After returning home with the child, her ex-husband knelt down and gently coaxed her.

Papers were scattered all over the floor, flying around the huge office before settling in various places.

Anning bent down and squatted down to pick up the documents on the ground one by one.

In my peripheral vision, I could see the man's shiny black leather shoes.

Her eyes stung, and she quickly picked up the papers.

As she passed the trash can, the shredded pieces stung her eyes.

Tears instantly fell onto the back of her hand.

Picking up the last sheet of paper, An Ning calmly stood up, nodded slightly to the man, and said, "Mr. Lu, I will redo the project proposal. Sorry to bother you."

The man stood with his hands in his pockets, looking down at her as she quietly picked up the documents from the ground and quietly turned to leave.

Like a stagnant pool, no matter what he did, he couldn't stir any ripples in her heart.

His hands were clenched into fists in his pockets, and his expression became even more contemptuous and disdainful.

"peaceful."

He stared at her departing figure. "This won't end here. You'll pay the price for betraying me and using me!"

An Ning paused slightly, her hand holding the project proposal trembling uncontrollably, before quickly leaving the office.

When Jiang Yao saw the expression on her face as she left, alarm bells immediately went off in his mind.

Sure enough, the next second—

"Jiang Yao!"

A low growl came from the CEO's office, nearly scaring Jiang Yao out of his wits.

......

The bus stop was bathed in blazing sunlight.

Only a small corner remained, with a patch of shadow obscured.

The woman sat in the shadows of this corner, leaning gently against the green-painted pillar beside her.

He held a palm-sized sachet in his hand.

The white and pink heart-shaped sachet is edged with beige lace.

The sachet is adorned with hand-embroidered red roses, complete with stems and leaves, and looks incredibly lifelike.

Below the sachet is a string of pink tassels tied with gold thread.

On the other side of the sachet are embroidered six characters: "Bless your love."

Suddenly a tear fell, landing on the sachet and spreading out.

An Ning did indeed upload the photo of her and Lu Xiyan to participate in a couple's photo contest.

She still remembers the theme of that online competition: "Show off your love in a high-profile way and let the whole world bless you."

She picked and chose many photos from the group photos she had taken.

A front-facing photo won't do; others will recognize you.

No photos without a front view are acceptable; otherwise, the participant is ineligible.

After much deliberation, she finally chose this photo.

The photo only shows their profiles, which is conveniently designed to prevent them from being easily recognized.

Simply upload a photo and you'll receive a blessing sachet from the official website.

The sachet itself carries the meaning of "a sachet conveying longing and affection, and hearts belonging to someone," and the sachet can also be customized with a wish strip that is unique to each couple.

At that time, she was traveling alone in a foreign land. When she saw the sachet embroidered with the six words "Bless your love", her heart, which had been like a dry well, trembled. Her mind was filled with thoughts of wanting this blessed sachet.

She and Lu Xiyan had been in love for two years, and their two-year relationship and marriage were met with opposition, doubt, and even a lot of rumors.

This relationship was never blessed by anyone.

Her only, small wish was simply to be blessed.

Even if it's done secretly.

In a place he can't see.

She participated in the competition and received a sachet from the organizers, which contained a custom-made wish note: "May he be safe, well, joyful, and carefree."

She never expected that the photo would be voted "Love that breaks through the lens" and win first place in the online poll.

Unexpectedly, she received a prize of 50,000 yuan.

And now, even that one and only photo that received blessings is gone.

Tears streamed down her straight nose like broken beads, falling onto the sachet and soaking a large area.

The bus, honking its horn, slowly pulled up. Only then did she calmly wipe away her tears, put away the sachet, and board the bus.

......

The project proposal was rejected. As soon as An Ning arrived at the company to report the results to Sun Liangying, she was berated by the other party, who said that the project plan was very good and that it must have been An Ning who did not perform well, which led to the rejection of the project idea.

Her outburst gave her colleagues a juicy piece of gossip.

In fact, the project's rejection was within Anning's expectations.

It wasn't just because Lu Xiyan disliked her, but because the project proposal itself had problems.

This project proposal was prepared by Li Hui. It was basically a minor modification of An Ning's previous project proposal, with her name now attached.

The core of Anning's previous project was to explore the traditional concept of food and medicine sharing the same origin.

Sun Liangying was in such a hurry to have her bring the project proposal to Ou Teng because she thought that once the project proposal was adopted, the project leader could be changed from An Ning to Li Hui.

Then Anning would have no value in Haowei.

Before coming to Auten, Anning had done some research and learned that Auten's food sector project was linked to the medical field and would cooperate with hospitals, focusing on difficult and complicated diseases.

This project proposal clearly lacked any due diligence on the Ou Teng Group, let alone the fact that Lu Xiyan didn't even glance at it.

Even if he looked at it with good temper, it would still be absolutely unqualified.

"This project proposal does not align with Auten's current positioning, so it's understandable that it was rejected by them."

An Ning looked at Sun Jingying, "What Ou Teng needs are the hard skills of a senior nutritionist, such as clinical biochemistry interpretation, analyzing the correlation between tumor markers and nutritional indicators, or precise nutritional calculations, such as developing protein restriction plans for patients with abnormal liver and kidney function."

She opened the project proposal, "There are no notes about these things in this proposal."

Sun Liangying glanced at the project proposal on the table with displeasure, then slammed her hand on the table. "Now you're talking so eloquently, but this project proposal is—"

"But what I did was also approved by the higher-ups at Auten. Is that what Manager Sun is trying to say?" An Ning smiled lightly. "Things that were approved before are now being rejected, so you think it's my problem."

"I didn't know much about Auten before, and I didn't create a proposal that matched their positioning. Auten wasn't really willing to cooperate with us at the time either. Otherwise, Manager Sun wouldn't have been dealing with Auten for a year without securing a partnership."

Her tone was neither too loud nor too soft, but Sun Liangying was quite angry. "An Ning, I really underestimated you."

"Manager Sun, I joined Haowei simply for work purposes and have no intention of competing with you for anything. We both work for Haowei and hope to cooperate with Outeng, so we're all in the same boat."

An Ning spoke calmly and respectfully, "Our common goal is to optimize the project, not to confront each other."

After she finished speaking, she packed up the project proposal, turned around, and walked out.

Sun Liangying stared at her retreating figure, then scoffed disdainfully, "What is that!"

......

Anning returned to her workstation and sat down, her mind still foggy.

I opened my computer and revisited the Auten Group's website, wanting to further refine their project requirements.

While holding the mouse, my hand unconsciously clicked on the public information page of Auten's senior management.

Scroll down the webpage, and a striking and stunning face appears before your eyes.

Lu Xiyan, 30 years old, graduated from STF Academy in Country M.

[At 27, he succeeded as Chairman and Chief CEO of Auten Group]

"Chairman..." An Ning stared at the information above. Counting from the time he took over, it was half a year after they separated.

Isn't his father the chairman of the Ouyuan Group?