The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

Zane crossed his long legs gracefully and leaned back in his chair. As he stared up at the ceiling, he deeply pondered about ways to improve his relationship with Annalise.

He had no experience in dating. Should he seek advice from someone more seasoned?

But who could he possibly ask?

Yvonne stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, scrolling through Annalise's social media accounts one by one.

Just a few days ago, Annalise's follower growth had been normal. Even the likes and comments were nothing extraordinary. So, why had there been such a dramatic spike yesterday? Had the company started promoting Annalise already? Yvonne was confused. She was Annalise's editor. If promotions for Annalise's work had begun, why hadn't anyone come to ask for her input?

She wanted to find Zane and ask what was really going on. But the memory of his disdainful expression in the conference room made her stop in her tracks.

After much deliberation, Yvonne decided to approach Eric instead. She knocked on the door to his office.

"Come in." Eric glanced up and saw Yvonne. "What's up?"

"I noticed a huge spike in Annalise's followers recently." Yvonne went straight to the point. "What's going on?"

Eric slapped his forehead. "Ah, my bad! I forgot to update you. You mentioned before that you didn't think her work was worth allocating too many resources to, right?

"I gave it some thought and decided you had a point. Since you weren't willing to invest much energy into Annalise's work, we didn't want to force you."

His tone was actually quite polite. "So, we created a dedicated marketing team for her. She'll be under me now."

Yvonne felt like she'd been struck by lightning. She'd been hired primarily to work on Annalise's comics. And now

was being sidelinedText content © NôvelDrama.Org.

Her mind went blank. "What about me?"

Instead of answering, Eric asked, "Didn't you say you signed a high-quality comic recently? You can focus on managing that." Yvonne felt that something was off. "But-"

"No buts." Eric gestured toward the door. "You can leave now. I have work to do."

It was clear he wasn't interested in continuing the conversation.

Yvonne had no choice but to leave. Back in her office, she took a deep breath.

So Annalise didn't need her anymore? If that were the case, how could she redirect Annalise's resources to benefit Jessica now?

After much internal conflict, Yvonne dialed Jessica's number.

Jessica answered, puzzled. "Why the sudden call? Haven't I been sending you my comic updates on time?"

"I know." Yvonne knew Jessica was

struggling with her relationship with Steven. Under normal

circumstances, she wouldn't push, but he current situation was dire. "Can you speed up your work on the comic?"

If Jessica could match Annalise's pace, Yvonne could funnel her own money into promoting Jessica's work, even if the company didn't allocate any resources.

If the results looked good enough, she could prove to everyone that her instincts were right.

Jessica hesitated. "I'm still pregnant, Yvonne. And I need to keep an eye on Steven."

Her voice softened with apology. "I just can't find the time. But why are you suddenly bringing this up? Did something happen?"