Chapter 65

Kian's POV

The team's been handling it so smoothly that I didn't even have to say anything...especially when Amaris is around. She is good. Oh and also the user feedback has been positive so far."

"What did you say?" I blinked at the sudden change in his tone.

"The user feedback has been positive so far?" I lifted a brow.

"No before that."

"That Amaris is good at handling the....." I trailed off when I realized what I was about to say. Shit! I was so engrossed in telling him about our progress that I forgot to leave out the fact that Amaris was behind everything. Oh God.

"You let her handle it?" He sounded surprisingly calm which was kind of scary.

"No." I lied. "I was just busy with work that I told her to help me while I attend to some things here in my company." I immediately grabbed the opportunity to blackmail him. "That you told me to watch over your company doesn't mean I won't be able to take care of mine anymore." I had expected him to feel guilty and just forget about it but no. Not Caleb.

"I left you in charge for a reason."

"Yes and I know that."

"I don't think you do." The silence that followed after he spoke was like a sudden drop in pressure, a shift in atmosphere which would have sent a chill down his spine if he wasn't my cousin. Yes I was scared of him when we were younger but now....all I did was tease him whenever he got mad at me but judging by the look of things, it wasn't going to work this time. I already knew he was angry, even though he hadn't actually said anything.

I held the phone away from my ear, staring at it as if it were a ticking time bomb, waiting for the explosion. I could already sense the rage simmering on the other end of the line, palpable even through the dead air. What to say. What to say. What to say. I let my gaze wander aimlessly around the room, my eyes drifting from one object to the next without really seeing anything as I held the phone to my ear.

The afternoon sun streamed through the windows casting long shadows that shifted lazily across the floor. I knew Caleb and I knew that he was never going to break the silence, especially now that he was mad although I didn't still get why he didn't want Amaris to watch over his company. If he didn't want her around he could just fire her....then she could work for me instead. I turned my head, my eyes falling upon the clock on the wall, its face illuminated by the sunlight and that was when it dawned on me. It was 1:32 pm which meant it would be around 3:32 am in South Korea because of the time difference and everything.

"Umm Caleb aren't you supposed to be sleeping right now?" I lifted a brow.

"I'm not sleepy and stop trying to change the topic." He was right, I was trying to change the topic but there was also a part of me that was concerned. Well that part was long gone now.

"I'm not trying to change the topic, I just wanted to know why you'd be awake around 3 am in the morning. I mean that's not very healthy."I swayed my chair, crossing one of my legs over the other.

I could practically see Caleb roll his eyes as he let out a small huff. "What about the issues with the server maintenance? I remember you telling me about something concerning that the last time we spoke."

"Oh that..." I drawled spinning my chair around. "We've made significant headway there. We upgraded the servers and migrated all the data to the new system. There were a few minor hiccups, but nothing major." I lifted my shoulders in a casual shrug even though he wasn't seeing me. "The IT team's been on top of it."

"And how's the new hire integration going?" I heard him ask. "I was a bit worried about how that would play out...you know since I'm not around and all."

"Oh so you don't trust me?" A smug expression formed on my face.

"I didn't say that." He sounded bored.

"So you do trust me." A smug expression formed on my face.

"I didn't say that either."

"Too bad." I placed my hand on my chest. "You've hurt my feelings. Anyways.....about the new hires...." I tapped my hand on my desk. "They're settling in well. We've had a few training sessions and they're already contributing to the projects. If you ask me..." A small smile crept up my lips. "I think they're going to be a valuable addition to your team."

"Mhmm." He hummed a reply. "And the marketing campaign we discussed?"

"Shit..." I cursed palming my forehead. "How could I forget about that? The campaign is underway. We launched the first phase last week and early results are promising. The marketing team's been creative with their strategies and we're seeing a good amount of engagement." I told him.

"Okay...that's....good I guess." He guesses? I should've known Caleb wasn't the type of person that could be easily impressed. "Have there been any notable highlights on the feedback so far?" He asked and it took me a few seconds to process his words and a few more to come up with a reply.

"Well yes..." I searched through my memory trying to remember the exact words Amaris said. "We've had some positive feedback from a few influencers we reached out to and the social media metrics are looking solid." I explained. "The team is optimistic about the next phase and we're already planning adjustments based on the initial data." I sat up in my chair.

"Excellent." He sighed and his voice sounded more muffled and distorted. "Thanks for keeping everything moving smoothly." He mumbled. "How about any adjustments to the budget or additional resources needed?"

"So far everything is within the budget so there's no need to worry. No major adjustments needed at the moment. I've been monitoring expenses closely and we're managing well. If anything changes, I'll let you know."

"That's good to know. Oh I've been wanting to ask about the project with the new client? I mean that's even the reason I called in the first place, it kind of slipped my mind. Any new updates there?" Project with the new client? Amaris hadn't mentioned anything about...

An image of Amaris blabbing about something while I stared at her flashed in my head and I immediately palmed my forehead. Oh that client....I was too busy staring at her to even listen. Now what am I going to say to him?