From Broken to Beloved

Chapter 50- like a dream

To everyone’s surprise, Catherine, Amy, and the other girl, Silvia, were hired—while the three men were all rejected.hinking?"

"Yes, now go call Silvia in."

Bert calmly instructed his distracted assistant, who promptly went out to call the next person.

In the waiting room, after Silvia left, only Amy and Catherine remained. Amy finally noticed the girl named Catherine who had also been hired.

Catherine sat quietly, looking down at her phone. Her fair skin made her delicate, clean features stand out even more. Her eyebrows were like fine brushstrokes, her eyes gentle and clear, and her calm, serene demeanor gave off a pleasant, comforting aura.

Amy couldn’t help but glance at her again. Catherine noticed Amy’s gaze and looked up, smiling softly. Amy returned a polite smile.

The second person to be called in for a talk was Amy herself. She decided to go straight to the point.

"Why did you keep me? Shouldn’t I have been passed over to avoid any conflict of interest?"

"Conflict of interest?"

He said it lightly, almost dismissively.

"What conflict would there be? You admire me, not the other way around."

Amy was momentarily stunned by his blunt words, yet she found herself even more captivated by his straightforwardness. Because he had no personal desire involved, he could be so honest.

He wasn’t like other men who said they weren’t interested but secretly had wandering thoughts about attractive women. Amy had experienced countless such situations during her years in the workplace.

But Bert’s attitude made it immediately clear: she was already "condemned."

Resentful, yet powerless.

"I kept you because I value your talent," Bert said calmly. Hearing this, Amy’s chest felt a little lighter.

So he did have some discernment!

He continued,

"Also, because you have extensive work experience, you can help guide the newer employees."

Amy frowned.

"You mean you want me to mentor those two rookies?"

Bert gave her a faint look.

"Everyone starts as a rookie. Don’t tell me you were effortlessly skilled from the very beginning."

Amy had nothing to say. Even though his tone was calm, his gaze carried an undeniable pressure. Just that one look alone was overwhelming.

He continued calmly,

"I personally dislike employees scheming against each other in the company, and I don’t recommend it either. No matter what you try, I see right through it. Playing tricks in front of me is like playing with fire."

Bert wasn’t being arrogant—he was essentially a master of schemes himself, so he had no respect for petty office politics.

In fact, he knew very well that where there’s interest, there will be conflict. He didn’t care about other people’s intrigues, but anything that might involve Catherine, he couldn’t ignore.

Ultimately, Bert’s warning to Amy was simply to prevent her from undermining Catherine behind her back once his relationship with Catherine became public.

A woman like Amy, if led well, could be an excellent ally; if not, she was the type most likely to stir trouble—especially for Catherine.

The reason Bert took the risk of keeping Amy was also practical: as an experienced professional, she could guide Catherine in workplace matters, particularly in client interactions. He would have liked to instruct Catherine himself, but it wasn’t entirely convenient.

He didn’t care about Amy’s admiration for him. In fact, he had a private motive: he wanted to use Amy’s admiration to provoke a certain slow-to-understand young woman.

After helping her repeatedly, how could Catherine not notice that he had feelings for her?

Catherine was the last to be called in for a private talk.

She had a lot she wanted to say, but before she could speak, Bert opened the conversation:

"My intuition tells me... you seem upset?"

Catherine paused. Was her displeasure really that obvious?

Since he had already noticed, she decided not to hide it:

"The reason I received the interview call from Bert Design... was that you helped me behind the scenes, right? Because I remember I never submitted a resume."

He answered her question slowly and deliberately:

"I’ve seen your sketches for the ring. I think you have considerable design talent, and my company happened to be hiring designers, so I recommended you for an interview. As a manager, I don’t want to miss out on any exceptional talent. That’s all there is to it."

His answer was simple, reasonable, and straightforward, which made Catherine pause for a moment. Then she asked,

"And just now... during the final interview, you were clearly going easy on me..."