When Love Becomes a Cage by Nora

Chapter 52

Chapter 52



One night, we barely caught a wink of sleep.

Jade's design was brilliant, thoughtful, and eco-friendly to boot. But somewhere along the line, a minor misstep led to a gaping flaw in the final design. It wasn't until I combed through everything from the beginning that I spotted the root of the problem. "Look here. You didn't make this change, did you? The measurement is off by an inch."

Jade pushed up her glasses, squinting at the screen before slamming her hand on the desk.

"No way. Who messed with my design? No wonder the numbers were all over the place! Somebody must've fiddled with the file when I wasn't looking. I thought I'd accidentally deleted the original file!"

I had suspected as much but hadn't said anything until then.

With no time to figure out who messed up, Jade got straight to fixing the data, and I was there to help her out.

After a few hours of hard work, we finally got all the files in order as dawn broke.

With a hoarse voice, Jade hugged me tight. "Melanie, I'd be toast without you. You saved my ass out of the mess. You are my savior!"

"Don't be silly. We're best friends." I patted her head, only to have my hand swatted away as she grimaced, her throat too sore to even speak. Running on no sleep and dealing with a headache, I decided to call in sick.

felt like Clyde deliberately kept me from taking on more at the company. The Design Department had

off than I was, barely able to stand, yet she couldn't

angel, take her place. "Since you've taken the day off, give me

her. "With your brains,

lead designer, and no one else was as familiar with the project. She was worried about potential oversights. Her raspy voice, coupled with her powerhouse demeanor, was quite the mismatch. After some thought, I felt confident enough in my understanding of the project to start

I saw Vinson and Clyde with their teams. I instinctively ducked my head, and of course, Jade saw them, too, heaving

Patterson Group's Design Director, stepping in for Jade would cause a

my shoulder, her voice harsh,

audience was

it just couldn't

to grasp certain aspects. In the end, Jade won the contract with her superior expertise. She came off

me with that voice, I'll mute you for good." I

clung to my arm, playfully whining. "Melanie, my hero, my

husky voice made

and joking, Kayla, oblivious

you support another company? And as Design Department Director, isn't this like betraying

glare was full of resentment, backed by a few from

due to not winning the contract

talented you are. Instead of helping us,

like you want us to look bad. Maybe Melanie even shared our

"No wonder we lost!"