Chapter 18 Cutting Straight To The Point

• The first thing that Eleanor saw when she got back to the mansion was Juliet sitting dejectedly by the pool, staring at the moon with a dazed look.
• Sitting beside Juliet was Evangeline, who was looking at the former with pursed lips. It was obvious that the little girl was worried about Juliet from the concerned look on her face.
• “Mommy, you're back!” Evangeline walked over to Eleanor's side before adding, “Ms. Bourn is feeling rather down.”
• Eleanor tousled her daughter's hair and said, “Eva, why don't you head to bed first? I'll talk to Ms. Bourn.”
• Evangeline nodded and went back into the mansion to go to sleep.
• Eleanor was well aware of why Juliet was upset. She walked over to the woman's side and sat down.
• “Why, are you feeling disappointed after finding out Eva is Emmanuel's daughter?”
• “Eleanor, I didn't know Emmanuel is Eva's father. I...”
• “You fell for Emmanuel?”
• “I did,” replied Juliet without any hesitation, fully admitting to her feelings toward Emmanuel.
• “Go and pursue him, then.” Eleanor propped her hands on the ground and looked up at the stars with a relaxed expression on her face.
• “Huh?” Juliet whipped her head to look at Eleanor, baffled.
• She continued, “Eva is Emmanuel's daughter. That means you're his woman. So how could you ask me to pursue him? Aren't you jealous? Don't you feel upset?”
• “It's impossible for us to be together in this lifetime. My life was ruined from the moment he violated me. You have no idea how much I hate him, so if you could pursue him and take him away from Summerbank, I'll be forever in your debt.”
• “Eleanor... can I really pursue Emmanuel?”
• “Of course you can. Just go for it. I wish you the best of luck. Hopefully, you'll be able to get him out of Summerbank,” said Eleanor as she got up and walked away.
• Everything that Eleanor said was from the bottom of her heart.
• She felt that she would only be able to have a peaceful life with Evangeline if Juliet managed to get together with Emmanuel and leave Summerbank with him.
• Besides, it would be like hitting two birds with one stone since Juliet would be able to realize her dream of marrying into a wealthy family.
• Juliet got to her feet and called out, “Thank you, Eleanor!”
• With her back facing Juliet, Eleanor waved her hand in response before saying, “I hope you'll succeed in marrying into a wealthy family.”
• The next morning, Eleanor came to the sales department as usual, and like always, she saw two buns and a cup of coffee on her table.
• She dumped the food into the trash can without even batting an eye.
• Surprised to see this, Tiffany exclaimed, “I can't believe you have a hobby of throwing food away, Ms. Cabot!”
• Eleanor simply smiled at her in response without saying anything else.
• “You know, my salary's only eight hundred a month. So, if you're not going to eat that, give it to me. This way, I'll be able to save some money.”
• “Sure. If there's still food on the table tomorrow, feel free to take them.”
• Tiffany grinned. “Hehe, thanks, Ms. Cabot!”
• After the morning meeting ended, Eleanor dragged Tiffany to the corner of the office and asked, “Hey Tiff, will you come with me to Southspell Corporation later? I don't think it's a good idea to wait around any longer. Let's just take the initiative and head directly to the company to talk to the manager.”
• Eleanor knew that if she waited any longer, she would be defeated by Sophie.
• Even though it's quite rude to make a visit without an appointment, I still have to take the chance because if I don't go, it would be difficult for me to seal the deal with Southspell Corporation.
• Tiffany replied, “Sure. At least we'll get a chance at negotiating if we head there directly. After all, the client sure as hell won't come to us of their own accord.”
• After discussing their plan briefly, the two women set off.
• Upon arriving at Southspell Corporation, the first thing that the two women did was approach the front desk to make an appointment with the purchasing manager.
• They soon learned that the purchasing manager was having a meeting with important clients in the conference room and had no time to entertain them. Thus, they could only wait patiently at the entrance of the company.
• Around half an hour later, the purchasing manager of Southspell Corporation, Nicholas Hamilton, Shane, Douglas, and Sophie walked out of the company.
• All four of them had smiles on their faces.
• Judging from the way Douglas was shaking hands with Nicholas, it was obvious that the deal had been signed.
• When Eleanor and Tiffany caught sight of the four of them, their faces fell and they looked frustrated. I guess we're still too late, huh?
• With her hands into her pockets, Sophie approached Eleanor and said, “Oh, if it isn't Eleanor. What are you doing here?”
• Eleanor ignored her and strode over to Nicholas. With an earnest look on her face, she said, “Mr. Hamilton, do you still remember me? I'm Eleanor Cabot of Bellridge Group. We talked yesterday on the phone. You said that we can meet today to talk about—”
• Before she could finish, Nicholas looked toward Douglas and cut her off, saying, “This is an internal matter of Bellridge Group, so you should solve the affairs of your own company by yourself. Since when did the sales department of Bellridge Group get so out of line? To have the audacity to fight over the deal right in front of each other... I have to say that I'm amazed.”
• Without even glancing at Eleanor, Nicholas turned around and walked away. No matter how many times Eleanor called out to him, he paid no heed to her.
• “Eleanor, are you out of your mind?” Sophie huffed, sarcasm dripping from her tone. “The deal's ours now, so what are you still doing yapping about? Is this how Emmanuel taught you to get orders? To snatch it out of your opponent's hand?”
• Panting, Eleanor stood rooted to her spot. She had no intention of saying anything, for she knew that it wasn't that unusual to lose the deal since Douglas himself had made an appearance.
• I'm just a normal salesgirl. It's simply impossible for me to compete against Douglas and Shane.
• Staring at Eleanor with contempt, Sophie sneered, “You still have a long way to go before you can even think of fighting against us, Eleanor.”
• She continued, “Let me tell you something; it's important to know which side to stand on. The sales department has eighty people, and only around twenty of you have joined Emmanuel's team. Not to mention the performance of your team is terrible. Do you know why our team's performance is so good? It's because Mr. Swanson is willing to go the extra mile to get us deals. He's nothing like Mr. Kirsch, who's probably sitting in the comfort of his office, sipping on tea and sunbathing.”
• Douglas and Shane glanced at Eleanor before turning to leave. They didn't say anything to her for they felt that it was beneath them to speak to someone of Eleanor's status.
• Before Sophie left, she mocked, “What a bunch of weaklings. Who do you think you are? Trying to snatch my deal.”
• Tiffany had always been a straightforward woman. With animosity flashing in her eyes, she glared at their departing car. “How can they bully us like this? They're a group of managers picking on us rookies! And I can't believe Sophie got Mr. Swanson to help with the deal just so she could claim the position of vice director for herself!”
• She added, “Why isn't Mr. Kirsch helping us, anyway? Is he going to just stand idly by while we're being picked on? Ms. Cabot, you've worked so hard on this. If we're talking about personal capabilities, you probably would have already gotten the deal signed. Sophie is so despicable for asking Mr. Swanson to help her with this. You know what? The first thing I'm going to do when we head back to the company is to look for Mr. Kirsch. I'm going to ask for his help. After all, this matter concerns our team's reputation.”
• “Come on, let's just go.” Eleanor sighed. “We can go look for other deals even if we lost this one. There's no need to ask Mr. Kirsch for help. He's the CEO. I doubt he'd be willing to accompany us rookies to search for business deals. It's better to just rely on ourselves.”
• Tiffany said nothing to that, but being a rural girl with a headstrong personality, she still found it hard to accept such an outcome.
• Although it's true that Emmanuel has no obligation in helping us get the deal, why can't he help when Douglas, who's a CEO as well, was willing to accompany his employee to discuss the deal? Besides, the business deal with Southspell Corporation is a big one. So why can't Emmanuel offer his help for the sake of the company's interest? Moreover, it's quite chaotic in the company now that the sales department has been divided into two factions because of Emmanuel's appearance. Coupled with the fact that whoever manages to get the deal with Southspell Corporation would be able to lay claim over the vice director position, it's weird that Emmanuel isn't doing anything to help. After all, doesn't he want someone he trusts to be the vice director?
• With those thoughts in mind, the first thing that Tiffany did after she returned to the company was to storm into Emmanuel's office. When she saw Emmanuel sitting on the couch basking in the sun and reading the newspaper, fury boiled within her heart.
• Ms. Cabot's working her a*s off trying to improve the team's performance, and she even has to endure getting bullied by Douglas' team, and yet, the leader of our team has the gall to be sitting here, sunbathing.
• With bloodshot eyes, Tiffany uttered, “I'll get straight to the point, Mr. Kirsch. I'm planning to revolt.”