Chapter 3: The tyrant of the business world
Lizzy was hurrying through the bright corridor, her steps quick to the point where she, at times, ended up stumbling on her own two feet. She was scared for her life, her source of fear being her Lady Boss.
She had been asked to report about the current status of one of their overseas collaboration. It was a significant partner whom their Lady Boss had told to pay attention to. There was great potential in this business prospect, and if it were to succeed, it would be a very profitable deal for their company. And so, it was of utmost importance for the relations between the two business behemoths to be amicable.
But the reason for the poor secretary's misery was that the CEO of the foreign corp had personally invited their Lady Boss for a banquet, or to be precise, 'insisted' specifically for her to be there.
It was a well-known fact in the business circle that the young CEO rarely attended any banquet that was not arranged by a close relation of hers. She almost always rejected the invitations to business banquets. But usually, if it were a vital client, she would accept it.
Only this time 'almost' became 'certainly' when it was as clear as the day that the other party had particular ideas towards her. Mr. Huges had been trying to ask her out every time they met.
Dianna Cole, the 24 years old young tycoon, was a fiery lady of a haughty temperament. A Harvard Business School graduate, she held the reins of one of the largest corporations in the business world in the entire country. She was the Queen of the business circle who ruled it with an iron fist, her methods quick, decisive, and precise. Often ruthless. It was clear to everyone in the upper echelons of the society that if one were to offend this female viper, then their family clan's bankruptcy would be the least of their issues.
Young and hot, with a perfect hourglass-shaped body, she had shoulder-length slightly wavy bronze hair and wild chocolaty eyes. She was taller than the average woman, with a golden-brown skin tone and well-developed curves. Her straight nose and pointed chin gave her a stubborn look. When she moved, her grace was unique to her. Her presence made even some of the most experienced people of the older generation feel uneasy, much less those of the same age. Wherever she passed, she would leave behind heated gazes.
This proud lady was the dream woman of every young and successful man, not only because of her charm.
Being the only heiress of a noble family with military background and connections extending deep within the government, she was a pampered princess. She had been cared for and doted on heavily. She was raised to be the family head, and being a born leader, arrogance ran deep within her bones. Such an outstanding lady, of course, had a sea of pursuers— all sorts of people had tried all kinds of means to woo her.
But the sort of people she felt disgusted with the most were those who coveted a lady for her body. This resulted in her kicking away any man who ever tried to make a move on her. In short, she had developed a kind of psychological disgust towards any man who tried anything beyond a formal relationship with her. The exceptions to this rule were so few that it was not an exaggeration to say they could be summed up on a single hand.
To be able to tame such a wild cat, that man was yet to be born.
Also, being from such an affluent, deep-rooted family meant she never had to bother about offending people. Even her entering the business world and building an entire behemoth from scratch on her own was only for a sole reason...
She was bored.
So she wanted to try something new.
She chose business as it was something the military family had never engaged in before.
It did not mean that she any ambition to extend her corp.
Spreading her fame far and wide, beyond the country's borders, displaying her strengths and capabilities, proving her worth to the world, etc., held no interest to her. But not caring about the company didn't mean she was incompetent. So under her talents, the company flourished.
With her status and background, even if she lazed around all day, she would still lead the life of a princess being pampered to the heavens.
In short, ever since the day she stepped into the business world, she was never concerned with offending some business tycoon. No matter who the other party was, regardless of their status or importance, kicking them away was as easy as blinking for her if they crossed her bottom line.
But even if she could not care less about this, that was not the same case for her secretary.
The thin, young Blondie was responsible for the company's profits and deals after all. Thus there was absolutely no way she could overlook the losses that the breaking of this contract would bring about. It was the company's first time investing in such a big deal overseas. It would significantly affect their influence in the international market.
But her little heart did not dare to poke the viper in its eye when it was obviously in a bad mood. The Lady Boss was on the verge of throwing a fit, and Lizzy had complete confidence that if she dared to bring up this thing now, she might not be able to survive the full force of Boss' outburst and still come out alive.
But today was already the day of the banquet!
She couldn't put it off any longer!
The other party had been inquiring about the confirmation repeatedly since the last week!
But no one at the company had dared to bring it up in front of the Lady Boss until today.
Now, it could no longer be delayed.
And the sheep chosen to be slaughtered was the secretary.
The dilemma was driving the poor girl to tears.
Standing in front of the closed mahogany doors, she tried to gauge the atmosphere inside. The cold aura seeping out from the closed doors sent a chill down her spine.
In the end, she steeled her heart and forced her shaking hands to calm down. Mentally preparing herself for an entire minute, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and braced herself to face the end of the world.
She politely knocked twice, opening the door and entering after getting a confirmation.
The magnificent double doors closed behind her, isolating her from the warmth of the rest of the world.
Lizzy stood straight like a rod and walked somewhat stiffly towards the lady sitting behind the wide table. She gave a polite nod as she stutteringly said, "Umm.. uh.. Good morning, Miss Cole."
"Um"
Hearing the very nonchalant reply finally made her relax a bit. It meant the Boss would at least hear her out.
The Lady Boss had her head lowered as she concentrated on her laptop. She was wearing a khaki-colored suit today. Her slightly messed up hair carelessly fell on her shoulders. She sat in her leather chair in a laid-back style, occasionally taking a sip of the warm water placed beside her. A file was resting on her long legs, crossed one above the other. Her long, slim fingers would flip through the pages as her sharp chocolate brown eyes analyzed the information. When once in a while a strand of her hair fell over her eyes, she would leisurely run her hand through it, swiping all of it back and making it look even messier. This small, reflex action made her look very cool and chick. Her slight frown enhanced her wild charm. Despite her laid-back appearance, her aura gave people immense pressure.
And now that she was in a less than great mood, it doubled the pressure on the poor secretary.
Still, Lizzy couldn't help but mull over her words. Seeing the slight frown on her Boss' face and thinking about her today's mission, she was already sweating buckets.
Receiving no response from her secretary, Dianna finally paused and looked up to say, "Miss Smith, are you expecting a welcoming speech before you begin?"
Lizzy was startled by the sudden reprimand. She blurted out,
" No..no.. that um, miss, the collaborating partners from overseas have organized a banquet in the city tonight and have requested your presence."
There was no change in her expression or tone as she lazily lowered her eyes back to the file,
"Reject."
Her tone left no place for any further discussion.
Lizzy closed her eyes, feeling bitter in her heart. This was going very much as she expected. It also meant that if she tried to pursue this topic anymore, the following result would be highly unfavorable.
Her Boss's patience was paper-thin. So she could not dilly-dally anymore. Giving herself a pep-talk and praying for a miracle, she began again,
"Boss, this collaboration is of a lot of importance to the company. The prospects that the other party has offered to open for us are solid. And all you have to do is go and show your face....."
When Lizzy saw the other lady abruptly stop flipping through the file, she began to panic. She tried to keep her calm. She had already pushed her little life over the cliff by countering the Boss' decision, so now she didn't have to fear anything in particular.
Her death had been set in stone anyway, so there shouldn't be any problem to make a last futile attempt, would there? Maybe she might end up doing a good deed for her coworkers. At least her sacrifice would not go to waste. Perhaps the sun might have risen from the west without her knowledge today?? Maybe the Boss would spare her.
But a lack of response from her Boss might not be a bad thing after all. Typically, she would already have suffered a series of harsh reprimands by now.
So, was it an optimistic situation? Was the Boss giving her suggestion a serious thought??
This realization made Lizzy so emotional that it drove her to tears, literally. Trying to hit the metal when it was hot, she stopped wasting time and hurriedly continued,
"You wouldn't need to stay there for long; you only have to show up formally. To give them some face, that is. After all, it's our first big international investment. Old Sir has specifically kept a tab on this one, too. And you....uh ... if you want to avoid Mr. Huges, you could take someone along as your date..."
Before Lizzy could continue with her nonsense, she saw Dianna's face suddenly become blank. Even that frown disappeared. Her face was so emotionless that it gave people creeps.
Looking at that stunningly blank face, Lizzy felt her heart drop. Just when she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Dianna spoke,
"You know, I think I'll do that."
"Yes, I get it. I'll see if..... You'll what?!"
"Miss Smith, are your ears, perhaps, damaged, for you to make me repeat my every sentence?"
"No...um..I'll go inform them right away."
"Um"
After the little secretary left, Dianna was once again buried in her thoughts.
She was having a hell of a day today. For the third time this week, her dear mother had arranged a blind date for her tonight. It was starting to drive her mad now! The guy was a high post-government official from an upper-class family. They had exchanged some random pleasantries once or twice in a few family programs, and that was all. Still, he had shown very much interest in her. And she had, obviously, totally ignored his approaches. She knew very well that all of his interest derived from her looks and background. As a person, it had nothing to do with her at all. These types of scumbags were the ones she hated.
Her mother, on the other hand, quite liked him. She had brought him up so many times that Dianna had run out of excuses to refuse her persistence now.
Even this time, she had no interest in going and torturing herself, sitting through three hours of stifling dinner. But their families being long-term friends only made it more difficult for her to be rude and reject. She loved her family members too much to do such a thing.
Still, just the thought of having to act polite when she would be feeling nauseous had been giving her a headache.
But now, the perfect excuse had dropped in her lap courtesy of another one of her foolish admirers. This one had a more indirect and sophisticated approach, so she wouldn't have to bother about ending up creating a scene trying to refuse his advances at the banquet. At the same time, a significant collaboration could be forged, which would be pretty beneficial to the company. It was true that she could not care less about this stupid whim of a company of hers, but that did not mean she was a business fool. If she could, she would not kick away the benefits.
As for her date for tonight, she had more than the perfect candidate in mind.
As she was contemplating whether it would be better to inform her mom right now or to wait till it's already the time for the banquet, she received a call.
"Hey D, I'll be landing in the city in half an hour."
"And?"
"And I forgot to arrange myself a ride beforehand."
"Why does that concern me?"
"Don't forget to pick me up."
"Gotcha."
".....Wait, what!? Did you seriously agree? Just like that?"
"Why? Do you prefer to walk all the way?"
"How did this happen? You don't sound like you are ill either. Perhaps are you trying to play a joke on me?"
Dianna's Mouth twitched, "I'm serious."
"So my poor ears would be spared the profanities?"
"Kai, I'm taking you out on a date tonight."
"Hahaha.. I knew it. Nice try with the joke. But it will take more than that to fool me."
"....."
".... don't tell me, you're serious...?"
"..."
"...; WTF!!!!!!!"
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