Chapter 4

Logan still brought Jasmine to his office.

Pulling out a cigarette, he stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, casually flicked open his lighter, took a deep drag, slowly exhaled a smoke ring, then pushed down the thoughts in his mind before turning back to look at Jasmine. "The benefit you're offering me is just solving a technical problem?"

He suddenly moved closer, the faint smell of tobacco enveloping her. As she stepped back, he pressed forward bit by bit until she had nowhere to retreat, her body against the desk.

His gaze was naked and cold—an expression completely unfamiliar to Jasmine.

"If there are other benefits, maybe I'll consider it."

His low voice had no warmth at all. "Say you're begging me. Say you were wrong. Say you still love me."

Jasmine hadn't expected to hear such words. The warmth they once shared suddenly shattered. The Logan before her felt like a stranger.

She forcefully pushed him away, quickly retreating to a safe distance, watching the man before her with caution.

Once, they had loved each other with vows and passion, ready to stand against the whole world for each other.

Once, Logan would have risked his life for her.

But the Logan before her now stood on the opposite side, making her feel an unprecedented sense of danger.

Perhaps she really shouldn't have come to him.

"Logan, I'm sorry—" Jasmine's voice was somewhat bitter.

If what he wanted was her apology, for Grandpa and Tina's sake, she could do it.

"Don't play the emotional card with me." Logan turned his face away, refusing to look at the loneliness in Jasmine's expression.

"All ties between us were completely severed three years ago. Having you stand before me is already the limit of my tolerance. Jasmine, don't test my bottom line again." His tone carried a warning.

Jasmine silently slowed her breathing, adjusting her suddenly low mood. She had chosen never to look back then, so she shouldn't hope now that Logan would still remember their past feelings.

"Mr. Jones, I'm here to make a deal with you. I know your company's technical problems haven't been resolved, preventing the system from upgrading. This problem—I can definitely help you solve it." Jasmine tried to make her voice calm.

Logan's tone was icy. "I want to hear what comes after."

Jasmine was a bit confused. "What?"

Logan stepped forward again, once more leaving Jasmine with nowhere to retreat, leaning against the cold wall, feeling his gaze.

He blew a smoke ring at her face, almost pressing against her, saying coldly, "You think one technical problem will make me agree to your terms? You don't think your skills are worth that much, do you? You think you're still that genius girl with a natural advantage? After wasting three years, you're nothing now."

Jasmine's expression gradually grew confident. "Currently, your company's code is still stuck at where it was years ago, so the smart robots you design have chips that are already outdated. Even after wasting three years, I can still master the skills again, but if your company only operates in the original mode without updating, in another three years, you'll be kicked out of the tech market."

Logan gave a cold laugh, stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray beside Jasmine. "How do I know you're not just fear-mongering?"

Jasmine's expression carried an innate pride. "Whether it's fear-mongering or not, you know better than anyone. This deal won't be a loss for you."

Logan spread his hands, raising an eyebrow at Jasmine, his lips slowly curving up in an unrestrained smile. "You're still as confident as ever. Too bad you're destined to be disappointed. I don't care about your skills. I now have the Williams Group's support. Why would you think I lack technical expertise?"

Jasmine looked at him calmly. "If the Williams Group's people could solve it, you wouldn't still be stuck without upgrading."

Logan looked at her with disdain. "That's not something you should worry about. What you should be thinking about now is, without me taking over, who will you look for next?"

Jasmine wanted to try again. "Mr. Jones, even if Grandpa did some things before, you were raised by him."

Logan interrupted her again. "You'd better not mention him to me again. Maybe what happened to him is his karma. He deserves it."

"You..." Jasmine's heart completely turned cold. "I didn't expect you to be so cold-blooded and heartless now."

Logan didn't back down. "Now you know. Don't come looking for me again. See yourself out."

When Jasmine left Audience Intelligence, she felt somewhat lost.

She had thought he was someone she could rely on, but she hadn't expected that what happened three years ago could make Logan hold such a grudge.

Who else could she trust?

Sean?

Just as she thought of Sean, her phone rang. Sean's name was prominently displayed on the screen.

Jasmine took a deep breath, readjusted her state, and answered the call. "Hello—"

Before she could ask anything, Sean's voice on the other end was unfriendly, questioning her. "Jasmine, where are you? There's a pile of things at the company and you just don't show up without saying a word. Do you think the company is your home?"

Hearing Sean's voice, Jasmine felt her mind clear up quite a bit. "Mr. Gray—I took sick leave."

Sean's tone remained forceful. "Even sick leave has to be timed right, doesn't it? The contract with Zachary still hasn't been finalized. Do you still want to be sales manager or not?"

Jasmine laughed coldly. "That's a question I should be asking you, right? Yesterday I had everything arranged, all that was left was for you to go to the company and finalize the details. What happened? Zachary waited for you all morning. Who's really not taking the company's business seriously?"

Sean's voice was cold. "You've been following this project all along. If there's a problem, don't make any excuses. You weren't sick earlier or later, but right at such an important time."

Jasmine was almost amused by his anger. "I've never seen anyone who has to pick a date to get sick."

Sean's tone was very impatient. "Don't waste my time talking. Get to the company right away, hurry up and set a time with Zachary. Kayla is here too, let's all talk it over again together."

Jasmine's heart grew inexplicably irritated. The name Kayla made her feel stifled.

Jasmine didn't respond immediately.

She knew Kayla wasn't completely incompetent. Being accepted by Crestview University at least proved she had an impressive resume.

But negotiations couldn't be completed based on just a few technical concepts. What Horizon Tech wanted to see was products, data, and implementation plans, not the talent halo of someone who had just returned to Astoria.

"Since she's there, then let her handle the negotiation." Jasmine's tone was stiff.

Sean was blunt, giving Jasmine no chance to refuse. "You've been following the Zachary project all along. Otherwise, why do you think I'm calling you? You have half an hour. Get to the company now."

"Sorry, I have something going on right now. I can't come back." Jasmine had always responded better to gentleness than to force. The more he pushed, the more she pushed back.

"What could be more important than the company's contract? You should understand what this contract means to the company. Jasmine, I'm giving you one last chance. If you don't come, don't bother coming back at all." Sean's tone was full of threats.

He didn't believe Jasmine would easily give up this job.

But he had misjudged Jasmine's tolerance.

"In that case, I'm officially submitting my resignation to you." After saying her last sentence, Jasmine didn't want any further communication with Sean and forcefully hung up the phone.

Good. From now on, she and Sean wouldn't have to see each other anymore.