Chapter 51
Penelope woke up shortly before noon, the memories of the previous night hitting her like a tidal wave. Half an hour later, she was sneaking out of the Johnson mansion with her face covered, her cheeks burning with shame.
She didn’t remember everything from when she was drunk, but she remembered enough-like chasing imaginary butterflies around the living room. She also had a vague recollection of being carried upstairs by someone… a handsome man. But that part had to be a fantasy. There was no one in the Johnson family who came close to being handsome.
Just as she was trying to recall the handsome man’s face, Nathan called. Rebecca had just left the KINY Group office.
“What was she there for p>
“To submit the design proposal p>
Penelope was surprised. “Already p>
“You’ll understand why when you see it p>
She drove straight to KINY Group and went to Nathan’s office. He handed her Rebecca’s proposal, and after a quick glance, Penelope’s brow furrowed in disbelief.
This was Rebecca’s idea of a “brand-new design”? She had ignored all of the client’s requirements, disregarded the site survey, and tossed reality out the window, creating a design based entirely on her own wild imagination. And she had the nerve to submit this after only a week.
“If Stone Group had brought us this proposal initially, we wouldn’t have needed six months of negotiations. We would have rejected them on the spot,” Nathan said, his tone laced with exasperation. “A company that treats design like a child’s game is not a company we want to work with. Ever p>
At that moment, Penelope felt a pang of secondhand embarrassment for Stone Group.
She tossed the proposal onto the desk. “Call them. Tell them that based on the abysmal quality of this design, KINY Group has serious doubts about their company’s capabilities. The partnership is officially terminated p>
Nathan nodded and picked up the phone right in front of her.
Penelope had another idea. They had been so happy last night. Why not give them a big surprise?
“Call Mr. Sullivan directly,” she instructed.
Nathan understood immediately and put the call on speaker. Mr. Sullivan
answered, surprised to be hearing from KINY Group directly, and took a moment
to confirm who was calling.
“Ah, Mr. Reed, a pleasure p>
Nathan glanced at Penelope before
responding. “Mr. Sullivan, given
the
gravity of this decision, I felt wasty
it
best to contact you personally p>
“Gravity? What do you mean p>
“Your project department’s Ms. Winters submitted a design proposal today. I assume you were aware p>
“So quickly?” Mr. Sullivan sounded surprised but quickly recovered. “Yes, of course p>
“Good. Then this is our official notification that the partnership regarding KINY Plaza is hereby terminated p>
“What? Why? Mr. Reed, this is no time for jokes p>
“We are not joking p>
“If there’s an issue with the design, we can revise it p>
“Given the quality of this submission, we see no point in revisions p>
“Mr. Reed, we have invested over six months into this project. You can’t just
terminate the agreement like this. It’s unprofessional p>
“And submitting a design like this to waste our time isn’t p>
“Well p>
“Our company is not a dumping ground for subpar work. We will have this proposal messengered back to you. The partnership is over. We will be finding a new partner p>
Without waiting for a response, Nathan hung up. Penelope was so satisfied she gave him a thumbs-up.
Nathan let out a deep breath. “I’m genuinely angry. To think they would try to pass off such an amateurish design on us. It’s an insult toour time and our intelligence p>