As soon as Phil appeared, the atmosphere shifted. Aurora stepped out of Julian’s embrace.
“Dinner should be ready soon, Phil. How about we go down and get ready to eat? Perhaps try some of our local dishes today?”
“Sure, sounds great,” Phil replied, quickly distracted, perhaps Julian preferred not being seen in his moment of vulnerability.
Throughout the meal, Phil was visibly impressed, praising every dish from start to finish. Had it not been for his elegant attire hinting at his wealthy background, one might have mistaken him for a country bumpkin, so unworldly he seemed, almost making Aurora question where he had really come from.
With Phil there, the mood improved significantly, leading to Oswaldo laughing heartily. The trio ended up staying the night at Montgomery Manor.
The contract signing was scheduled for 2 PM the next day. As usual, Aurora arrived on time at the office, where she noticed the staff looking at her strangely. She had been absent the previous day, presumably a major upset, and surely, her colleagues were secretly taking delight in it.
Aurora was well aware of their thoughts but ignored them and left. Passing by Heather, she noticed her red-eyed, “You didn’t stay up all night working, did you?”
“Yes, manager, I finally got the report done,” Heather replied, her eyes red with fatigue, “I’m going to print it out now.”
Without waiting for a response, Heather hurried off to the printer. Aurora, having been away from the office, was clueless about the report Heather mentioned.
“Look who’s here,” Ivy said with a smirk, looking triumphant as if she were the one who had secured the contract.
“Is there something you need?” Aurora glanced at her coolly.
“Oh, I heard that the folks from Luminary are coming over to sign the contract with Montgomery Group today. Aren’t you supposed to be competent? If you can’t even secure this contract, what right do you have to manage us?”
Ivy, not a match for Aurora herself, was gleeful to hear of Aurora’s setbacks elsewhere.
“If you’re that idle, I don’t mind finding more work for you,” Aurora retorted, effectively shutting Ivy up.
Watching Aurora return to her office, Ivy sneered secretly, “Hmph, let’s see how long you can keep this up.”
Heather quickly printed the reports and handed them to her supervisor, “Mrs. Lyman, please take these to the president right away.”
“Heather, I always said you have potential. What takes others a week, you do in a day. You really have worked hard,” Mrs. Lyman complimented, patting Heather on the shoulder.
“It’s no trouble at all,” Heather replied, relieved to have overcome a new challenge. She had planned to continue working but couldn’t resist dozing off on her desk after the long night.
Aurora, seeing Mrs. Lyman and Heather, felt uneasy, sensing something amiss. Seeing Heather so exhausted, she couldn’t bear to disturb her with questions and decided to turn a blind eye.
Ivy, in high spirits, flipped through a magazine at her desk. Who else but Aurora would dare to assign her work? Meanwhile, Aurora, busy these past two days, preferred to ignore Ivy, leaving the office like a calm pond on the surface but turbulent beneath.
As the minutes ticked by, the 10:30 meeting came to an end, and Mrs. Lyman furiously flung the reports at Heather, who had been sound asleep. Startled by the sudden attack, Heather’s body jerked and she fell to the floor.
From inside the glass office, Aurora heard the commotion and came out displeased, “What happened here?”
Heather, still groggy from sleep, looked utterly exhausted and confused.
“The timing of your arrival is perfect, Manager. I had Heather prepare the performance report for today’s presidential meeting, but it was a complete mess, embarrassing the president during the session. He was furious and ordered me to fire her immediately. How can we keep such an incompetent person at Montgomery Group? I don’t even know how she got hired if she can’t manage a simple report.”
Only then did Heather realize what had happened. Ignoring her disheveled state, she hurriedly gathered the scattered reports.
“That’s impossible, I followed all the instructions you gave me. There can’t be any mistakes,” Heather said anxiously as she rose to check the report data against the documents nearby.
After comparing several figures, her eyes widened in disbelief, “Impossible, there’s no way I made a mistake.”
“No mistakes? Heather, you’ve been with the company for a year. How could you make such an error when everyone’s bonuses depend on this performance? If you messed up the data and gave the wrong figures to finance, who would bear that responsibility? If you couldn’t do it, why didn’t you say something? The president reprimanded me severely, now you write your resignation.”
Heather clutched at Aurora’s sleeve, “Manager, it wasn’t like this. The data Mrs. Lyman gave me yesterday wasn’t this set. I made the report with what she provided.”
“The data I gave you is all here. Now you’re even trying to blame me? How deceitful can you be? Luckily, we have many colleagues here who can attest to what I gave you. If you don’t believe me, Manager, take a look at the reports and the documents yourself.”
Mrs. Lyman handed both documents to Aurora, who glanced through them quickly. The discrepancies between the report’s data and the documents were stark.
“Indeed, there’s been a mistake,” Aurora concluded coldly.
Heather’s eyes, red and teary, pleaded as she gripped Aurora’s sleeve, “Manager, Mrs. Lyman deliberately gave me the wrong information. I used what she gave me to make the report.”
“Pah, everyone else can testify for me. You made the mistake and now you spout nonsense. Ultimately, it’s the president’s decision to fire you; nothing you say makes a difference.”
Mrs. Lyman’s words were intended for Aurora, suggesting she stay out of it. Though Aurora didn’t say much, she had figured out the situation. Mrs. Lyman had taken advantage of Aurora’s absence to sabotage Heather with false data, forcing her to complete the task in one day, only to fall into her trap.
Such are the brutal lessons of the workplace.
“Heather, you better prepare your resignation letter,” Aurora said indifferently.