"I apologize for the nasty attitude; none of this is your fault. I'm the one with the problem." Erin waved a hand. "Alright, you can go now. As compensation, I'll pay you a sum from my personal account—it's equivalent to two months of your salary. You can speak to the HR department about that if you genuinely want to leave. Of course, if you're willing to stay, know that you're welcome." She shut her eyes. When she didn't hear anyone leave even, she said, "I know I should probably see you off or say something else, but I'm really not in the right state of mind to do that. My mind is messed up now—how could I have been obtuse enough to miss something that was right before me? I had to rely on others for something so simple. It makes me feel like such a failure."The employee faltered, then sighed and walked toward Erin. "Alright, stop looking so gloomy. I still admire and respect you—you discovered this early enough to prevent the company from making losses, so the rest of the employe
The employee couldn't help feeling like the world was full of surprises. His eyes widened, and his breathing sped up; he wanted to ask Erin more, but she obviously didn't want to linger on the subject. She turned away from him and sat behind her desk, resting her fingers on the keyboard. Then, she started typing and pulling up the names of all their existing and prospective business partners. As she did this, she asked the employee, "I want to know how you concluded that West Atlantics Int'l's rapid expansion had plateaued and arrived at a stable stage."The employee didn't know whether his answer would upset Erin. After all, his words earlier had already made her fly into a rage, and she still didn't look too happy now. They'd already gotten into an argument earlier, and he didn't want it to happen again. Keeping things peaceful was the best thing to do. So, he gulped and said in a small voice, "I don't know whether what I'm about to say will be to your liking, but it's the truth.
Darius raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Sure, go ahead. Deal with it as you see fit. Send me whatever documents you need me to sign to grant him the powers, and I'll handle them as soon as possible."Erin suddenly flushed and lowered her head. Then, she took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry for making another mistake. I haven't done what I'm supposed to …""Because you don't know what the guy's called?" Darius' smile widened. "That's fine. The fact that you remembered to introduce him to me is already surprising enough—at least your memory hasn't deteriorated too much." He chuckled. Then, he put the phone on speaker mode and placed it on his desk. "Alright, I'm sure you can handle everything else on your own." With that, he hung up.Erin pursed her lips as she listened to the dial tone, looking helpless. Because of her mistakes, Darius had yet to know the name of an employee that was about to be promoted. He could've had a bright future, but she'd ruined it. This wasn't her intention
Erin had unique benefits to offer to people who had proven themselves. If they could show off their best sides when meeting personally with the board of directors and people who held positions of power, that was their fastest route to success. If any of the members of the board were to take a liking to them, they could grant the employee special rights, which would allow the employee to have more say in the company. At the same time, it would also give the board members more clout. This was something Erin and Darius had devised long ago—it was meant to incentivize the employees to throw themselves into their work. Not only had this helped to attract the best talents in the country, but it also attracted international participants. West Atlantics Int'l was the first company in the world to implement something like this, and they were no one would be able to beat them in this aspect.As Erin made her way to Emerson, Darius remained seated at his desk after hanging up. He was curious to
If he did, what did his presence here today mean? A barrage of thoughts flashed through Darius' mind—he could already imagine how the other members of the Evans family would reach when they heard about this. He crossed his arms, looking expectant. Everyone present probably had their questions, but not all of them could be answered at the moment. And so, Darius pushed his questions to the back of his mind for the time being, quietly waiting for Emerson.Through the computer screen, he could see that Emerson was nervous. The latter gulped and said agitatedly, "Thank you for giving me the chance to take up your time. Now, allow me to introduce myself in more detail. My name is Emerson Evans, and I come from the Evans family right here in Ashweir City. I'm not exactly close to my relatives, but there's no denying that we share the same forefathers. Also, it's been a while since I've come into contact with them, so I have no intention of working for them or any company under the Evans Con
"In essence, supporting me is in direct contradiction to supporting your parents and family," Darius said. His gaze became interested when he saw the surprise on Emerson's face. Emerson seemed to be caught off guard by Darius' question, and his mind went blank for a second. Why was Darius asking him this when it had nothing to do with West Atlantics Int'l? Wasn't that a personal matter? Emerson frowned slightly and gave Darius a hesitant look. Darius raised an eyebrow and smiled mockingly. "There's no need to be shy. Go ahead and say whatever's on your mind. Keeping things to yourself like this isn't gonna get you anywhere."Emerson took a deep breath and shook his head. "I'm not being shy. I just think it's incredibly unprofessional of you to bring up something like this in front of everyone present." When the other members of the board heard this, they turned to give Darius odd looks as if in agreement with Emerson.Darius' mocking smile grew. "I'm surprised you're capable of makin
Now that he'd passed the test, Emerson didn't see how it had been strict in any sense. He gaped a little but ultimately remained silent. Then, he regained his composure and smiled. "Thank you, sir."Darius reached out to grab his phone. He flipped to his conversation with Erin and sent her a message. "The meeting can be ended now. Feel free to join in when I speak to Emerson later."Erin glanced at her phone and relaxed. Then, she turned her microphone on and said, "Alright, everyone. We're gonna end the meeting here, so thank you for your time. Before I turn everything off, let's have a round of applause to celebrate the inclusion of a new member of our company's elite!" She ended the meeting amidst the applause, then sighed in relief at her dark screen. Erin placed a hand on her chest, feeling her heart race; she knew the upcoming meeting with Darius and Emerson would be nerve-racking. Still, she quickly shook it off and put on a smile, knowing that she had to look confident.Only
"Bennett started harassing my mother from the moment they first met, making every other member of the Evans family mock and insult her for being shameless. When she was a freshman in university, Bennett's mother shoved her to the ground and stepped on her face in front of all her classmates. Later, my mother swore to cut ties with Bennett, even choosing to drop out of university to get away from him. Still, she failed, and Bennett locked her up in his home. She wanted to flee, and it was during one of these attempts that she met my father. Alas, money makes the world go round. Ultimately, she failed to escape from Ashweir City. I don't think I need to elaborate on what happened next—you're both intelligent enough to guess."Darius raised an eyebrow. Indeed, he could guess what had happened, but that didn't diminish the shock. He heard Erin gnashing her teeth through the speaker and shook his head helplessly. Though his tone was gentle, his words were cold and ruthless as he said, "Wha