no good, but what exactly had he done? The President finally
gave in and told her the entire story.
"Jayson had done something similar at the Lanteen Corp.before he joined us here.His father had to
remove him because of pressure from the rest of the company, but he asked if I could give him another
chance.He had been here for five years and we had no issues with him.But he did it again when we
least expected it."
‘‘Once a thief, always a thief, '’ thought Patricia.
Jayson had turned out to be a lot shrewder than he let on.
For some reason, Patricia kept picturing Kareem's face while she thought of Jayson's betrayal.
She couldn't help but draw parallels between the two of them, they were so similar in so many ways.
"I think I'm starting to get a picture of what's going on.What you're saying is Jayson stole our business
plan and took it to the Lanteen Corp.? Is that it?"
Her face was screwed up, as though the President had presented her with a complex puzzle.
Out of the blue, a vague memory of news regarding Veyron's competitor struck her.
If she remembered correctly, a member of the Lawrence family was involved in competing with them for
the high profile project.
If this in fact was true, then Jayson's move made complete sense.He just wanted a way back into the
Lanteen Corp..What better way to do that than bring them the competitor's trade secrets? As it turned
out though, it may not have been the smartest move for him to make.
Betraying Veyron aside, he might just have put the Lanteen Corp in a precarious position as well.
Patricia sighed as she felt burdened with the gravity of what had occurred.
"Now what's done is done.We need to focus on our next move.Will this affect our understanding with
the Reynolds Group?"
She was looking at the President enquiringly.
‘Was this what he and Zac were discussing before I came in?’ she thought.
The President smiled, her thought process had always impressed him.
"Fortunately for us, Mr.Reynolds has managed to figure a way out.The Reynolds Group may have
preferred to partner with the Lanteen Corp.given the turn of events, but Mr.Reynolds has given his word
that he will stick with us."
Patricia had been holding her breath all the while that the President spoke and she finally breathed a
sigh of relief.
It was Zac who would finally be their savior.
She didn't know what to say.
Despite the immense relief that was washing over her, Patricia couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
She had been really cold to Zac.
Had she gone too far? Moments later she snapped out of this train of thought.
She needed to focus on the present situation and not Zac.
"Is there anything I can do now, Mr.President?"
A sense of calm had replaced the frenzy she had been in as she looked at the President.
She knew the matter was still not fully resolved.
Zac may have saved them from immediate trouble but there was still the matter of the stolen business
plan.
They were going to have to devise a whole new strategy with approval from the senior executives of
the Reynolds Group.
It was going to be a long process.
"I don’t want you to worry about that, Patricia. You need to rest and recover."
He smiled kindly at her for a fraction of a second before getting lost in thought again.
Despite the concern he showed for her, it was evident to Patricia that he didn't want to involve her too
much more.
Fully aware of his intentions, Patricia merely nodded.
If that was what he wanted, she would comply.
She definitely needed time to recover fully, so she wouldn't be able to work for the company at the
moment.
She finally allowed herself to believe that she deserved the break and that the others would be able to
handle things just as well.
She politely nodded and left the office.
There was nothing more to be said.
The President watched Patricia leave with a forlorn expression.
If only he could have told her the entire truth.
The truth that he really wanted her to be involved in the planning, but it was Zac who had forbidden it.
That was the condition upon which he had agreed to support Veyron.
He couldn't think of one person at Veyron more qualified than Patricia to help design their business
plan.
He was probably going to have to do it all by himself.
He had always placed the company's interests before his own.
If that meant doing all of the work by himself, then that was what he was going to do.
Patricia was left with an extremely uneasy feeling as she walked out of the office.
So much had happened in such a short span, it was too much for her to digest all at once.
Now that Jayson would be leaving, Lily would probably leave as well.
But would she continue to be with him? Lily was such a sweet girl, always so polite.
It was really unfortunate that she had fallen for a man as twisted as Jayson.
It wouldn't surprise her anymore if he treated Lily the same way he had treated his colleagues.
Betrayal was probably second nature to him.
Meanwhile, Dora had just returned from her own conversation with Zac.
It wasn't so much a conversation as Zac’ scolding her for being irresponsible.
He made her swear that she would ensure Patricia rested well.
Now that she saw Patricia's depressed face, she couldn't help but worry.
All she could think was that it was her fault Patricia was depressed.
She should never have helped her come out of the hospital.
"How could I have been so silly?"
She was murmuring to herself out of frustration.Patricia was distracted from her deep thoughts by
Dora's mumbling.
"What's wrong, Dora?"
Dora was unable to contain her anxiety any longer and she burst out, "I'm so sorry Miss Patricia
Sampson! This is all my fault, I never should've helped you get out of the hospital.You wouldn't be this
depressed if it wasn't for me."
Patricia kindly looked at her.
"Come on Dora, you have nothing to be sorry about.You haven't done anything wrong."
She stroked Dora's hair tenderly, amazed at how kind a person could be.She felt really grateful that she
had Dora by her side at a time like this.She would have felt really lonely if it wasn't for Dora.
At that moment though, a voice began to play in her mind.
"You aren't alone, Patricia.You will always have me.I'm the closest person you have in this world." Zac
had said this to her the previous night.
It occurred to her that if Zac had told her that he loved her much earlier, they probably never would
have quarreled in the first place.
If he had shown even a little bit of compassion for her before their divorce, maybe their marriage would
have survived.
Maybe they would've even had a baby.A beautiful little child who would have made her smile so much.
But all of these dreams were just that, dreams.
They weren't married anymore and they were never going to have a child together.
The idea that she would probably never be with Zac again made her feel emotionally broken.Maybe
their marriage just wasn't meant to be.
Dora wanted to do everything she possibly could to make Patricia feel better, but she was at a
complete loss.
She hesitated for a while before finally walking up to Patricia and demanding her attention.
"Miss Patricia? What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"
Dora was looking extremely worried by this point.Having snapped out of her nostalgia, Patricia smiled
and shook her head.
She was about to tell Dora not to worry about her.
At that very moment, a speeding motorcycle approached Patricia and she felt a sharp blow to her back.
Before she could catch a glimpse of the rider though, he was gone.
She couldn't tell what she had been hit with, but it hurt her really bad.
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