28: [Bonus chapter] Chapter 28

[Bonus chapter] Chapter 28

"Your woman?!" Kate was reluctant to argue with her boss at first. She was a professional, after all, she would always try her best to separate her work and her private life. But this man didn't even try to separate those two.  1

Look at him? He comfortably wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him as if they were actually dating. 

Did he not realize that he was acting recklessly right now?

It infuriated Kate so much because she tried her best to keep the company afloat after his brother's death, but this man didn't even seem to give a flying fuck if the company crumbled because of his recklessness.

"Mr. Grant, you really have the guts to call me your woman when all we had was a  one-night-stand. Weren't you the one who suggested that we should just forget about all of our problems and have fun just for a night? Are you someone who can't even keep your word?" Kate sneered, thinking it would finally deter Henry.

"I said we should forget all of our problems, but I never said that I wanted you for just one night. Maybe we should do it again, so that will jog your memory of that night?"

Kate actually started to imagine what they did that night and her body heated up instantly. She quickly warded off the perverted idea before it went too far, Henry Grant was now her boss, it would be inappropriate to think of him in such a way.

Thus, she changed the topic before the conversation got out of hand, "Mr. Grant, you still owe me an explanation for what you were doing meeting Irene Banks all by yourself? Why didn't you discuss your plans with me first? What you're doing might actually put us all in jeopardy!"

"But we're not, right? I handled the discussion pretty well. You should ask that woman if my input for her manuscript is good or not," Henry shrugged. "Anyway, I don't really care if we lose a million, I can invest two million more."

Kate's lips thinned. As expected, it was hard to deal with a giant nepo baby with no sense of the value of money. 

Kate knew there was no point in arguing with this man, so she asked about the manuscript instead, "What did you tell her about her story? Did you even read her first book and the manuscript of her sequel? I never gave you my notes either, so you have been bullshitting your way through the meeting."

"Well, I guess so," Henry said. "I did a quick read of her first book, and then asked that girl—uh, who's her name again… oh, Mai! Yeah I asked Mai for the second manuscript and I also did a quick read of everything. It's true that I haven't read the one with your edit and input, but it's not hard to spot the flaws in her second book and then from there I based my suggestions around the flaws I found."

"…" Kate had to admit that she was impressed by this man's ability to quickly scan two books in such a short period of time and come up with a handful of acceptable suggestions for an author. 

Either he had a photographic memory, or he was just a genius.

Or he could be both, and Kate didn't like that.

'There's no way someone as unscrupulous and reckless as him could be that smart, life would just be too unfair,' Kate thought as she tried to keep her prejudice against him. 'But at least, Irene Banks doesn't seem to be mad with his suggestions. She looked very happy instead. At least everything is under control.'

Henry raised his brow once he realized that Kate had relaxed after hearing his explanation. She seemed to be relieved, it was as if the company was her own, and her lifeline was at stake just because the company might lose millions.

It was a notion that Henry found quite amusing, after all, getting a similar job with her skill set and work experience wasn't difficult. 

"Is this company that important to you?" Henry asked. "You know this publishing company isn't in the best shape, right? Despite all of your hard work, this company is still tiny compared to the giants such as Penguin Publishing. With all of your experience and highly-sought skill, you can just resign and become a Chief Editor in one of those giants."

Kate rolled her eyes and replied, "You won't understand, Mr. Grant. When I was hired, the company was just a small publishing house with too many bad books in its portfolio that brought nothing but financial losses. Your Dad almost filed for bankruptcy of the company, but then Mr. James Grant replaced the old CEO and hired me as the first editor after a big reshuffle in the management."

"Your late brother and I built this company from the ground up. Aside from my job as the Chief Editor, I also placed my heart and soul into this company. It's only natural that I have sentimental feelings for my job," Kate said as she used her index to poke his chest a few times. "And I won't let a man who lacks any semblance of a work ethic ruin the company I've worked too hard to maintain. I don't want Emperor Publishing to be taken down because of a fool like you."

"So, Mr. Grant, you need to care more about this publishing company or else—"

"Or else?"

Kate gritted her teeth in silence after that. This man had too much power and was too irresponsible. He didn't seem to care about the company at all. Maybe he turned it into his playground because he knew he could just bail out anytime and could easily ask his Daddy to make him a new company for him to play with. 

"Or else I will fucking haunt you forever, Mr. Grant," Kate threatened, though she knew that it was an empty threat toward a man like Henry. 

Henry couldn't help but grin when he heard  the threat. Again, he treated it like a joke, 

"Then, do you want me to take this inconsequential company seriously? I can do that, but you need to do me a favor, or else I might as well burn the company to the ground."

"W—What favor?" Kate asked. She felt that Henry's playful tone made his threat even more sinister. She became nervous, afraid Henry might actually ruin the company just because he was in the mood.

Henry's smile deepened, and he leaned closer until the tip of their noses touched, and she could feel his warm breath on her lips, "You know what I want, Kitty."

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