The Wife He Forgot to Marry (Winona and Yule) novel Chapter 377

He stammered, "Mr. Goddard, we're currently overhauling the customer service protocols. I assure you, we'll see a turnaround by next month."

Stefan raised a brow. "Is that right? Then have the revised strategy on my desk by tomorrow."

Sweat began to bead on Mr. Gage's forehead. "Tomorrow? Sir, that might be cutting it a bit close..."

"Is it?" Stefan's voice was dangerously quiet. "The reception for the last few product launches was lackluster at best. Is it a lack of promotional funding, or is your team just phoning it in? Are your management protocols inherently flawed? Have you even bothered to conduct a proper post-mortem on where things went off the rails?"

Hit with a barrage of lethal questions, a cold sweat broke out across Mr. Gage's back. He desperately tried to maintain his composure. "Yes, sir. I'll personally run a full diagnostic. You'll have the proposal tomorrow."

During the morning briefing, Stefan had seemed to be in a fantastic mood, leading everyone to let their guard down. But clearly, Stefan was still the ruthless apex predator of the corporate ladder, and slipping up around him was a death sentence.

Taking advantage of the intense interrogation, Winona hurried to eat her lunch.

Eating too fast, she choked on her food, immediately covering her mouth as a coughing fit took over.

Frowning, Stefan smoothly slid a glass of water across the table to her.

Winona took it instinctively, drinking deeply until the coughing finally subsided.

When she looked up, she realized Mr. Gage and the other three executives were staring at her and Stefan with wide, horrified eyes.

She looked down at the glass in her hand. The realization hit her like a freight train.

It was Stefan's glass.

Before she could formulate an excuse, Stefan abruptly stood up, his chilling gaze sweeping across the table. "Main conference room. Two o'clock sharp."

The executives instantly went into crisis mode, their panic successfully diverted. They realized Stefan's 'good mood' this morning had simply been a smokescreen—a trap to make them lower their defenses so he could expose their flaws.

Winona watched them practically scramble over themselves in terror, feeling a bit bewildered. But seeing that the cup incident had been entirely forgotten, she let out a massive sigh of relief.

Instead of following Stefan and his doomed executives to the elevators, she made a detour to the café counter to grab a latte.

Once the coast was clear, Corin hurried over. "What on earth were you guys talking about? Mr. Gage looked like he was about to pass out."

Winona gave him the rundown.

Corin shuddered. "Mr. Goddard is terrifying. No wonder the execs are terrified of him."

After pouring kibble and opening a can of wet food for the dog, she pulled out her phone to order some takeout.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Assuming Stefan had finished early, she opened it—only to find Lexie, the housekeeper, holding bags of fresh groceries.

Lexie gave her a warm smile. "Mr. Goddard asked me to come whip up some dinner. Just give me thirty minutes, Ms. Jowett."

Winona stepped aside to let her in, slightly confused. If Stefan had arranged for Lexie to come over and cook, why did he specifically ask Winona to feed the dog? Lexie could have easily done it.

Then it clicked. The dog was just an excuse. His actual goal was to make sure Winona ate a proper dinner at his place.

Sitting at the dining table, Winona opened her laptop to get some work done.

Camille Locke had sent her two messages, asking if she had time to bail Locke Group out of another technical mess. Winona ignored them.

Corin sent a text, reminding her to bring the journal tomorrow. She replied with a simple *Will do.*