When Love Becomes a Cage (Melanie) novel Chapter 66

When I returned to the office, I hesitated before heading to the conference room, feeling a bit uneasy.

"Mr. Hanley, today Mr. Patterson he..."

"Let me guess, he's MIA again? Melanie, is Clyde pulling my leg? What does he think this partnership is, a joke?"

Hanley was well aware that Clyde had bailed again, and after being stood up twice, he was furious.

Despite my attempts to smooth things over, he had no interest in keeping the partnership going.

I messaged Clyde and also shared what happened in our team chat. Though I was in charge of the project, I wasn't about to take the fall for this mess. Clyde remained out of touch, not showing up at the office all day. My colleagues from the Design Department kept asking what we should do, but without any directives from the top, our hands were tied.

Just when I figured Clyde couldn't care less about a multimillion-dollar deal, he surprised me by calling early the next morning, asking me to come to his office.

"Melanie, look at the mess you've made! You've lost us a major project, and now you're going to take full responsibility!"

Confused, I looked at the documents he threw at me – it was a contract termination notice from Radiant Systems, stating that our negligence had caused the project to fall through, and we were liable for damages.

"Melanie, you knew how crucial the Radiant Systems partnership was, how could you screw this up?" Kayla chimed in, clearly upset.

"Melanie, you're one of us at the Patterson Group, how could you play into Vinson's hands? Even if there's something going on between you two, you can't just hand over the project to him!"

I slightly opened my eyes, finding it funny how they both wore the same shocked expression.

I couldn't help but laugh. It turned out Hanley had gone straight to Vinson, and they struck a deal. Now, the Patterson Group wasn't just out of a partnership; we owed money, no wonder they were fuming. But what did that have to do with me?

"Clyde, are you out of your mind?" I retorted, tossing the documents back at him. "You disappear, and now you're blaming me? I didn't realize you were so irresponsible. When did you become so two-faced?"

I pulled up our chat history on my phone.

Before I could reach the elevator, he caught up with me.

"Melanie, wait!"

Not interested in his excuses, I hurried into the elevator.

He reached out, causing me to stumble backward. Clyde quickly steadied me, his hand brushing through my hair.

"Sorry, Melanie, I didn't mean to be so rough. Are you alright?" His voice was filled with panic.

Stabilizing myself, I noticed a clump of my hair in his hand, a harsh reminder of my chemotherapy treatments and the resulting hair loss.

"Maybe if you put as much effort into your work, we wouldn't be in this mess," I quipped, pretending to rub my head as if in pain. He tried to say something, but I was already leaving. The side effects of chemo were becoming more evident. Seeing my pale reflection and thinning hair in the elevator mirror, I felt a wave of sadness. I definitely needed to find a stylish wig soon.