“Douglas” took the documents from her hand and asked, “Don’t you have any idea what field you majored in?”
Come to think of it, Summer realized that when she first married into the Emerson Family, they had investigated her background. He knew what her major was and that she knew nothing about business.
“Douglas” browsed through the documents once and put it aside, frowning.
“What’s wrong?” Perplexed, Summer asked.
“Douglas” glanced at her and said, “This document isn’t worth your time. Jarrett Group won’t get the project.”
Just then, the food was served. Leonardo took his chopsticks and tucked in. Summer doubted what he said. She read the papers again, but could not make out what the whole thing was. Since she came to ask for help, she figured that she should trust him, and asked no more questions.
…
In the afternoon, Vicky brought her team to meet the client. Tengsen Ltd., a medium-sized enterprise in Hoover City city, had better potential than Jarrett Group.
The convoy arrived and waited in the conference room. It was only after a long while that the manager of the proposed project came in. She looked almost forty, not a hair out of place-an apparent iron lady.
Vicky stood up, and in an arrogant tone of voice, she said, “Ms. Flora, here we meet again.”
The iron lady took a glimpse of her as she sat down. As though she had not heard Vicky’s chesty undertones, the iron lady spoke in a business-like manner, “I thought I clearly expressed myself the last time; if Jarrett Group wants to cooperate with us on this project, you have to show your sincerity.”
Vicky smiled, glancing back at Summer. “You know that the president of Jarrett Group is my father. He has sent both of us, sisters to negotiate the deal. Isn’t that sincere enough?”
The iron lady glanced at Summer, her face darkening even further. She despised dealing with people who relied on connections to get things done. She had long looked down on Vicky, more so on Summer.
“Please excuse me. I have another meeting at three o’clock.” The iron lady got to her feet and headed for the door.
Summer finally knew why “Douglas” said that Jarrett Group would not get the project. The project manager, Flora, apparently an iron lady, despised Vicky, who kept giving herself airs. Bringing her along to the negotiation would only give the iron lady one more reason to ask them to screw off.
“My sister may be a rookie, but she’s very hardworking. Ms. Flora, please consider our proposal,” Vicky said as the iron lady walked out, now at an even quicker pace.
Summer frowned, starting to realize why Vicky had brought her there. At her age, Flora should be a highly-experienced and reputable senior officer of the company. Sending the good-for-nothing Vicky together with Summer was an insult to Flora and the proposed project.
After the iron lady left, Vicky looked back at Summer. Her face was stern as she chided, “Dad has placed a great importance on getting this project. Now you’ve screwed things up. How are you going to answer Dad?”
Summer was bewildered. She never uttered a word from the moment Flora came in until she left the room. Now Vicky wanted to blame her for screwing up the deal? She looked back at the other two team members, who consciously looked away. They were seemingly on Vicky’s side.
“What are you waiting for? Still expecting Flora to change her mind?” Vicky raised her chin, scoffing at her as she walked out.
Summer got up and slowly followed suit. She thought Vicky was an idiot. She went to great lengths to ruin the important business deal just to subdue her. She truly had to be spoiled. The only reason she could still live like a princess was Jarrett Group, but she bit the hand that fed her. If things carried on like that, Jarrett Group’s days would be numbered.
…
Back in Jarrett Group, Vicky brought Summer straight to Lynn’s office. As soon as Lynn returned from a meeting, he saw the two of them.
“How was the negotiation today?”
Vicky bit her lips, her eyes red. “Daddy, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have abetted Summer and let her come along to the Tengsen-”
Before she could finish, Lynn cut her off in anger. “Tengsen? Who allowed you to go negotiate with Tengsen?”
He knew his daughter and her capabilities or rather, the lack thereof. The Tengsen deal was important to him. Knowing that Vicky could not handle it, he was strategizing and trying to find someone suitable to handle the deal.
“It was Summer. She told me she wanted to go for the big project to prove herself. I was soft-hearted, and I agreed to bring her to the Tengsen deal…”
There were many contradictions in Vicky’s narrative, but Lynn was still biased toward her even though he knew that she was lying. So, he diverted his anger toward Summer.
“Summer! I agreed to transfer you to the Project Department so that you can learn something there, not hold Vicky down and screw up the deal!” Lynn’s face darkened, so much so that it seemed like he wanted to go up and give Summer a slap.
Summer looked at the father-daughter partner in crime, sneering, “Do I have to hold Vicky down? She has been the most inept person around here! Ask yourself; since working in Jarrett Group, how many projects has she delivered, and how many has she screwed up?”
“Summer, that’s bullshit! The company wins many projects every year. Those are the fruits of my leadership!” Vicky shook her head, looking distressed. “I’m all for the company. Yet, you screwed up the all-important deal just to feed your self-interest of trying to prove yourself and blame things on me once things go wrong!” It was as if what she said was real.
“You should know very well whether you’re for the interest of the company.” Summer looked at her with a half-smile. Vicky fretted, as though Summer had read her mind.
“Of course, I’m all for the company!” Vicky raised her voice, trying to fight back her conscience, which was bugging her.
Hearing their senseless argument, Lynn shouted, “Enough! You two, get the hell out of here!”
However, Vicky would not go until she got what she wanted: to get Summer kicked out of the Project Department.
“Daddy, Summer isn’t suitable for the Project Department! Please send her back to Marketing!”
Deep inside, Lynn knew what Summer said was true. Ever since he put Vicky in charge of the Project Department, the company’s performance had become increasingly worse.
“Get out!” he shouted, feeling irritated.
“Daddy!” Vicky looked at him, indignant. But there was nothing she could do about it, so she left.