Eric had been Derek's assistant for years, so he knew Derek well. Although Derek did not say much, Eric knew that Derek was in a bad mood. Eric left Derek's office and returned to his desk. He started to sort out the documents quietly, though Derek could not hear him.
Suddenly, Eric saw someone walking toward Derek's office.
"Wait. Don't go inside now." Eric stopped the person.
"Mr. Scott asked me to come here to brief the project. It's about time." The staff checked the time.
"If you go inside now, you may kiss the project goodbye," Eric said. He told the guy to come back later and then tried to listen to any sound that came out of Derek's office. However, the office was made of sound-proof materials, so he could not hear anything.
In the office, Derek watched the video over and over again. The sound of the video echoed in the office. When it stopped playing, he would replay it again, deadpan.
With his extraordinary memory, he had already memorized the words the woman said in the video, but he kept replaying the video repeatedly.
After playing the video again, he stopped. He saved the video and blacklisted Nick.
Meanwhile, Nick was still waiting for Derek's reply. "What takes him so long?"
Terry shrugged.
"He blacklisted me!" Just as Nick was about to text Derek again, he found that Derek had blocked him.
Terry glanced at Nick and thought, 'You should feel lucky that all Derek did was blacklist you.' However, he still had to appease the furious Nick.
Derek didn't care about whether Nick was angry or not. He tossed his phone on the desk. Then he clasped his hands, placed his elbows on the desk, and rested his chin on his crossed hands. That was his signature pose when he was thinking while facing a dilemma. Obviously, the video troubled him greatly.
Eric did not wait for long and Derek asked him to go in and continue talking about work.
"The project is very important. Make sure you ask them regularly about their progress. The first report is..." Derek strode down the corridor. He walked in front, and Eric walked behind him, writing down the schedule.
Suddenly, a sexy blond woman appeared in front of them. She had rosy lips, her blouse was low cut, revealing half of her breasts, and a miniskirt covered her round hips. She was very attractive in a seductive way.
However, both Derek and Eric ignored her, as if she didn't exist. Seeing that they were about to pass her, the blond woman, Joyce, screamed. She pretended that her ankle was twisted and pounced on Derek.
She thought that even the coldest man would reach out to catch her. However, Derek dodged without even glancing at her. Eric, who was behind him, dodged as well. She fell to the ground.
No matter how beautiful a woman was, she would be utterly embarrassed after a fall like this.
Joyce didn't see it coming at all, so she fell hard, and she could not get up at once. Yet for the sake of her future happiness, she ignored the pain and reached out to Derek.
"Mr. Scott, I'm sorry. I just twisted my ankle. Can you help me?" she said in a delicate voice, but deep down, she was very angry. She thought, 'What's wrong with them? They dodged when seeing a beauty like me falling! What kind of men are they?'
"Eric." Derek was very impatient. He was in a bad mood today after watching the video. He was very irritated when disturbed.
"Yes, Mr. Scott." Eric went forward to help Joyce up. He was very cautious and only pulled her arms. The second she stood firm, he immediately retracted his hands, as if Joyce was carrying some kind of virus.
Joyce almost snapped. She thought, 'Put Derek aside for now, why is Eric also so mean to me?'
"How many till now?" Derek suddenly asked.
Joyce was confused. What was Derek talking about?
"Mr. Scott, this is the 52nd woman who has fallen in front of you and tried to seduce you," Eric reported expressionlessly.
Joyce was so angry that her face turned red. She was now certain that there was something wrong with both Derek and Eric! Something was very, very wrong!
"You got me wrong. I twisted my ankle, and that was it. I had no other agenda," Joyce explained. "See? I'm much better now. I can walk on my own. You don't have to worry."
The atmosphere was very awkward, and Joyce was so regretful. She was new to the company, and she had no idea that Derek was so indifferent.
"Who is she? How is her work performance?" Derek asked Eric, who then glanced at Joyce. Eric thought, 'You want to get away so easily? You wish!'
Eric had been Derek's assistant for years, and he had been a good one. He was checking on Joyce's information almost the same second she fell.
"She is Joyce, the daughter of the younger sister of a small shareholder in the company. She has just joined us for three months, and her performance is at the bottom of the division. But thanks to the shareholder, she got an average grade in the assessment this time," Eric explained Joyce's situation succinctly.
"Tell the Personnel Department that Joyce doesn't need to come to work tomorrow. If her backer has a problem with it, he is welcome to see me in my office," Derek said cruelly.
Joyce's expression changed greatly in an instant. She kept begging for his forgiveness, "I was wrong, Mr. Scott. Please! Just give me another chance."
Eric called the security guards. "Take her out and don't disturb other employees." His words were as ruthless as Derek's.
The security guards pulled Joyce away.
"Remind the Personnel Department to do their job properly. If there is a next time, I don't mind having some alone time with their director." Derek was furious. He was sick of being seduced by women over the years who only cared about the Scott family's money and status.
Ever since he was drugged five years ago, he had increased his security level again and again. He hated the pungent smell coming from these women. However, Emily's scent was similar to what he smelled that night.
"Where are we with Emily?" thinking of that, Derek suddenly asked Eric about Emily. Though he still kept a poker face, his body became tense.
"Looks like someone covered up what happened to Emily five years ago. I've only found a few clues, and they are all hearsay. I don't have solid proof yet. But I've got something. Chris and Diane, her two kids, were born on the same day as Aaron and Ian. The four kids were born on the same day," replied Eric immediately.
Derek stopped. He felt that his heart was beating wildly, and his entire body was shaking. For a moment, he felt his heart beating in his ear. Otherwise, why was his heartbeat so loud?
Derek swallowed. He felt that his mouth was very dry, so he licked his lips.
"Keep looking into it. Prioritize it. If they can't even find out what happened a few years ago, they may all resign," Derek said calmly.
"Alright. I will let them know," Eric replied.
Derek continued to walk forward with a crazy thought in his mind.
An idea came into him, and it might soon grow bigger.