Chapter 4

While waiting for the elevator, he stood right beside her, watching her flip through documents for a full minute.

Wendy's mind went completely blank. She let out a startled cry and immediately stepped back, slamming hard against the elevator wall.

Inside the elevator, even though she backed away, the distance between them was still very close.

Wendy's brain automatically replayed the man's low, restrained breathing from that night in bed.

That incredibly sexy sound made her cheeks flush red instantly.

Damn it, why was she thinking about that at a time like this!

William hadn't expected Wendy to look at him like she'd seen a ghost.

Even more unexpected was that after Wendy dodged away from him, her face turned bright red.

It was just bizarre.

He frowned slightly, studying Wendy carefully.

After Wendy regained her composure, she forced out a polite smile: "Hello, Mr. Ford. I'm going to submit my onboarding paperwork."

William nodded slightly.

Just as Wendy was feeling nervous and awkward, not knowing what to say, the elevator stopped.

She glanced up.

It wasn't her floor.

She also noticed that there were only the two of them in the elevator.

But she remembered there had been several people waiting for the elevator with her...

Wendy quickly understood.

The others didn't dare ride the elevator with William!

Only she, pretending to read documents and getting distracted, hadn't noticed she'd gotten into the elevator with William!

But William should be getting off now, right? Wendy secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The elevator was filled with William's scent, just like that night in bed. She really couldn't take it anymore!

Please leave quickly!

But to Wendy's surprise, William didn't leave the elevator.

The elevator continued upward and soon reached the 43rd floor.

After Wendy carefully stepped out of the elevator, William followed her out.

Wendy's heart nearly stopped.

Had he recognized her?!

Wendy's voice trembled slightly: "Mr. Ford, you..."

Before she could probe further, William said coolly, "Come find me after you finish the paperwork. I have a task for you."

After completing her onboarding procedures, Wendy anxiously followed William to a conference room.

After about a dozen people had gathered, William introduced Wendy to the Ford Group's technical team.

He then said to Wendy, "Next, you'll align with them on the technical integration plan. If there are any compatibility issues, bring them up immediately and find solutions."

With that, William pulled over a nearby chair and sat down, leaving the rest of the meeting to Wendy.

Wendy was stunned.

On her first day at the company, she had to discuss collaboration details with the Ford Group's technical team.

This was undoubtedly a huge challenge.

A test?

Countless pairs of eyes in the conference room were all staring at her.

Most people in this situation might be too nervous to even speak, let alone efficiently coordinate collaboration requirements.

Wendy took a deep breath. Her chaotic mind quickly calmed down. After organizing her thoughts, she endured the enormous pressure of William's presence and forced herself to stay composed: "I've learned about the Ford Group's current technical architecture design in advance and simulated potential issues that might arise during ecosystem integration with our project. The focus is on two main areas..."

"One is the compatibility between our different architectural systems, and the other is the optimization efficiency of each module."

Everyone present was a technical expert. Hearing Wendy's words, they immediately knew she wasn't just technically skilled but also had excellent communication and summarization abilities.

Not a single word was wasted in those few sentences—every one was a key point.

They'd heard long ago about collaborating with another company's technical team and had worried the other side would slow their work.

Now it seemed they'd worried for nothing.

After the meeting, Wendy successfully completed initial discussions with the heads of each module in the Ford Group's technical team and confirmed the direction for future work.

William remained silent throughout, sitting to the side watching Wendy.

He could tell she was very nervous—her voice even trembled when she spoke—but her communication and expression skills were flawless.

Clearly, she'd done thorough preparation before coming and had excellent response capabilities.

But this only made William more puzzled.

It seemed Wendy had no communication problems at all.

In social settings, she could even handle things easily with her excellent abilities.

So why did Wendy seem so afraid of him?

After all, she'd been the Moore family's heiress for over a decade. There was no reason she should be nervous and scared to the point of weak knees just standing in front of him.

What was she afraid of?

Wendy could feel William's gaze on her, and her hands trembled with nervousness as she put away her USB drive.

If William knew she was the woman from that night, he'd definitely kick her out of the company immediately, right?

What would happen to her project then? What about her employees?

Wendy looked up, concealing the panic and unease in her eyes, and smiled politely at William: "Mr. Ford, if there's nothing else, I'll head over to the R&D center."

Wendy made up her mind that from now on, at the Ford Group, she had to avoid William as much as possible.

Fortunately, she'd just arrived at the Ford Group and still had plenty of work to handle and many people to meet.

Once she got busy, William would have no reason to keep looking for her.

William stood up: "Alright, I'll contact you if anything comes up."

Those words made Wendy's heart tighten.

When she looked up, William had already left the conference room.

Wendy calmed her emotions, which had been too affected by William, and went to an L-shaped office building next to the R&D center.

The Ford Group had allocated a separate office for her project team. When she entered the office, her team members had already packed up their things.

Wendy waved at everyone, signaling them all to come over for a meeting.

A girl with chestnut-colored hair and clear-framed glasses said quietly: "Wendy, no surveillance or listening devices found."

The girl's name was Emily Johnson. Wendy had recruited her at a job fair—an excellent graduate. The two had a good relationship in private.

Wendy nodded.

Another team member, a tall guy, couldn't help but speak up: "Is all this caution really necessary? A giant like the Ford Group wouldn't stoop to playing games with us, would they?"

Emily tapped Samuel Harris on the head with her documents.

"Large corporations are notoriously calculating. If the Ford Group really got our core R&D data, we'd be fired immediately!"

Hearing this, Wendy's mind conjured up William's cool, indifferent eyes.

Although she didn't think William was the underhanded type, she didn't know the Ford Group well enough. It was better to be careful.

Wendy tapped on the table and assigned everyone their upcoming work.

At the Ford Group entrance.

A woman wearing a silk satin dress and a low-brimmed hat, carrying an exquisitely embroidered bag, took out her phone to make a call.

"I'm here."

Moments later, William's assistant, Jack Jones, personally came downstairs and escorted the woman into the elevator.