Chapter 21
“If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up. These games aren’t fun, Knox.”
Her voice immediately turned cold, and just as she was about to end the call, Knox quickly spoke up.
“I’m not joking around. I actually do have something that needs designing. You know Peterson Corporation needs a lot of collaborative designs–I want you to do them.”
Mara fell silent for a moment. Peterson Corporation was involved in most domestic products, spending over a hundred million annually on design fees alone. This would be an extremely high–paying commission, enough to keep their studio comfortable for years. But Mara knew perfectly well this was Knox’s calculated move–there would definitely be strings attached.
After considering it, she spoke up.
“What’s the condition?”
Knox was clearly relieved. He’d never been this nervous before, but now that Mara was willing to listen, it meant there was still hope for reconciliation.
“Come back home with me. Just for one day–that’s all I need. Peterson Corporation’s headquarters is domestic, so after taking on this project, you’d have to come see it in person anyway, right?”
Mara agreed.
She wasn’t being dramatic about it. Since Knox was willing to give their studio this opportunity, seizing it properly was what mattered. With Peterson Corporation’s reputation behind them, their studio would definitely soar in the future.
She and Knox discussed the timeline for returning home and the specific items for collaborative design. They talked for over half an hour total. Finally, Knox couldn’t help but ask her.
“Mara, are you really still mad at me? I’ve accepted your dreams now–I’m okay with you continuing to design.”
Mara let out a mocking laugh.
“Knox, what I want to do–you can’t stop me anymore.”
With that, she hung up directly and shared the good news with everyone else at the studio. Only a few people knew about her entanglement with Peterson Corporation, so most of her colleagues were thrilled that she’d managed to land such a huge project.
That was Peterson Corporation!
While everyone was excitedly celebrating, her mentor found Mara and asked quietly with some concern.
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‘Mara, would Knox really be kind enough to hand us such a big project? Did you promise him some condition?”
Seeing the concern in her expression, warmth rose in Mara’s heart. If not for her mentor and the others helping her inreservedly, she never could have integrated so quickly. So she genuinely felt that agreeing to Knox’s condition once wasn’t a big deal.
Mara smiled. “It’s nothing too demanding–I just have to go back home personally to coordinate everything. Don’t vorry about it.”
Hearing that the only condition was coordinating the design content, her mentor breathed a sigh of relief. Ever ince she’d heard about Mara’s experiences, she’d been worried about her getting hurt by Knox again.
But just because her mentor wasn’t worried didn’t mean everyone could let it go.
That evening, Mara ran into Dylan, who looked anxious all over his face, watching her with obvious hesitation.
This state was strange–Dylan always said whatever was on his mind and never overthought things. When had he ever shown this kind of expression?
With a moment’s thought, Mara could guess what he was worried about.
‘Are you really going back home?” Sure enough, that was his first question.
Mara smiled. “Yeah, but don’t worry. I already told Knox–I’m only going back for one day. I’ll return right after coordinating everything. I don’t need to stay domestic. The studio is where I want to be now.”
Dylan still looked worried. He seemed to make up his mind about something and suddenly spoke up.
‘Mara, I like you.”
She blinked, not understanding why he’d say something like that right now. Dylan had already confessed to her before, but Mara felt she only wanted to focus on work right now. Besides, she wasn’t confident she could give 100% to the next person the way she had with Knox, so she’d rejected his confession last time.
Now, though she did have feelings for Dylan, she still thought this wasn’t the right time for romance. She didn’t want o escape from Knox only to immediately fall into someone else’s arms.
Just as she was about to speak, Dylan hurried to continue.
‘I know you won’t agree right now, but I just wanted to tell you how I feel. Maybe I’m not confident enough, but I’m scared that once you go back home, you won’t come back. So Mara, I want to go back with you. I can wait for you.”
So that was it.
Looking at his nervous expression, Mara suddenly found it amusing for some reason.
“Alright, come back with me. But Knox probably has other things he wants to tell me, so if there’s any danger, I’ll contact you immediately.”
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Chapter 21
Dylan nodded repeatedly. His only fear was Mara getting hurt.
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