Chapter 3
In the second photo, Jason’s hand was on Vanessa’s shoulder, both standing at a hotel entrance.
This time, Vanessa was utterly speechless.
“I can explain!” Jason suddenly blurted out.
“I drank too much that day, and Ms. Vanessa drove me back to the hotel!”
“Drove you back to the hotel?” I smiled.
“Did she take you all the way to the room?”
“No!” Jason hastily waved his hands.
“Just dropped me off downstairs!”
“Is that so?” I pulled out my phone and played a recording.
The hotel front desk clerk’s voice came through:
“Room 411, two guests, check-in 11:20 PM, check-out 9:00 AM the next day.”
The room fell terrifyingly silent.
“Anything else to explain?” I looked at both of them.
Vanessa and Jason exchanged glances, not daring to speak.
“Good.” I put my phone away.
“Since you’re not talking, I’ll take that as an admission.”
With that, I walked out, leaving them staring at each other.
Another week passed. It was the company’s annual gala.
The gala was held at a five-star hotel, with over three hundred attendees, all industry bigwigs.
I sat at the main table, Vanessa beside me, impeccably made up, wearing a designer gown worth tens of thousands of dollars.
“This year’s Outstanding Employee Award goes to our Project Manager, Jason!” the host announced.
Applause erupted throughout the ballroom, and Jason walked onto the stage, beaming.
He looked especially dashing today, in a crisp suit, his hair perfectly slicked back.
“Thank you, everyone!” Jason held the microphone.
“This year, our project department achieved excellent results…”
He started his presentation, the first slides showing normal performance data.
I was about to clap, when suddenly, the visuals changed.
The big screen displayed examples of my early failed investments.
It even had a giant meme with the word “FAILURE” plastered across it, strikingly prominent.
The entire room burst into laughter.
“Hahaha, Blake really had a rough time back then!”
“How much did he lose that time? Thirty million?”
“It’s still so funny to think about!”
The whispers from the audience grew louder. Everyone was staring at me, some chuckling, some pointing.
I sat there, expressionless, watching my past failures displayed as a joke on the big screen.
Even worse, Jason feigned panic on stage:
“Ah! My apologies, Mr. Blake! This is an old template that wasn’t properly deleted! I’m truly sorry!”
But even as he apologized, a smirk played on his lips, clearly intentional.
Vanessa didn’t stop him; instead, she joined in the laughter.
She covered her mouth, shaking with laughter, tears streaming down her face.
“Vanessa, you find this funny too?” I turned to her.
“No, I just…” Vanessa was still laughing.
“I was just remembering that incident back then…”
Some people in the audience started discussing loudly:
“Blake really has had some bad luck these past few years!”
“I heard he lost a lot of money!”
“He’s probably just being propped up by his family’s connections now!”
“If it wasn’t for his dad, he’d have gone bankrupt long ago!”
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Every word that reached my ears felt like a knife.
Jason was still playing innocent on stage: “I’m so sorry, Mr. Blake! My assistant made this presentation, maybe they got it wrong!”