The Pampering CEO: Don't Mess With My Secretly-Married Sweet Wife
Chapter 125 Softened

"We still have time before 4:00 pm," Julian said, "While we're at it, let's discuss other terms in the contract first."

"Sure," Luke said as he nodded.

While they were leaving, Charlotte turned her head around and shot an icy glare at Susan.

'This woman indeed is really good at putting on an act. She said she sprained her ankle? Hah! She's just trying to get Julian and Luke's attention, can't anybody see that?'

No matter how vexed Charlotte was, Susan did get both of the men's attention. However, she was not discouraged. After all, she was confident that the effect of Susan's petty trick would soon wear off, and by the time Julian had enough of her, he would kick her away and she would be the one left standing by his side.

With that thought in mind, Charlotte turned her head back and took a deep breath.

She told herself that her main mission here was not to quarrel with Susan but to show her capability and drew Julian's attention toward her.

The negotiation went on. Both negotiating teams had to meticulously go through each and every term before moving onto the next.

Charlotte was no less capable than others. She was in charge of market expansion when she was abroad. She went full throttle on the table and appeared smart and professional. Gone was the silly woman who kept chasing behind Julian.

Looking at his sister who was shining brightly right now, Luke nodded.

After she snapped herself out from her absurd obsession with Julian, she finally regained her true self.

Initially, he was worried that Charlotte would act recklessly, but it seemed that his concern was totally uncalled for.

Charlotte was satisfied with her own performance as well. She was certain that she must appear confident and beautiful now as she could see the eyes of the person in front of her were glazed over with infatuation.

She then threw a triumphant look at Julian. However, to her dismay, Julian was not looking at her at all and his face was bereft of any emotions.

After he flipped through the documents in his hand, h e then said nonchalantly, "I don't agree with Miss Jenkins' proposal."

He then slowly pointed out a few contradictory elements in the proposal that he did not agree with. All the reasons he gave were very solid and Charlotte found no way to counter it. 1

'This man!' Charlotte bit her lower lip. 'Why does he have to be so mean? Can't he be more lenient towards me?'

Be that as it may, her fixation with Julian still outweighed her dissatisfaction with him. She could not help herself and fell for Julian's suaveness. This was the Julian that she loved. The negotiation came to a halt.

Julian stood alone by the window, keeping his head low. He seemed to be texting someone.

Charlotte took a deep breath before wiping up a confident grin. Then, she walked over and smiled at Julian, "Julian."

Julian raised one eyebrow and said, "Miss Jenkins. I think it's still better if you call me Mr. Shaw."

Charlotte's grin froze and her jaw set tight, but she refused to give up. She forced the smile back on her face and said, "You're still so funny, Julian."

Julian narrowed his eyes when he saw Charlotte refused to accept the situation.

"Just now in the meeting, you said..." Charlotte smiled. She attempted to get Julian's attention by talking about the project.

"It's break time now, so I'd rather not talk business. Let's leave it after we return to the table," Julian interrupted before she could finish her sentence. Then, he lowered his head and continued to send the

messages.

Charlotte's face turned sour. She began to wonder if Julian really did not replace her attractive at all?

She gritted her teeth and took a peek at his phone. Then she almost exploded.

Julian was not talking to anything, but he was searching memes from the internet and sending them to Susan despite the fact that the latter ignored him.

He continued to send a volley of jokes at Susan, and she finally replied, "Stop it, Julian! I'm working right now!"

A grin formed on Charlotte's lips and her eyes glinted when she saw Susan's reply.

'Who does she think she is? Does she not know that Julian hates people talking to him in that kind of tone?

9

Just when she turned around and expected to see the frown on Julian's face, however, she was disappointed. There was nothing but a subtle smile on his face that softened his usually hard jawline. Charlotte froze. She had never seen his gentle side before.

"I heard that watching memes can make your pain go away. How are your feet? Do you feel better now?" Julian asked through the message. 1 "Yeah, I'm fine. I have to go now, later!"

"Alright. Remember to go home if the pain becomes unbearable."

"Alright, alright."

Charlotte could not help but feel shocked when she saw the conversation between Julian and Susan. She remembered that he used to be very cold and distant to all of his girlfriends. There was time she was convinced that he did not even have a heart.

Therefore, she never expected that there was someone who could soften him up in this world. But why was that person not her?

Charlotte pressed her lips into a thin line and said," Julian, don't you think you're too lenient towards Susan?"

Julian responded to her question with a frosty look. He put his phone away and turned to her before saying," Don't you know it's rude to look at other people's phones, Miss Jenkins? I thought as a lady born from a reputable family, you'd know that."

Charlotte was a little embarrassed, but she still emboldened herself and said, "I just think you shouldn't be so nice to Susan..."

Julian did not say anything in reply but just scoffed coldly. As he walked past her, he glowered, "Mind your own business, woman."

Charlotte clenched her fists tight. She did not feel good about this.

'Could it be that Julian has... No, that is impossible. There's no way Julian would fall in love with a woman like her. It must be because he still hasn't had enough of toying with her. Yeah, this must be it. This must be the reason...' 2

Charlotte kept hypnotizing herself to rebuild her crumbling confidence.

The negotiation continued, but it did not progress very well. By the time it was 4:00 pm, they did not even finish half of it.

"It's 4:00 pm. Let's go and see how our designers are doing," Julian suggested.

Luke nodded in assent. He was pretty confident in his team. After all, they were elites that he hired from all around the world so that they could help the Jenkins Corporation get the initiative in the project. In the design department, both parties were running the last check on their proposals.

When Julian and Luke walked in, all of them stopped.

"Times up." Julian announced, "Which side should go first, Mr. Jenkins?"

Luke smiled faintly and replied, "Then let's start with my team first."

The leader of the Jenkins Corporation design team rose to his feet and confidently projected their idea on the screen.

"This time, the main target of this resort project is rich people. Money is never a concern for them as there are only two things on their minds: comfort and quality. Our design is inspired by the European royal courts. We planned to bring the exquisiteness of the European royal courts into our design. Of course, we'll do some minor changes to the details and..." The designer from the Jenkins Corporation began to explain their concept.

Susan was genuinely surprised when she saw the design on the screen.

The Jenkins Corporation was rather experienced. Their design was considered as master level. Besides, even though the decoration was luxurious, it did not look low class. Instead, it was elegant. Without a doubt, most of the rich people would prefer a comfortable situation like this.

Luke was satisfied with his team's performance. He nodded and looked towards Julian, "Mr. Shaw, it's your turn."

Julian gave a signal at the department head.

The department head smiled and said, "This time, Susan will do the talking."