"Boss, Jorme is holding public bidding for the project we undertook. This is telling everyone that Jorme has terminated the partnership with us." Reese said anxiously from the other end, "Mr. Howard is bawling in his office. He came out and looked for you several times. When will you come to work?"

"No way." Maggie just went home and had a shower. During that period, Reese gave her a million calls, "I'll be right there." She hung up the phone, quickly changed her clothes, grabbed her bag, and rushed out of the room.

As soon as she walked past the front desk, a deafening, grumpy voice came out of the CEO's office.

"Boss..." Reese saw her and immediately came up, "Mr. Howard wants to know if you have a way to solve the problem."

"What else can be done? Get up from wherever we fall. Unless Jorme officially releases a statement of terminating the partnership with Red Maple, we'll go through the procedure and win the bid."

Kreeen… The door of the CEO's office opened suddenly. With a sullen face, their boss asked, ''Our proposal? Confidence? Win the bid? Maggie, do you think it's possible?"

"Sir, we should at least give it a try." Maggie walked up and continued, "The emotion card doesn't work on Charlie. According to him, we can only impress him with our proposal. Playing up to him won't work. If he is driven mad, he could do such a thing as stating the termination of our partnership. If so, we'll lose the opportunity to participate in the bidding and get eliminated."

Mr. Howard took a few deep breaths, "Well, got any plans?"

"Reese, get ready for a meeting in ten minutes," Maggie said.

...

"Sir, the bidding documents have been issued."

"Mm, I see." Charlie nodded, "Starting today, I won't see anyone from Red Maple. If they still come, announce to the public that Jorme won't work with Red Maple ever again."

"Huh? Sir, is it proper?" His assistant, Leon Calvin, hesitated for a while, "Anyhow, Red Maple and Jorme are long-time partners. Such a blunt statement will damage our relationship. We're holding public bidding, and they can participate. I think it's better to leave some leeway."

"Sort out the bidding requirement and modify it based on Red Maple's situation." Charlie thought for a while, "In short, I don't want to work with them."

"Got it, sir." Leon nodded and turned away.

Then Charlie's phone rang.

He checked the caller ID and picked it up, "Mr. Lane."

...

"This proposal is different. You sure Charlie will be impressed?" After hearing Maggie and Reese's report, their boss asked.

"No."

"Well…"

"At least, we'll show Jorme our sincerity. We'll follow the bidding procedure and participate. As for the requirements raised by Charlie, we'll do our best to improve." Maggie said, "In addition, we worked with Jorme for many years. Several leaders are getting along with us. We can ask for some favors from them. Then again, we should build up our strength, don't you think?"

"Yeah, we should give it a shot." Reese nodded.

"In short, as I said, we can't lose the project. We must keep the partnership! If we fail…"

"I'll take responsibility." Maggie said, "If the client is lost, I'll resign."

(To be continued)