Aurora and Heather returned to the office early after lunch, and when Ivy and the others came back, the entrance was bustling with noise. Everyone was laughing and talking as if they had been on a picnic, especially at the moment they entered, all crowding around Ivy like stars around the moon. Aurora merely glanced over indifferently and said nothing; her phone rang, displaying Jason’s call, which she promptly hung up.
Jason called again, and this time Aurora decided to see what else he had to say. After the fifth attempt, she finally pressed the answer button.
“Mr. Gilpin, your monkey tricks have been exposed; what else do you plan on playing?” The thought of being previously toyed with by him infuriated Aurora. She had never been so foolish in her life, manipulated repeatedly for a so-called order.
“Miss Montgomery, I am calling today because, after much consideration, I have decided to partner with your company,” Jason said earnestly, catching Aurora somewhat off guard. However, she quickly recovered, “Even if you want to cooperate with our company, you dialed the wrong number. You should be looking for Eric.”
“Miss Montgomery, I know exactly what I am doing, and I haven’t dialed the wrong number. I was moved by your sincerity in our previous encounters and have decided to sign with you,” Jason explained without addressing the past issues, maintaining a very formal tone.
The order Aurora had been obsessing over suddenly came through, leaving her somewhat bewildered. Others might not know, but she was well aware. Was Eric, the real mastermind, now passing the deputy director position to her by having Jason sign the order with herself?
“What game are you playing now?” Aurora asked suspiciously.
“We are moved by your sincerity, and your Blue Mountain coffee is genuinely authentic,” he replied, as if the past incident had never happened.
“Jason, listen, you won’t deceive me again. Are you planning to trick me into another setup where you drug me? If you continue with these schemes, I will call the police,” Aurora retorted sharply.
“Miss Montgomery, I am utterly serious about discussing this matter with you. If you are concerned, we don’t have to meet privately; we can have the president of your company sign the contract with us,” Jason said earnestly, sounding genuine.
Aurora, still wary of him, began to hesitate, “Are you serious?” Typically, small orders required drafting a contract for both parties to review before signing. Not to mention, this was a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars, not something to be agreed upon in a few words; the procedures involved were highly complex.
However, Jason had been keeping her in suspense without giving a specific answer, and this assertive way of speaking was new to him. Assuming he wouldn’t bluff about such a matter, Aurora’s tone softened, “Then I will meet with your company’s people first. We’ll discuss the contract thoroughly before signing.”
“Of course, with such a large order, we also want to be cautious. Montgomery Group is a well-established company, and we hope for a successful collaboration.”
“I have one condition-if we are to discuss the contract, it must be at your company, and skip the coffee,” Aurora had learned her lesson, avoiding private settings.
“Agreed, tomorrow at nine in the morning, Miss Montgomery, we will await you at our company,” Jason said crisply, his straightforward manner unexpectedly making Aurora uneasy.
“Alright, here’s to a pleasant collaboration.”
Aurora hung up the phone, her mind still somewhat uneasy. Wasn’t this just money falling from the sky? But why would Eric do this? Why would he just hand over the vice president position that was within his easy reach to her?
Could it be his way of atoning for that incident? However, Aurora couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t the good guy he seemed to be. Regardless of the outcome, she would find out tomorrow.
Her phone rang again, this time it was Julian calling, “Little Bunny, have you had your tea?” It turned out he was checking if she had followed her routine.
Hearing his voice, Aurora’s tone softened, “I’ve already had it, Julian. You’re more punctual than an alarm clock.”
“That’s because I worry about you. I’ll pick you up after work.”
“Okay, and Julian, Jason just called me out of the blue, saying he’s passing the order to me. Has he lost his mind?” Aurora was still puzzled.
“Isn’t that good? You’ve been wanting to move up to the vice president position, right?” Julian surprisingly responded quite calmly.
“But that’s not right, Julian. Aren’t you suspicious that he might have ulterior motives? Why are you so calm about this?” Aurora asked.
“He isn’t stupid enough to repeat his old tricks; the same trap would only snare fools twice. Maybe it’s his way of making amends for the past,” Julian replied calmly.
“That’s true; I won’t get fooled again. I’ve arranged the contract meeting at their company; there shouldn’t be any problems this time, right?”
“If you’re worried, I can accompany you,” Julian offered considerately.
“No need, Julian. I can handle this little matter. If I depend on you for everything, then I’m useless. Anyway, I still have documents to work on, I’m going to hang up now.”
Aurora felt somewhat relieved.
“Okay.”
Julian hung up the phone.
Rocky, who was nearby, was somewhat confused, “Boss, you clearly helped Miss Montgomery with this matter. Why don’t you let her know?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“I don’t, indeed. Isn’t this just letting Eric benefit for nothing? First, it softens his sleazy image in Miss Montgomery’s heart, and second, you even lost those two plots of land with huge potential. Why are you doing this?”
Rocky had been with Julian for many years and had never seen him make a losing deal before.
Julian sighed, “Aurora is a very proud person. She dislikes others helping her as it makes her feel incompetent. My help is merely to make her happy, not to seek any advantage or reward from her. If it makes her happy, then a loss is nothing. Her self-esteem is the most important thing.”
“Boss, is her self-esteem really that important?”
“It’s not just her self-esteem; everything about her is important!” Julian responded flatly. The girl had suffered too much; from now on, he didn’t want her to suffer any more.
“Boss, I really don’t understand your methods. I’m just worried that Eric will take this opportunity to smooth things over with Miss Montgomery and stir up trouble again.”
“That won’t happen. What he did has already cast a shadow in her heart. She will never have a good impression of him, and I trust her,” Julian said with an indulgent smile.