Chapter 1034

Teresa never expected that the person leaking company secrets would turn out to be the design department director, Mandy.

Mandy was also a college classmate of Teresa and Miriam. Ever since Teresa took over Teresouth Group, a lot of old classmates had been hoping to ride her coattails, and Mandy was one of them.

She messaged Teresa on WhatsApp multiple times, begging for a chance and promising she wouldn’t let Teresa down.

Teresa couldn’t help but feel nostalgic and soft-hearted, so for the sake of their old classmate bond, she gave Mandy a shot. Plus, Mandy was pretty capable, so Teresa really trusted her.

“Miriam, can you leave us for a moment? I need to speak with her privately,” Teresa said.

Teresa fixed her gaze on Mandy and said, “I was shocked that the new product design was leaked, but I never thought it would be you. We went to college together—I never thought you’d betray me, betray the company.”

Mandy burst into tears. She said, “I never wanted things to turn out this way. My husband’s investment failed, and we’re strapped for cash, so I gave in and took a bribe from the Kellys.”

Teresa said, “If you were having money troubles, you could’ve just told me. I could’ve given you a raise or even paid your next month’s salary in advance. We totally could’ve worked something out.”

Mandy said, “My husband owes 250 thousand. I had no other choice, Teresa. Please, just give me one more chance. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

Teresa snapped, “How are you going to make it up to me? Can you even compensate for the company’s losses? Forget it—save it for the police.”

Mandy was stunned. She asked, “Teresa, are you really going to have me arrested?”

Teresa shot back, “What do you expect? You leaked company secrets—am I just supposed to let you walk away?”

“Teresa, after all, we were classmates. Are you really going to be so cruel to me?” Mandy pleaded.

Mandy knew Teresa had a soft heart and was counting on that, so she just kept begging for mercy.

She hurriedly brought up their past, talking about how they used to go out drinking together, how she’d helped Teresa with her graduation thesis, and how she got married early and even had Teresa as her bridesmaid at her wedding.

Teresa snapped, “That’s enough. What good does it do to bring all this up now? You were the one who betrayed me first.” She turned away, gripping the windowsill tightly. Later, she called the police.

As Mandy was led away crying, Teresa broke down too, mourning the shattered trust between them. She knew only too well how hard the road ahead would be to walk alone—and found herself thinking of Jonathan again.

Jonathan had warned her before, “If you’re too soft-hearted, don’t even dream of making big money. Sure, you can be kind in private, but the business world is a battlefield—there are no real friends, only interests at stake.

“You just can’t afford to go soft.”

Teresa was busy rushing from one meeting to another, dealing with the mess Mandy had left behind.

Suddenly, her phone started ringing. It was a call from the kindergarten. School was over, and Michael was still waiting for someone to pick him up.

Teresa felt a pang of guilt and quickly called the nanny to pick up Michael. She didn’t have the time to go herself today.

She said, “Amy, could you please tell Mike that I’ll be home late, and make him something he likes to eat? Also, please help Felix and make sure they both go to bed early.”

After hanging up, Teresa clenched her phone tightly, her heart heavy with guilt. She thought, ‘Once the company pulls through this crisis, I swear I’ll make it up to Michael and truly be there for him.’

After the meeting, the company’s higher-ups trickled out one after another, but Miriam stayed behind. Her eyes were red from crying.

She said, “This is all on me. I’m the VP—I should’ve kept a closer eye on things. The new products were my responsibility, so whatever happens, I’ll take it all. Every bit of blame, I’ll shoulder it.”