The Wrong Woman

Jasper felt flustered and hastily attempted to deflect. "I could tell something was bothering you, and I figured it might have been related to the interview."

Imogen wasn't convinced by his explanation, which seemed full of holes. She questioned, "Maybe I'm just in a bad mood from a botched interview. How do you know I didn't even attend?"

Jasper fell silent, leaving Imogen staring at him, clearly baffled. He quickly shifted gears, making his way to the kitchen. "You haven't eaten dinner yet, have you? Let me whip something up for you." "Jay," Imogen called after him.

Jasper remained focused on cooking. "What are you in the mood for? Maybe some beef?"

"Are you really not going to explain?"

"I was just guessing."

Imogen let out a deep sigh, unsure of how to respond.

Jasper avoided addressing the question by spending the entire evening holed up in his study, deeply immersed in work, and retiring to bed late into the night.

as planned. She breezed through her initial interview and was hired

surreal, like living in a dream, until she signed her employment contract with a flourish. If it weren't for Star Enterprise looming large before her, she'd find it hard

wrapped up smoothly in just a single day. It felt as though she was caught in

After finishing onboarding, instead

building. Inside, the space was filled with mechanical displays and operational areas

director of R&D, and casually dropped a hint. "Gerald, meet

50s with thinning hair and a noticeable belly, scrutinized Imogen intently behind his

Imogen's resume

a prestigious institution by some higher-up.

"specially recruited" demanded his special attention and

Skylar, snapping, "I don't care if she's connected to some higher-up! I won't have such a 'specially recruited' slotted

burned as the entire office turned

keep it down. This isn't our call. It's

is R&D. Even if a company as large as Star Enterprise, assigning someone