The Ex-Wife They Begged To Keep - Chapter 137: Chapter 137
You are reading The Ex-Wife They Begged To Keep, Chapter 137: Chapter 137. Read more chapters of The Ex-Wife They Begged To Keep.
In truth, Serena was even more endearing when she was drunk than he'd imagined.
Usually, she reminded him of an exquisite piece of porcelain—never doing anything excessive, as if she were following some predetermined program. Beautiful and perfect, yes, but not quite real.
Drunk Serena was different. She felt hurt and wronged and wasn't afraid to curse someone.
"What makes you think I'm angry?" Keith asked, a hint of helplessness creeping into his voice.
He'd always thought he was pretty dense regarding emotions, but Serena had him beat.
"Oh, you're not mad? That's a relief." Serena exhaled deeply.
Seeing that Keith didn't seem nearly as intimidating as her coworkers made him out to be, she figured they were probably just scared of having a boss around. When she thought about it that way, it made perfect sense.
Keith smiled, "Let's drive home together after work tonight. I really wasn't angry yesterday."
Serena hesitated for a moment. She'd caught rides with him several times over the past several days, but usually only when no coworkers were around.
It was better to avoid any appearance of impropriety during regular hours.
"I think I'll pass on the ride tonight." She knew Keith didn't care about office gossip, but Serena didn't want to cause him more trouble than she already had.
Setting down the afternoon tea, Serena turned and left the office, completely missing how Keith's expression had darkened considerably. He thought, 'She really doesn't want anything to do with me?'
He'd understood her reasoning before, but since he'd recognized his feelings, Keith didn't want to accept it anymore.
He wanted Serena's world to bear his mark, for them to be inseparable from now on—he didn't care if others misunderstood.
Keith had fallen for Serena.
The office staff quickly discovered that Keith had become absolutely terrifying that afternoon.
He stormed through the building ruthlessly, tearing apart the department's progress report and calling their proposal completely worthless.
"Mr. Brannon was brutal today," coworkers whispered among themselves.
"I heard he made this huge guy from the next department over—had to be six feet tall—actually cry!"
"God, that's terrifying. Thank goodness we didn't have to present today."
Overhearing these conversations, Serena found herself hesitating, wondering if the person she'd seen at lunch could possibly be the same Keith her colleagues described.
However, Graham emerged from the office with a different thought.
"Graham, are you heading to the report meeting now?" a colleague asked in a low voice. Graham couldn't help but rub his temples in response.
The project about Wendy had only made progress thanks to Serena's guidance. Still, even now, it was nothing more than a rough draft.
Under normal circumstances, he might have been able to bluff his way through, but judging by Keith's mood today, he'd probably get chewed out when he walked in.
"Graham, I'll come with you," Serena said. She stood up from her workstation, and Graham's eyes lit up momentarily. He thought, 'She and Keith were friends—maybe I wouldn't get yelled at if she were there.'
But the thought passed quickly. Graham had no idea what was wrong with Keith today, and if he brought Serena along, she might get dragged into the mess and chewed out too.
As if reading his thoughts, Serena smiled gently, "It's fine. This project was a team effort anyway, so I should be there regardless."
"Alright then." Since she insisted, and Graham honestly didn't feel confident about facing this alone, he brought Serena along.
Serena and Graham pushed open the conference room door together, immediately sensing the tense atmosphere inside.
Keith sat with his back to them in the head chair. When he heard them enter, he turned around. He saw Graham and Serena standing side by side, a flash of irritation crossing his eyes.
He thought, 'Graham is always hanging around Serena.'
Keith said coldly, "Let's get started with your presentation."
Graham nodded and walked through his proposal from beginning to end.
Even though much of it came from Serena's ideas, he had invested considerable effort into the project. Hence, his delivery was smooth and confident.
The presentation included many innovative elements that were genuinely impressive. Serena felt confident they'd nailed it—given Keith's professional standards, even if he didn't praise them, he surely wouldn't tear them apart.
But Keith's brow furrowed. "This is what you've accomplished after all this time? Don't think I can't tell—this isn't your style. You had help, didn't you?"
He added, "You got help, and after all this time, you're still presenting me with a rough draft? Is this your idea of professional work?"
Keith's words carried a sharp edge. The moment Serena heard his tone, she knew something was seriously wrong.
Graham's head dropped. Keith's words stung, but Graham had to admit there was truth in them—without Serena's guidance, his project would have been an even bigger mess.
"Mr. Brannon, I think you're being unfair." Serena's voice cut through the tension from across the table, her usually gentle expression flickering with disapproval.
She said, "Graham's progress might be slow, but this is completely new territory for our company. What he's accomplished so far is actually pretty impressive. And we're nowhere near the deadline—we have plenty of time to polish this draft. Don't you think you're being a bit harsh?"
The entire conference room fell silent.
Graham couldn't believe Serena had actually stood up to Keith like that.
Keith said nothing, his jaw tight.
Serena pressed on. "I think this project is moving along just fine. Mr. Brannon, if you have constructive feedback, we're all ears. But if you're just here to tear us down—"
She paused, meeting his gaze steadily. "Graham and I won't stand for that."
Business was business. Serena could see Keith was in a foul mood, and as a friend, she was genuinely worried about what might be bothering him.
But work couldn't be driven by emotions like this.
"Sorry." Keith took a deep breath, then turned to James beside him. "Let's pause the rest of the work reports for now. We'll continue tomorrow."
James couldn't help but feel relieved at those words. "Sure, I'll arrange that right now."
Keith was clearly off his game today, and if this continued, he may end up chewing out half the company. James hadn't expected Serena to be so formidable—she'd shut Keith down with just a few words.
At the same time, Serena thought she might have come on too strong.
"You can all head out. I'll stay here for a bit," Keith said.
Serena wanted to say something more, but Graham tugged at her sleeve and shook his head, signaling that now wasn't the best time to speak.
They were better off letting Keith cool down first.
So Serena reluctantly followed Graham out of the conference room.
Usually, she reminded him of an exquisite piece of porcelain—never doing anything excessive, as if she were following some predetermined program. Beautiful and perfect, yes, but not quite real.
Drunk Serena was different. She felt hurt and wronged and wasn't afraid to curse someone.
"What makes you think I'm angry?" Keith asked, a hint of helplessness creeping into his voice.
He'd always thought he was pretty dense regarding emotions, but Serena had him beat.
"Oh, you're not mad? That's a relief." Serena exhaled deeply.
Seeing that Keith didn't seem nearly as intimidating as her coworkers made him out to be, she figured they were probably just scared of having a boss around. When she thought about it that way, it made perfect sense.
Keith smiled, "Let's drive home together after work tonight. I really wasn't angry yesterday."
Serena hesitated for a moment. She'd caught rides with him several times over the past several days, but usually only when no coworkers were around.
It was better to avoid any appearance of impropriety during regular hours.
"I think I'll pass on the ride tonight." She knew Keith didn't care about office gossip, but Serena didn't want to cause him more trouble than she already had.
Setting down the afternoon tea, Serena turned and left the office, completely missing how Keith's expression had darkened considerably. He thought, 'She really doesn't want anything to do with me?'
He'd understood her reasoning before, but since he'd recognized his feelings, Keith didn't want to accept it anymore.
He wanted Serena's world to bear his mark, for them to be inseparable from now on—he didn't care if others misunderstood.
Keith had fallen for Serena.
The office staff quickly discovered that Keith had become absolutely terrifying that afternoon.
He stormed through the building ruthlessly, tearing apart the department's progress report and calling their proposal completely worthless.
"Mr. Brannon was brutal today," coworkers whispered among themselves.
"I heard he made this huge guy from the next department over—had to be six feet tall—actually cry!"
"God, that's terrifying. Thank goodness we didn't have to present today."
Overhearing these conversations, Serena found herself hesitating, wondering if the person she'd seen at lunch could possibly be the same Keith her colleagues described.
However, Graham emerged from the office with a different thought.
"Graham, are you heading to the report meeting now?" a colleague asked in a low voice. Graham couldn't help but rub his temples in response.
The project about Wendy had only made progress thanks to Serena's guidance. Still, even now, it was nothing more than a rough draft.
Under normal circumstances, he might have been able to bluff his way through, but judging by Keith's mood today, he'd probably get chewed out when he walked in.
"Graham, I'll come with you," Serena said. She stood up from her workstation, and Graham's eyes lit up momentarily. He thought, 'She and Keith were friends—maybe I wouldn't get yelled at if she were there.'
But the thought passed quickly. Graham had no idea what was wrong with Keith today, and if he brought Serena along, she might get dragged into the mess and chewed out too.
As if reading his thoughts, Serena smiled gently, "It's fine. This project was a team effort anyway, so I should be there regardless."
"Alright then." Since she insisted, and Graham honestly didn't feel confident about facing this alone, he brought Serena along.
Serena and Graham pushed open the conference room door together, immediately sensing the tense atmosphere inside.
Keith sat with his back to them in the head chair. When he heard them enter, he turned around. He saw Graham and Serena standing side by side, a flash of irritation crossing his eyes.
He thought, 'Graham is always hanging around Serena.'
Keith said coldly, "Let's get started with your presentation."
Graham nodded and walked through his proposal from beginning to end.
Even though much of it came from Serena's ideas, he had invested considerable effort into the project. Hence, his delivery was smooth and confident.
The presentation included many innovative elements that were genuinely impressive. Serena felt confident they'd nailed it—given Keith's professional standards, even if he didn't praise them, he surely wouldn't tear them apart.
But Keith's brow furrowed. "This is what you've accomplished after all this time? Don't think I can't tell—this isn't your style. You had help, didn't you?"
He added, "You got help, and after all this time, you're still presenting me with a rough draft? Is this your idea of professional work?"
Keith's words carried a sharp edge. The moment Serena heard his tone, she knew something was seriously wrong.
Graham's head dropped. Keith's words stung, but Graham had to admit there was truth in them—without Serena's guidance, his project would have been an even bigger mess.
"Mr. Brannon, I think you're being unfair." Serena's voice cut through the tension from across the table, her usually gentle expression flickering with disapproval.
She said, "Graham's progress might be slow, but this is completely new territory for our company. What he's accomplished so far is actually pretty impressive. And we're nowhere near the deadline—we have plenty of time to polish this draft. Don't you think you're being a bit harsh?"
The entire conference room fell silent.
Graham couldn't believe Serena had actually stood up to Keith like that.
Keith said nothing, his jaw tight.
Serena pressed on. "I think this project is moving along just fine. Mr. Brannon, if you have constructive feedback, we're all ears. But if you're just here to tear us down—"
She paused, meeting his gaze steadily. "Graham and I won't stand for that."
Business was business. Serena could see Keith was in a foul mood, and as a friend, she was genuinely worried about what might be bothering him.
But work couldn't be driven by emotions like this.
"Sorry." Keith took a deep breath, then turned to James beside him. "Let's pause the rest of the work reports for now. We'll continue tomorrow."
James couldn't help but feel relieved at those words. "Sure, I'll arrange that right now."
Keith was clearly off his game today, and if this continued, he may end up chewing out half the company. James hadn't expected Serena to be so formidable—she'd shut Keith down with just a few words.
At the same time, Serena thought she might have come on too strong.
"You can all head out. I'll stay here for a bit," Keith said.
Serena wanted to say something more, but Graham tugged at her sleeve and shook his head, signaling that now wasn't the best time to speak.
They were better off letting Keith cool down first.
So Serena reluctantly followed Graham out of the conference room.
End of The Ex-Wife They Begged To Keep Chapter 137. Continue reading Chapter 138 or return to The Ex-Wife They Begged To Keep book page.