Chapter 1624

There were too many situations like this and she couldn’t possibly help them all. And when it came to other people’s family matters, stepping in often felt like an impossible dream. She had to take back what she said earlier. Not every mother loved her child. There were selfish and terrible mothers out there too.
What worried Jamie most was how today’s incident might shape Charlie’s values. For children, character and perspective were everything.
She spent the entire way home fretting, and once there, gently probed him to see how he was processing the event, ready to comfort him if needed.
To her surprise, Charlie seemed far more adaptable than she had expected. He even said something that left her stunned. “I know that girl’s mom is a bad mom, but my mom isn’t, so I won’t listen to her.” Jamie was speechless for a moment before a smile of relief spread across her face.
*
Once Jamie’s mother’s condition stabilized and she stopped waking up in the middle of the night screaming, Jamie was finally able to return to work.
Her assistant’s envy over her leave was practically written across his face. “Jamie, you get so much time off. Can you maybe talk to Mr. Lucas and ask him to share some of it with me? Just a little would be enough.” Clearly fed up with his workload, he sighed dramatically.
Jamie chuckled, “You’ll have to ask him yourself for that.”
The assistant shuddered at the mere thought. “Never mind. Forget I said anything.”
“Jamie, can you do me a favor and take these documents to Mr. Lucas?” a female colleague chimed in, poking her head around the corner.
“Sure,” Jamie agreed. “I’ve got nothing on my plate right now. Hand them over.”
As soon as she received the stack, she froze.
“Gem Harbor?” Jamie muttered, staring at the label on one of the files.
Her assistant glanced at it and quickly pulled that particular document from the pile, his surprise matching hers. “Is the Gem Harbor project starting already? The
yel
proposal was just drafted last year. I thought it wouldn’t launch until the
end of this year.”
A nearby colleague joined the conversation, grinning. “Close enough, isn’t it?”
Hearing this, Jamie suddenly remembered that the end of the year was approaching. Time felt like it had flown by.
Her mind was still stuck in the years
when she had just given birth to Charlie, and now, in the blink of an eye, he was already in kindergarten. The thought that the year was almost over left her feeling adittle dazed.
The looming end-of-year rush had the entire office sighing in unison, but it did nothing to diminish their excitement over the project.
Carrying the stack of documents,
Jamie headed to Mr. Lucas’s office.
Struggling to balance the files, she knocked on the door. When no one answered, she hesitated for a
moment before reaching for
or the
handle. Just then, the topmost file in
her pile tilted precariously,
Her heart skipped a beat.
Ben reached out and steadied the stack, effortlessly setting it back in place. “Why are you carrying all this on your own?” he asked, his brows furrowed, clearly displeased.
Jamie quickly clarified, “I volunteered to help. Mr. Lucas, could you push the door open for me?”
Instead of opening the door, Ben took half the stack from her arms. Without waiting for her to recover from her surprise, he strode inside.
“What are you standing there for? Come in,” he said over his shoulder.
Jamie followed, setting the documents down on his desk. Curiosity got the better of her, and she asked, “These are all project files. Is Gem Harbor really starting now?”
“Hmm,” Ben replied indifferently. “The board finalized it yesterday. I’ll be leading this project myself, and you’ll be working on it with me.”
Jamie blinked, momentarily startled, but quickly reasoned it out. Perhaps it was a performance-driven decision.
Ever since Noah entered the company, the competitive tension between the two brothers had undeniably grown. To prove their capabilities, it was natural for them to push themselves harder.
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