He Said My Money Stank, So I Let His Career Stink Without It Chapter 04

He Said My Money Stank, So I Let His Career Stink Without It Chapter 04

[If you apologize to me now and promise never to do something this childish again, I can let this go for the sake of the past few years.]

[But you have to approve the full funding amount as a lump sum. You don’t understand any of this, and neither does your company’s finance team. This will only slow everything down. It would be better if I managed the funds myself from now on.]

I checked the time on the first message. He had sent it not long after leaving.

That phone call had probably been someone telling him the funding had been cut, which was why he had messaged me.

All that talk about forgiving me was just his way of trying to get me to hand over the money in one lump sum.

What he did not expect was that I never replied.

That was something that would never have happened during the past five years.

I had always replied to his messages instantly.

If I took more than a minute, he would block me. At his worst, he would ignore me for an entire week.

So I had developed an almost instinctive habit of answering him right away, whether I was in a meeting or on a plane.

No wonder he flew into a rage and posted that statement after I ignored him for so long today.

I opened my own social media account and saw thousands of private messages.

Being cursed out was the mildest part. Most of them were vicious threats and ugly insults, filled with every foul word imaginable.

I quietly took screenshots and saved them.

Before I knew it, it was eight o’clock, and the academic seminar was about to begin.

When I arrived at the venue, most people still did not know about the storm online. They greeted me as usual, their expressions perfectly normal.

I took my seat and saw Adrian standing in the corner, so I waved him over.

Adrian strode toward me and happened to cross paths with Nathaniel, who had just rushed in.

Nathaniel shot him a fierce glare, then looked straight at me.

His lips moved slightly, and I could read the words from his mouth.

Come beg me.

I let out a quiet scoff.

Beg him? In his dreams.

When he saw that I had no reaction and even arranged for Adrian to sit beside me, Nathaniel sent me another message.

[There’s a limit to how much you can act out. I’ve already compromised. Don’t push me.]

I silently placed my phone face down on the table. Then I saw Nathaniel shoot up from his seat, his eyes burning with rage.

Lily leaned close to his ear and whispered a few words.

When he looked at me again, his gaze had gone cold and venomous. A chill crawled up my spine, as if I had been stared down by a snake.

Sure enough, the moment the forum officially began, a swarm of reporters poured in through the doors.

They quickly surrounded me.

“Ms. Hart, did you shut down Dr. Blake’s experimental project out of spite because he rejected you?”

“When you made that decision, did you think about how many families are waiting for this breakthrough drug to save their loved ones?”

“As an executive director of a leading medical device company, how is this behavior any different from killing patients yourself?”

“You put your personal feelings first and cost so many lives. Do you have nothing to say?”

Each question was sharper than the last, as if I had already caused irreversible harm.

I knew this was not a situation where I could explain myself.

Once I opened my mouth, anything I said could be twisted against me.

My fingertips dug into my palm as I forced myself to stay steady.

At that moment, Nathaniel watched me from outside the crowd, his eyes filled with excitement and smug satisfaction.

Adrian was the first to react. He quickly took off his suit jacket and draped it over my head, trying to lead me away.

Suddenly, Nathaniel stepped forward and blocked him. Then he raised his voice and said, “Evelyn Hart, as an executive director of a publicly traded medical device company, don’t you owe patients and the public an explanation?”

“You hurt so many people for your own selfish reasons. Shouldn’t you apologize to them?”

No one knew who started it, but soon people began raising their arms and shouting.

“Evelyn Hart, apologize!”

“Evelyn Hart, give the public an explanation!”

“Evelyn Hart, we deserve the truth!”

The crowd boiled over with anger.

I slowly pulled Adrian’s jacket off me, took the microphone from the host, lifted it to my lips, and raised my voice.

“Since everyone wants the truth, an explanation, and an apology, fine. I’ll give you all of that. But before I do, there’s something I’d like all of you to see.”