The Wife He Forgot to Marry (Winona and Yule) novel Chapter 357

Camille didn't bother correcting his assumption. "If you think the proposal is viable, I'll hand it over to Conrad to execute. But this project is going to require a massive influx of capital down the line. We'll need to slash the marketing department's budget to cover it."

Yulen thought for a moment. "We're focusing on aggressive market expansion this year; we can't touch the marketing budget. We just received the first round of payment from our new partners in the capital. We'll divert those funds to support the R&D phase for now."

Camille thought it was a wildly risky move, but considering the Locke Group had just bled two massive accounts—the Goddard Group and the Powell Group—cutting marketing now would guarantee a disastrous quarterly earnings report. If the shareholders started panicking, the fallout would be catastrophic.

Reluctantly, she agreed. "Fine. But you better play nice with those CEOs in the capital. We cannot afford any slip-ups."

"Don't worry, Camille. I know what I'm doing."

Just then, the secretary knocked on the door and announced that Tallulah had arrived.

Yulen frowned. "What is she doing at the office? Never mind, send her in."

Tallulah walked in carrying a large thermos. Worried that the exertion would stress the baby, Yulen quickly stood up, took the heavy thermos from her hands, and guided her to a chair.

"You're heavily pregnant. Why aren't you resting at home?"

Tallulah smiled sweetly. "I know you've been working crazy hours lately, and you looked so exhausted this morning. I had Tilda make some nutritional soup for you. I'm not tired at all, don't worry about me."

Noticing Camille standing there, Tallulah added politely, "Would you like some as well?"

Comparing Winona's sheer genius in R&D to Tallulah's utter mediocrity made Camille look at the younger woman with barely concealed disdain.

"No thanks. I don't need it."

Back when she was still working at the Goddard Group, she had secretly eavesdropped on Winona discussing this exact theory with the Goddard tech team. She had jotted down the concepts but never had the skill or time to flesh them out into a real proposal.

Yulen read the notes, his skepticism fading into surprise.

Lately, Tallulah had been going stir-crazy at home. Worse, since she stopped working, she felt Yulen's attention drifting. She was desperate to prove she wasn't useless—that she could still be a valuable asset to his empire.

"I still have two months until my due date, and I'm feeling great," Tallulah pleaded. "Why don't you let me manage this project?"

Before Yulen could even open his mouth, Camille shut it down. "Absolutely not. This project is critical to the Locke Group's survival. Conrad needs to be the one managing it."

Tallulah turned her big, innocent eyes on Yulen. "Yulen... Conrad already has so much on his plate. He can't give this project the undivided attention it needs. I want the company to succeed just as much as you do. Please, just let me handle this. Let me help you."