Chapter 5 Talking About Cooperation in Bed?

Matilda jerked her head up, her brows furrowed tightly.

"Mr. Stuart, I'm only here to discuss a partnership. You have no right to insult me!"

But Thomas just sneered.

He yanked her arm and threw her onto the wide leather sofa.

Before Matilda could get up, he was already on top of her, pinning her down firmly.

"Drop the act." Thomas unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt with one hand, revealing a broad, muscular chest. "That night in the private room, you were way more eager than this."

His voice was thick with desire, making Matilda involuntarily recall that night—his heavy breathing in her ear.

Shame flooded through Matilda as she clenched her teeth, her face flushing red, though the dim lighting in the room concealed it.

Matilda struggled desperately, pushing against his chest with both hands.

"Let go of me! Thomas, you psycho!"

"I'm the psycho?" Thomas laughed coldly, ripping off his tie and tossing it to the floor. "You went through all this trouble to show up in front of me—isn't this exactly what you wanted?"

He lowered his head to find her lips.

Matilda turned her head away, and the kiss landed on her neck instead.

The warm sensation made Matilda's whole body stiffen. She drew up her knee, aiming for his groin.

Thomas reacted quickly, pressing his long leg down to pin hers against the sofa.

Matilda was wearing a business suit, which unfortunately made things easier for Thomas.

His burning hot hand moved suggestively along her thigh, slipping under the hem of her pencil skirt.

Matilda trembled all over, her eyes turning red as she looked at Thomas.

Thomas's hot lips pressed down, ravaging Matilda's red lips without mercy.

She suddenly opened her mouth and bit down hard on his lip. The metallic taste of blood instantly spread.

Thomas froze. Matilda seized the opportunity to push him away, scrambling to the other end of the sofa. She frantically straightened her disheveled clothes, her chest heaving violently.

"Thomas, don't go too far!" Her voice trembled, her eyes rimmed with red.

Thomas stood up slowly, smoothing out his wrinkled shirt collar, looking down at her from above.

"What's the act for?" He laughed mockingly, his tone dripping with contempt. "That night in the private room, you weren't acting like this at all."

Matilda's face went pale, her nails digging into her palms.

"I told you, I'm only here to discuss a partnership!" She grabbed the proposal from the coffee table and held it out again. "This is Elevate Advertising's sincere offer."

Thomas didn't even glance at it. He raised his hand and swept it away.

The folder fell to the floor, papers scattering everywhere.

"Ascend Global Holdings doesn't need vendors who sleep their way to the top." Thomas turned and walked to the bar, pouring himself a drink. "Brent."

The door to the private room opened, and Brent walked in quickly.

"Mr. Stuart."

"Throw her out. Don't let just anyone in here from now on."

Brent walked up to Matilda and gestured toward the door. "Let's go."

Matilda crouched down and picked up the scattered proposal sheets one by one.

The sharp edges of the paper cut her finger, drawing tiny beads of blood.

She gathered everything silently and stood up.

Just then, the door to the private room was pushed open again.

A wave of strong perfume wafted in.

"Thomas, why did you come here? I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Josie pouted, dressed head to toe in luxury designer brands, walking in from outside.

Seeing Matilda in the room, she stopped dead in her tracks.

She looked Matilda up and down—her messy hair and reddened eyes—then glanced at Thomas's unbuttoned shirt. Her expression instantly darkened.

"We meet again."

Josie sneered, clicking over in her high heels to stand in front of Matilda, speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear: "You were at the company during the day, weren't you trying to seduce Thomas? And now you've followed him here at night? Have you no shame?"

Matilda gripped her documents tightly, looking at her coldly. "Miss, please show some respect. I'm here to discuss business."

"Business?" Josie lowered her voice even more, reaching out to poke Matilda's shoulder. "Who discusses business in a private room in the middle of the night? I've seen plenty of women like you—willing to do anything to get into a man's bed."

Matilda stepped aside to avoid her hand.

"If you're that insecure, spend more time on your man instead of acting like a shrew here."

"Ah! What are you doing?" Josie ground her teeth in anger, secretly shoving Matilda hard from behind while crying out and falling down herself, landing right next to Thomas.

"Thomas, does she have some kind of problem with me?" Josie clutched Thomas's arm, looking utterly wronged, tears coming instantly. "I was just trying to help straighten her wrinkled collar, and she pushed me!"

Thomas held his drink, leaning against the bar, watching this scene coldly without saying a word.

Matilda knew there was no point in continuing this. She turned to leave.

"Stop." Thomas suddenly spoke.

Matilda froze.

Thomas walked over and set his glass down on the coffee table with a sharp clink.

"Since you're so desperate to discuss a partnership with me, I'll give you a chance." He pointed at the scattered papers on the table. "This proposal—the target audience is too narrow, and the marketing is too outdated."

"I'm giving you ten minutes to come up with an alternative proposal that satisfies me, right here, right now. If you can't do it, don't ever show up in front of me again. Got it?"

Matilda nearly ground her teeth to dust. Ten minutes? This was clearly deliberate sabotage.

But this was her only chance.

"Fine." Matilda pulled out a chair and sat down, pulling her tablet and stylus from her bag. She quickly reviewed the original proposal, her mind racing.

The room fell silent except for the sound of the stylus tapping against the screen.

Time ticked by second by second.

Sweat beaded on Matilda's forehead as her fingers flew across the screen.

She changed the original online promotion to an integrated online-offline approach, adding the latest AI interactive experience. Due to the time constraint, the proposal was still rough, but at least it held together.

"Time's up." Thomas glanced at his watch and tapped the table lazily.

Matilda pushed the tablet toward him. "Mr. Stuart, here's the new framework. Through AI interaction..."

Before she could finish, Josie suddenly leaned in, her elbow seemingly accidentally bumping into it.

The tablet fell to the floor, the screen instantly shattering and going black.

Matilda shot to her feet, glaring at Josie. "What are you doing!"

Josie covered her mouth, putting on an innocent expression. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Didn't you upload it to the cloud? For important proposals like this, we always make backups."

Matilda trembled with rage.

This was a proposal she'd just thrown together on the spot—how could she have had time to back it up?

Josie was pretending to offer solutions, but she was really telling Thomas that Matilda was unprofessional!

Matilda bent down to pick up the tablet, and things spilled out of her bag.

Lipstick, keys, tissues, and a box cutter.

She'd grabbed it at the company earlier that day when cutting display boards and tossed it in her bag.

Josie's sharp eyes immediately spotted the box cutter.

She suddenly cried out, backing away repeatedly, pointing at the blade on the floor.

"A knife! Why is there a knife!"

Josie grabbed onto Thomas's arm, her voice shaking. "Thomas, I'm scared!"

Matilda paused, then laughed bitterly. "It's just a box cutter. Your imagination is a bit too wild."

Josie hid behind Thomas. "You're carrying a knife around, and you brought a knife to a business meeting—how can I not think the worst? Thomas!"

Thomas's gaze swept over the box cutter on the floor, then landed on Matilda's face.

Matilda stood with her spine straight and chin slightly raised, showing no sign of panic.

He tugged at his tie irritably.

"Ten minutes are up. You didn't show me the proposal."

"Brent." Thomas's voice was cold and heavy. "Get her out of here."

"Mr. Stuart, I already finished the proposal—the tablet just got smashed. You can't dismiss everything based on these false accusations!" Matilda stepped forward, unable to stop herself from arguing her case.

Thomas looked at her coldly.

"Ascend Global Holdings doesn't lack proposals. I don't have the patience to watch you two put on a show here." He turned toward the door. "Get out!"

Brent blocked Matilda's path.

"Miss, please. Don't make me call security."