The Wrong Woman

Jasper felt flustered and hastily attempted to deflect. "I could tell something was bothering you, and I figured it might have been related to the interview."

Imogen wasn't convinced by his explanation, which seemed full of holes. She questioned, "Maybe I'm just in a bad mood from a botched interview. How do you know I didn't even attend?"

Jasper fell silent, leaving Imogen staring at him, clearly baffled. He quickly shifted gears, making his way to the kitchen. "You haven't eaten dinner yet, have you? Let me whip something up for you." "Jay," Imogen called after him.

Jasper remained focused on cooking. "What are you in the mood for? Maybe some beef?"

"Are you really not going to explain?"

"I was just guessing."

Imogen let out a deep sigh, unsure of how to respond.

avoided addressing the question by spending the entire evening holed up in his study, deeply immersed in work, and retiring to bed late

next morning, Imogen arrived at Star Enterprise's HR department as planned. She breezed through her initial interview and was hired on the spot.

a flourish. If it weren't for Star Enterprise looming large before her, she'd find it hard to believe any of

up smoothly in

an adjacent, spacious building. Inside, the space was filled with mechanical displays and operational areas dedicated to the R&D department. In the R&D office, everyone was fully engrossed in their

dropped a hint. "Gerald, meet our specially recruited newcomer. Please

in his 50s with thinning hair and a noticeable belly, scrutinized Imogen intently behind his thick

accepted Imogen's resume

initially assuming she was a highly paid expert poached from a prestigious institution by some higher-up. However, he was surprised to learn that

his

higher-up! I won't have such

as the entire office turned