“Thank you, Mr. Dafoe. But that’s to be expected from us, isn’t it? If we aren’t decisive, it’d be hard to manage the team, don’t you think?” Sonia smiled politely.
Asher wanted to shout, but he couldn’t, so he swallowed his pride. “That’s right, Sonia.”
“I’m glad we’re on the same page. Seems like I made a great decision. After all, if they can betray their boss, they might even sell their company out someday. Best we cut them off sooner rather than later, am I right?” Sonia continued.
Asher forced a smile. He was so mad that he could kill, but he had to play along for the moment. “Yes. That is a great decision, Sonia.” My foot. I spent a lot of money to turn them to my side, but they got fired right after that. I lost my supporters and my money. Dammit.
“Thanks for the praise. I’ll be going in now.” Sonia ignored his forced smile and nodded before going into the conference room.
But Asher suddenly stopped her. “Hold on a second, Sonia.”
Sonia stopped and looked at him. “Anything else you need, Mr. Dafoe?”
Asher straightened his necktie out. “My sources told me you’re handing the proposal about alternative energy technology in today, aren’t you?”
Sonia looked at him for a moment. She wondered why he was asking that, but still she answered with a smile, “Yes, we are.”
“Good luck, then. Let’s see if you can take this deal.” Asher smiled fakely. He wasn’t looking down on her, but he just thought Sonia and Paradigm weren’t up to par. It’d be a miracle if she manages to take this deal. Even if she’s hooking up with President Fuller, the Grays wouldn’t let her succeed. Either way, Asher didn’t think she could win, so he was just wishing her well out of spite.
Sonia knew that, of course, so anger flared up within her, but her smile didn’t falter. “I hope so too, but nothing’s sure until the dust settles, am I right?”
“True. I’ll be waiting for the good news, then. I just hope it’ll turn out for the best, or it’ll be awkward for at least one of us.” Asher chuckled and patted her shoulder before going into the conference room.
After he left, Sonia stopped smiling and brushed her shoulder off, as if she got something dirty stuck on it. But she had to admit she felt a lot of pressure after what Asher told her. She was confident in her proposal, and the professors praised it, but there was no guarantee if there were any better proposals. It might be possible that she would fail.
She massaged her forehead and sighed. Don’t think too much about it. All that matters is I tried my best. It’d be great if I can get the deal, but if I can’t, I’ll just come up with another way to wrest control from Asher. She patted her cheeks, composed herself, and went into the conference room.
It was already noon after the meeting ended. Sonia quickly stuffed a few mouthfuls of the lunch Daphne bought for her before she took the proposal and headed to Fuller Group.
After the receptionist found out what she was here for, she brought Sonia to the elevator. “Please head to the waiting room on the thirty-eighth floor, Miss Reed. Mr. Brown is taking the proposals there.”
“Sure. Thank you.” Sonia nodded and thanked the receptionist before she went into the elevator. A short while later, she came to the waiting room.
Tom stopped sorting the files out when he heard someone knocking. When he looked up and saw it was Sonia, he quickly stood up. “Come in please, Miss Reed.”
“Sorry for intruding.” Sonia smiled at him and walked in with her proposal. “Here’s my proposal.”
“Alright, got it.” Tom took it with both hands and placed it on the stack of documents.
Sonia arched her eyebrow. “Are these the proposals from all the other companies?”
“Yes. Everyone’s present and accounted for, aside from President Gray.” Tom nodded.
Sonia nodded in understanding.
Tom invited her to take a seat. “Have a seat, Miss Reed. I’ll make some coffee for you.”
“It’s alright. I have something to do, so I’ll be leaving now.” She refused his offer politely. Yes, Sonia did have work to do, but a big part of it was because she didn’t want to stay any longer. After all, lots of people here knew she was Toby’s ex-wife. If she stayed any longer, Tina might find out about it and cause a scene. That crazy woman can do anything.
Since Sonia insisted, Tom didn’t ask her to stay, and he sent her to the elevator, all smiles.
Sonia said goodbye and went back down. Then she left the company.
But a red car stopped where she stopped the moment she left. A moment later, Tina came out of the car, glaring at the direction Sonia left, and she clenched her fists. She knew it was Sonia’s car because she recognized the number plate. Sonia came to the company?
Tina squinted, but she put on her usual smile a moment later and went into the building.
When the receptionist saw her, she greeted, “Hello, Miss Gray.”
Everyone in the company knew Tina was Toby’s fiancee. Besides, she came to the company all the time to see Toby, so everyone saw her before. Naturally, it was easy to recognize her.
Tina nodded with a smile. “Is Toby here?”
“Yes. He’ll be in for the whole day today,” the receptionist answered.
“I see. Thank you,” she thanked the receptionist gently.
“No problem, Miss Gray,” the receptionist replied.
Tina’s eyes glinted. “Oh right. About the lady who left earlier…”
“Are you talking about Miss Reed?”
“Yes. Why did she come here?” Tina stared down to keep the receptionist from seeing the murderous look in her eyes.
The receptionist was a newbie, so she didn’t know Sonia was Toby’s ex-wife. She thought Sonia and Tina were friends, so she answered, “Miss Reed was here to hand in her proposal for the alternative energy technology collaboration.”
Ah, so that’s what it is. Tina pursed her lips. She had heard her father talking about Sonia’s participation in the bid. “I see. I’ll be going now. Toby’s waiting for me.” Tina smiled at the receptionist before she went to the elevator. However, instead of seeing Toby in his office, she went to the waiting room on the thirty-eighth floor instead.
“Hi, Miss Gray.” Tom wasn’t surprised to see Tina, so he invited her in.
Tina nodded. “I’m here to hand this proposal in on behalf of my father. The traffic was congested, so sorry for making you wait, Mr. Brown.”
“It’s alright, Miss Gray. Have a seat.” After Tom took her proposal, he pointed at the sofa.
Tina pushed her hem down before taking the seat. As she looked at the stack of documents on the table, an idea struck her, but she didn’t let it show. Sonia’s proposal should be in there.
At that thought, she smiled. “Is there any water here, Mr. Brown? I’ve been feeling thirsty for a while now.”
“Yes, Miss Gray. I’ll go get some for you. Please give me a minute.” Tom left the waiting room after that.
Now that she was alone, Tina stood up and looked at the door carefully. Once she confirmed the coast was clear, she took a deep breath and took a document from the stack. Fortunately for her, the first one she took was Sonia’s proposal.
