Chapter 12
The sound of Bruce''s ssnding on the table made a crisp noise. I wasn''t sure whether it was intentional
Bruce nced at me indifferently while he picked the ss up again. He tapped the tabletop and then downed the drink in one go. I continued to sip
my juice.
The atmosphere appeared pleasant on the surface, yet an inexplicable tension lingered in the air.
Feeling like I had acted recklessly at someone''s birthday party, I couldn''t help but regret my impulsive behavior.
David, who was engrossed in his meal, seemed oblivious to the tension and remarked, "Dous, since Nancy has praised you so, shouldn''t you say
something in return?"
Great, now the atmosphere became even more awkward. I wished for the floor to swallow me whole.
Luckily, Dous was emotionally intelligent. He raised his ss and said, "Since Nancy appreciates me so much, let me toast you in return.” His tone
was teasing, and he subtly signaled me with a nce.
Following his lead, I lifted my ss, and the atmosphere gradually warmed up again.
The mealsted over an hour. When we left the restaurant, Bruce''s Maybach was already waiting outside.
John came out of the car to assist Bruce—who was drunk—into the back seat. Cindy followed suit. After a moment, she leaned out of the car window
and asked, "Nance, do you want to join us?”
I politely declined with a smile. Who would willingly be a third wheel? Isn''t the five-dar subway ride much better?
"Nance, let Dous walk you back. It’s not safe to take the subway at this hour,” David reminded me.
I looked at Dous, whose cheeks were slightly flushed, and said, “It''s fine, I—"
"Let''s go,” Dous interrupted me. "The university has arranged a two-bedroom apartment for me, which is on the way."
I couldn''t tell whether his words were true. It was too sudden
Sensing my hesitation. Dous opened his briefcase and showed me an ess card. "Do you believe me now?"
Thus, I ended up catching the subway with Dous, who was slightly tipsy. He even escorted me to the lobby of my apartment.
Reflecting on my actions during the dinner, I sincerely apologized to Dous.
Dous smiled and said, "Nancy, I actually enjoyed today. You... did well."
I was puzzled.
"That''s our pride in the Computer Science Major, Nancy Fisher."
Dous used the word "pride". It felt unfamiliar yet familiar as the word resonated slightly in my heart.
Back at my ce. I sat silently by the window. As I contemted my battered life, I forced a bitter smile.
The present me couldn''t bear the word "pride".
My phone unexpectedly lit up. It was yet another friend request from Bruce, along with a question mark.
After hesitating for two seconds, I ignored the notification and went into the bedroom. Unintentionally, I had overslept.
I was in a hurry to the subway station when Caroline called.
"What''s Bruce’s intention? Why did he suddenly set up a nning Department when everything was going smoothly?”
I immediately stopped and took some time to understand the situation
It seems that Bruce wanted to establish a game nning department in our studio with Cindy as the head nner.
You see, the development of a game mainly involved three prominent departments. nning. technology, and art, with nning being the most
crucial—speaking volumes about its importance.
But the entire storyline and theme of the game have already been nned out thoroughly. It didn''t seem appropriate for Cindy to intervene now.
"I think it''s necessary to talk to Bruce. He invested money, but that doesn''t mean he can do whatever he wants,” Caroline suggested.
After some consideration, I asked, "Did Bruce mention that Cindy could intervene in nning out the details of the game? "
"Well... he didn’t."
"Let''s wait and see then,” I analyzed rationally.
"Cindy needs a title. As long as she doesn’t go overboard, we don''t need to offend the investor because of her. Bruce probably wouldn''t mix personal
and professional matters."
After a brief moment. Caroline responded, "Makes sense. Then let''s wait till I get back."
I hurried to the studio as soon as the call ended.
When I entered, I saw Vanessa from the front desk standing on a stool to remove the sign on the office door.N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content.
The sign that read "Technical Department" was slowly being taken down in front of my eyes.
At this moment, Cindy walked out of the pantry with a cup of coffee in her hand
She smiled and greeted me, quipping,. "Nance, I have just set up a group for work. I''ll add you in after you ept my request on Facebook. "
Although her tone was no different from before. her eyes shed with a hint of pride. I could understand why.
Being pampered by a man like Bruce, what kind of woman wouldn''t be infatuated?
Joining a new work group was also within my expectations.
With a firm belief that it was better to be safe than sorry, I cooperated sincerely. Unexpectedly, Bruce was also in the group.
Both of their profile pictures side by side conveyed the impression of an employer and his lovely wife
It seemed like his investment firm wasn''t as busy as I had imagined.
I closed the conversation window as if nothing happened and continued to focus on coding
Soon, the first message in the group appeared.
It was from Cindy.
She requested that I share some _
code dataand politely informed 2
everyone that the progress ~
report-which usedto be =
bi- weekly— would now be changed to
weekly, Content belongs ta>
wal
<
Caroline saw it and immediately sent me a private message, "She hasn''t even officially taken over, and she''s already giving us orders?”
I made light of it, "Our investor hasn''t objected; let''s just follow ordingly. Maybe he''ll increase the investment based on our attitude?"
Caroline immediately responded with a thumbs-up emoji. "You''ve developed a different perspective."
I politely replied, "It''s all thanks to your guidance.”
Jokes aside, Cindy''s small moves didn’t seem to be a big deal anymore.
However, I didn''t expect Cindy to identally delete a line of data when she entered our back-end in the afternoon.
David was furious and roared, ‘DO
you knowethat it took us over a
monthto build these codes? With
yoursingle click, our entire ngonth’ Ss
effort has gone down the drain!"
David wasn''t exaggerating. The seemingly insignificant code was critical. Any problem in one area would copse the entire framework.
Cindy seemed guilty. "I didn''t mean to. I just wanted to see if there was anything I could help with..."
"Please, Cindy. I''m begging you, can’t you just sit still and not do anything?" David''s words were a bit over the top.
After hearing this, Cindy lowered her head, and her eyes zed over. She seemed on the verge of tears.
As I watched the two argue, I said calmly, "There''s no use arguing about this anymore. Cindy. there won''t be a next time."
Cindy''s expression cracked, and she ran out with a flushed face. I was slightly taken aback by her response.
David angrily eximed, "Shouldn''t we be the ones crying? If tears could fix this, I''d probably flood the studio!"
I rubbed my temples and brought David downstairs to look for Cindy in hopes of maintaining our team harmony.
Unfortunately, we couldn''t find her.
I had no choice but to leave a message for her. I then returned to the office to solve the issue.
Unknowingly. we workedte into the night
When I finally came to my senses, I noticed that Cindy had sent a message to the new work group two hours ago
‘Nance, it''s my fault. I''m really sorry.
I know my mistake has troubled =
everyone, I sincerely apologizeto
yous all." She added a sad- loaking
emodji at the end.
7
At that time, David and I were unable to find her downstairs and had just returned to the studio.
Considering her young age, we couldn''t hold onto her mistake forever—no matter how frustrating.
Thus, I was about to call Cindy when the studio door suddenly opened.
Bruce walked in with a stern expression and said to me in front of everyone, “Let''s talk."
Looking at his indifferent expression, I felt somewhat tongue-tied.
Not long ago, he had appeared in our studio like this too, waiting for Cindy after work—only to find her in tears.
This time, he directly came to defend her.