Listening to these people endlessly complaining, Hayley Cole was infuriated to the point of laughter. She rolled her eyes and asked them directly, "Did I ask you to do this?"

"It was you who bid on the project, what does it have to do with me?" Hayley Cole had always been this way, never considering that she might be at fault.

Besides, why should these people blame her for their mistakes? What did she do?

"Miss Cole, isn’t that a bit unfair?" a representative from one of the companies couldn’t hold back anymore and asked, "If it weren’t for the rumors you spread about wanting James Reed to win the bid, we wouldn’t have..."

"I did say that, but did I hold a knife to your throats and force you to do it?" Hayley Cole retorted in confusion, "I just hoped James’s company would win the bid, while Sophie Wilson’s wouldn’t, but that was merely my hope!"

"I still wish to become the richest person in the world, so what? Are you going to rob a bank for me to fulfill my wish?"

As soon as Hayley Cole said this, the faces of the company representatives changed.

They wanted to curry favor with Hayley Cole to get close to Chairman Cole, but they weren’t completely shameless.

Being mocked by Hayley Cole in this way, anyone would feel humiliated.

"Miss Cole, what you said is a bit too much."

"Yes, if it weren’t for you, why would we even do this?"

"Who made you do it?" Hayley Cole asked them in bewilderment, "Didn’t several companies not participate in the bidding at all? Why did you participate? That was your choice, what does it have to do with me?"

"If you keep bothering me, I won’t be polite!" Hayley Cole said with a fierce expression, then broke through the encircling crowd and walked away swaggeringly.

She still had a bellyful of anger and grievance, yet to be vented, what were these people up to?

Didn’t they see she was in a bad mood?

Still surrounding her, it’s just sickening!

Hayley Cole’s reaction made the faces of those company representatives turn livid with anger, some even spat on the ground, "Ugh, what a piece of work, you can tell she’s no good, no wonder the Cole Family doesn’t value her!"

If they had another way to get close to Chairman Cole, who would want to interact with such a self-interested person?

"Forget it, let’s just consider ourselves unlucky."

What can they do about the situation now?

If they really blamed Hayley Cole, they’d have no ground to stand on, after all, it was their own decision to try to please her, ending up empty-handed.

From now on, they reminded themselves to keep their distance from Hayley Cole.

Hayley Cole wandered around in frustration, constantly kicking the stones on the ground hard. She imagined every stone as Sophie Wilson’s head, wanting to kick it to pieces, only then would she feel a bit better inside.

"Hayley!"

The familiar voice sent a tremor through Hayley Cole’s heart, she looked up in surprise, seeing James Reed striding towards her under the sunlight. The setting sun wrapped him in a halo of beautiful orange-red light, making her feel overjoyed, wanting to leap into his arms.

However, thinking of what had just happened, Hayley Cole felt timid inside, even contemplated turning and running away.

But she couldn’t bear to leave James Reed, her feet seemed rooted to the spot, unable to move an inch.

In just a moment, James Reed was in front of her, asking softly, "Why are you here alone? I’ve been looking for you for ages, thought you got lost."