Roxanne was clueless about the incident at the kindergarten.
After leaving the kindergarten, she headed straight to the research institute set up in the country by her professor.
The moment she stepped into the building, she saw a charming man dressed in a suit approaching her.
"Welcome back, Roxanne. I'm excited to be your colleague again."
Colby Galloway stood before her and extended his hand.
Roxanne nodded and shook his hand, quickly retracting it.
Previously, Colby was abroad. He was also in Harvey's team and was involved in many types of research and development.
During that time, Colby had been her a*sistant. After all, he was a graduate of a famous school, and his capabilities were acknowledged by Roxanne and Harvey.
Though Roxanne's attitude was impa*sive, Colby did not mind it. He smiled and offered, "Come on. I'll bring you to the office."
With that, he turned around and led the way, introducing the structure of the research institute and the key personnel along the way.
Upon reaching the office, Colby grinned at Roxanne, saying, "I've specially instructed someone to decorate this place. It's based on your preferences in the past. Linda's workplace is right outside."
Roxanne studied the area and responded with a satisfied nod. "That's really thoughtful of you. Thank you so much."
Colby was momentarily stunned. He then put on a gentle smile. Even his voice sounded warm. "It's nothing much. You don't have to be so polite with me."
As he was saying that, he could not conceal his liking for her that poured out from his gaze.
Despite knowing she was a mother of two, it did not decrease his adoration for her.
After all, Roxanne was an excellent woman in every aspect. In fact, she was so excellent that her qualities could cover up her shortcomings.
However, Roxanne did not notice the gaze he was giving her.
After briefly scanning the office, she said to Colby, "My purpose for coming here today is to understand the operations of the research institute. Could you bring me around the facility?"
Colby was still smiling brightly. "Okay."
Roxanne nodded slightly and gestured for him to lead the way.
When Colby returned to his position in front of her, his smile turned bitter.
It was true that he liked Roxanne. Sadly, she only viewed him as an ordinary subordinate.
This is so… frustrating!
Soon, both of them left the office area and went straight to the main region of the research institute.
They arrived at the testing area. Several researchers wearing laboratory coats and masks could be seen busy working at their respective workbenches.
Roxanne did not want to disturb them. Hence, she asked Colby to briefly introduce all the projects and their progress.
By the afternoon, Roxanne already had a clear idea of the research institute's situation.
At the same time, she discovered an important problem.
When they were visiting the testing area earlier, there was a foundation work area where no work was being carried out.
Roxanne asked the researchers about it, only to find that the drugs they needed were finished, and they were still waiting for the research institute to distribute them.
Many other areas were facing the same situation.
Due to the delay in the distribution of drugs, the research of several projects had no choice but to be put on hold temporarily, leading to an increase in cost and time needed for the projects.
Gradually, it led to a major loss to the research institute.
After stepping out of the testing area, Roxanne frowned and gave Colby a stern look. "The delay of drug distribution has caused many types of research to be put on hold. What's going on here? Didn't you find a way to solve this?"
Hearing her words, Colby stopped smiling and answered seriously, "I'm already looking for a solution for this problem."
Roxanne frowned as she looked at him, waiting for his next sentence.
"Recently, I've met with a medicinal ingredients supplier and have talked to them about a long-term collaboration. All that's left is to sign the contract. The agreed time to sign the contract would be tomorrow afternoon. The reason things did not go smoothly previously is that the research institute was still in the construction phase. Many complicated and miscellaneous affairs had to be dealt with, and the employees were still getting used to the system. It was only recently that they had begun to adjust themselves. Moreover, Horington's medicinal ingredients are mostly monopolized by a few major suppliers, and the supply was not enough to cover their demand. On top of that, our research institute is fairly new to the industry, causing many suppliers to intentionally increase their prices. It cost us a lot of time to negotiate for a lower price. That was why things were delayed until now."
Colby gave her a brief summary of what had happened.
Though it sounded simple, he was just a researcher. Hence, he suffered a lot when he negotiated with the cunning suppliers.
Even if he did not reveal much detail, Roxanne could imagine how difficult things were.
As the person in charge of the research institute, he naturally had to manage everything. It was normal to face challenges everywhere.
In fact, she encountered some herself when she was abroad.
After she listened to Colby's explanation, Roxanne's expression relaxed. "Things must've been very difficult for you."
The corners of Colby's lips lifted. "Not really. It's my job, anyway."
"What's the name of this medicinal ingredients supplier?" Roxanne brought the conversation back to the topic of business again. "If it's possible, I'd like to go with you to the signing of the contract. Since I'm going to take over the future matters of the research institute, I think I should go over and have a few conversations with them."
Colby simply responded, "Sure. You could come along tomorrow."
Roxanne nodded.
After that, both of them returned to Roxanne's office. When she saw the person behind her had no intentions of leaving, she was perplexed. "Is there anything else?"
Colby smiled politely. "Actually, I have something to ask you. Are you free tonight? It's your first day at work, and I've arranged a dinner to welcome you. At the same time, you can get to know the people in the institute."
Hearing that, Roxanne relaxed her brows. "Thank you. Tonight's dinner is on me, then. We're going to be working closely together in the future. I should show my sincerity as the person in charge."
Seeing that she had agreed to come, Colby did not haggle over such details. He nodded with a smile. "Okay. See you after work, then."
With that, he turned around, intending to leave.
Right then, Roxanne called out, "Could you please bring over all the documents I need to deal with later? I've got no urgent matters, anyway. I can use the time to take a look at them."
"Sure. I'll get them now," he answered.
Soon, Colby brought all the documents to her office.
After placing them down, he excused himself politely and helped her to shut the door.
At last, Roxanne was the only person left in the office.
She pulled out her phone and dialed Madilyn's number. "Maddy, are you free tonight? Could you help me pick Archie and Benny up? I've got something to attend to tonight, and I might be home late."
Madilyn did not question further and gave her a brief reply. "Okay."
After making the arrangements for the children, Roxanne started looking through the documents.
It was not until Colby knocked on her door that she stopped working.
It was time to get off work.
"Time goes by really fast…" Roxanne muttered, picking up her coat and walking out of the door.
Colby grinned. "You're very focused when you work. It's normal to not notice time pa*sing by."
Both of them continued chatting along the way.
After exiting the research institute, they got into Colby's car and went straight to the restaurant.
After around ten minutes, Colby gestured for her to look ahead. "That's the one."
Roxanne lifted her gaze and spotted a vintage-looking building with exquisite carvings on the exterior. Moreover, it was located in front of a river. Hence, it looked really charming.
The restaurant was named The Waterfront.
Colby parked the car, and they walked toward the entrance of The Waterfront.
Just as they were about to enter, a Rolls-Royce stopped slowly by the roadside in the dark.
Cayden got off the car and went to open the door to the pa*senger seat.
Lucian's slender figure appeared in the dark, and his dark, narrowed eyes were fixed on the entrance of The Waterfront.
When he was in the car earlier, he had distinctly seen a figure that resembled Roxanne's.