Chapter 264: Chapter 264: The Unseen Trap

Julian Sterling muttered a string of curses directed at Ethan Caldwell for a while, but eventually, he could only let out a heavy sigh. Julian knew that he was allowing his personal emotions to influence him far too much, and this was certainly not a good thing.

The current timing was truly somewhat sensitive; by all rights, Julian should have remained perfectly calm to handle everything properly. He reminded himself that every single action he took right now required absolute clarity and a completely level head.

If he allowed himself to waver at this moment, failing to keep his mind focused on his work, and then by some coincidence the project encountered a troublesome issue, it would be no different from throwing himself right into the trap set by Gabriel Cole. That man was always lurking in the shadows, eagerly awaiting any vulnerability from them. Just a single misstep would bring about incredibly severe consequences.

Therefore, even though his heart still harbored a bit of discomfort and inner turmoil, Julian very quickly forced himself to calm down. He picked up his phone and rapidly sent a message to Helen Lloyd, asking her to continuously monitor the situation across the press and all media platforms.

Judging by the current situation, there was a high probability that Ethan Caldwell was being held up by closed-door meetings or some specific events, leading to the fact that Ethan could not use his phone. It was as if any disadvantageous information were to be pushed onto social media right at this very moment, Ethan would not be able to handle it in time. For the time being, Julian instructed Helen to mobilize their people to control the narrative, paying close attention to any anonymous posts, so that everything would not escalate too far beyond their control before Julian and Ethan could communicate directly.

After carefully arranging everything thoroughly with Helen and receiving her confirmation message, Julian finally pulled his chair up to sit up straight, setting to work and meticulously reviewing the progress reports of the project displayed on his computer screen. The endlessly long lines of data appearing before his eyes demanded an extremely high level of intense concentration.

Before Ethan departed for his business trip, he had specifically instructed his subordinates that the progress reports during the time he was absent would be entirely transferred to Julian for censorship and approval.

In truth, for such a massive project, a single day would not yield much progress to show any clear, visible differences. However, this current phase was an incredibly crucial foundation-building stage, directly relating to the structural integrity of the entire system later on. If he did not strictly supervise every single minuscule detail, the subordinates below would easily develop a negligent mindset, inevitably leading to completely unwarranted mistakes.

Because of this, even if the progress merely inched forward by a mere 0.001 percent, it still had to be fully reported in written documents; they were absolutely not permitted to overlook any single number whatsoever.

Right at the moment Julian was earnestly studying the reports, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the surface of the desk to calculate the potential risks, the ringing of his phone echoed out, abruptly shattering the serene silence of the room. Due to the incident of missing a call earlier in the morning, this time Julian had already set his phone to ringing mode, merely adjusting the volume to be a bit softer so it would not cause him to startle.

Julian had indeed heard the ringing sound, but because he was carefully observing the discrepancies within the data figures on the report, he did not tear his eyes away from the screen. He simply reached his hand out blindly to grab the phone on the desk, pressed the answer button, and then brought it up to his ear, paying absolutely no attention to seeing who was calling him. Julian’s voice at this moment was quite cold, the ending syllable carrying a distinct sense of strictness: “Hello?”

Every single time Julian concentrated his mind entirely on his work, he would be exactly like this. It was a matter of his inherent nature by now, a deeply ingrained habit that was very difficult to break. Normally, Julian’s tone of voice when he was around his acquaintances was quite gentle, carrying a slight, unconscious hint of a spoiled and affectionate demeanor. But when he became completely serious and stepped fully into his working state, he sounded exceptionally cold, exuding the oppressive aura of an authoritative manager.

“Are you mad at me?”

The familiar, deep, and warm voice of the man rang out from the other end of the line, transmitting clearly through the phone’s speaker.

Perhaps it was because Ethan Caldwell had never before heard Julian speak to him with such a distant and detached tone, so Ethan’s tone carried a hint of cautious hesitation. Thinking about the several troublesome incidents that had just occurred during his trip, Ethan was not so foolish as to fail to realize that he was being set up in a trap designed to create a misunderstanding.

Seeing the reminder message that Julian had sent over earlier, Ethan was absolutely certain that someone had intentionally leaked the bad news to Julian in order to provoke him. It was just that right now, Ethan did not know exactly how detailed the information Julian possessed was, nor did he know if Julian was currently angry at him because of those malicious rumors. Hearing Julian’s unexpectedly cold and indifferent voice like this, the man’s heart sank slightly, carrying a heavy burden of worry intertwined with deep guilt.

Hearing Ethan’s voice ring out, Julian finally stopped the work in his hands. He switched the hand holding the phone, let out a long breath, and then leaned his body back against the chair, his voice softening considerably: “Why would I be mad at you? I was just handling some work a moment ago.”

“Did they do something to provoke you? Or is the work not going well?”

“Everything is perfectly fine. Who would dare to provoke me…” Julian deliberately dragged out his voice, pouting his lips: “…except for you.”

The man on the other end of the line fell silent for a few seconds, seemingly thinking carefully to figure out exactly which step he had taken wrong to anger the other party, before he finally let out a soft sigh and spoke up: “I apologize.”

“What fault do you have to apologize for?” Julian asked in return, his fingers unconsciously twirling the pen on his desk.

In all honesty, deep down in his heart, Julian also knew that he was causing trouble without any reasonable cause. It was blatantly obvious that Ethan had been framed by someone during this business trip; Julian knew that fact very clearly and also understood that Ethan had absolutely no intention of hiding anything from him. However, thinking about the troubles that were currently surrounding Ethan, and the fact that Gabriel Cole had blatantly used that matter to provoke them, Julian’s heart still felt stifled and incredibly uncomfortable, which was why he had deliberately used such a passive-aggressive tone to sulk with the man.

“I did not handle things skillfully enough, allowing others to find a weakness and then bother you, making you unhappy. In that case, it is definitely my fault.” The man paused for a brief moment when he reached this point, lowering his pitch, his tone carrying an endless sense of indulgence and boundless coaxing: “So my darling should be the bigger person and be magnanimous. Please do not be angry anymore. Could you tell me exactly how much information you have grasped on your end? After that, I will personally recount the entirety of the missing details for you to hear, absolutely without hiding even half a word. Okay?”

“Consider yourself smart for knowing how to admit your mistakes early; I will temporarily let you off the hook.”

Julian clicked his tongue lightly, his initial annoyance completely dissipating along with Ethan’s yielding and humble demeanor.

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