Chapter 35: Chapter 35: What’s More Important, You or the Company?
###Chapter 35 Are You More Important Than the Company?
The atmosphere at the weekly afternoon meeting was delicate.
Benjamin Sterling sat at the head of the table, with the department heads sitting stiffly in their seats. Maxine Rhodes, in the first chair to his right, kept her gaze lowered as she thumbed through a document.
Dressed in professional attire, Rose Joyce busied herself pouring water for everyone before casually positioning herself behind Benjamin Sterling’s chair, her gaze intermittently landing on Maxine Rhodes.
Several department heads exchanged knowing looks. Someone muttered under their breath, "This is a core management meeting. Why is a secretary sitting in on the whole thing?"
"Exactly. Shouldn’t she have left after pouring the water?"
Benjamin Sterling cleared his throat and announced, "From now on, Rose—er, Secretary Joyce will be attending our meetings to take the minutes."
At his words, several of the more senior department heads frowned. The motion of Maxine Rhodes’s hand flipping through the document paused for a beat, but she didn’t look up.
The meeting proceeded as scheduled. When it was Maxine Rhodes’s turn to present the growth data model for a key project, her clear logic and solid data earned frequent nods of approval from the executives in the room.
Rose Joyce, whom Benjamin Sterling had specifically brought in to "get some exposure," watched Maxine Rhodes command the room and felt a bitter pang of jealousy. She stared intently at the slideshow, desperately searching for any flaw.
Finally, as Maxine Rhodes presented a complex predictive model, Rose Joyce felt she had found her opening. She shot to her feet, cutting Maxine Rhodes off mid-presentation, her voice laced with defiance. "Maxine! I think there’s a problem with your data model!"
All eyes in the room instantly snapped to her. Benjamin Sterling frowned slightly, but his gaze held a hint of anticipation, as if hoping she could say something to take Maxine Rhodes down a peg.
Rose Joyce grew even smugger. She brandished her phone. "I just watched a livestream yesterday with an analysis from a Harvard professor, and what you’re saying is completely wrong! The professor said that for this type of model..."
Rose Joyce confidently showed off her supposed knowledge and eagerness to learn, expecting everyone to be impressed.
At the front of the room, Maxine Rhodes maintained her professional smile, patiently waiting for Rose to finish.
Then, she began to speak, her tone unhurried. "Secretary Joyce, first of all, in a formal corporate setting, we address each other by our titles. That is basic professional etiquette."
With that one sentence, she had already put Rose in her place on grounds of protocol.
"Second," Maxine Rhodes’s smile widened. "The platform you mentioned is essentially a content entertainment platform. The ’professor’ on there might have been teaching ’keys to success’ yesterday and analyzing international politics today. Tomorrow... he’ll probably be recommending a coding bootcamp."
"They’re just salesmen cloaked in the guise of knowledge. To use their talking points to challenge a professionally developed, market-validated model... Secretary Joyce, that’s not just naive. It’s dangerous.
A low buzz swept through the room.
The room instantly erupted in stifled laughter and whispered comments. Even a few of the senior executives couldn’t help but shake their heads with wry smiles.
Rose Joyce’s face flushed a deep, ugly red. She stood frozen, utterly mortified.
Benjamin Sterling’s face was livid. Feeling completely humiliated, he tried to smooth things over. "Alright, Rose was just showing concern for the company. We can discuss these technical matters later. Director Rhodes, please continue."
Maxine Rhodes gave a slight nod, her gaze sweeping over the flushed face of Rose Joyce. Her tone was calm, yet it held an undeniable authority. "Of course. On that note, I suggest the company organize some basic data analysis training. It would help our colleagues in non-technical roles better understand the business and avoid unnecessary misunderstandings in important meetings."
She looked at Benjamin Sterling, the corners of her lips curved in a polite, professional smile. "After all, the efficiency of a professional meeting requires every participant to uphold it. Wouldn’t you agree, President Sterling?"
Rendered speechless, Benjamin Sterling could only offer a stiff nod.
After the meeting broke up on a sour note, a tense atmosphere hung over the company for the rest of the afternoon.
As the workday was ending, Benjamin Sterling’s voice boomed across the marketing department. "Lucy Coleman, Mona Langdon, and Serena Adler! The three of you, get ready. At eight o’clock tonight, you’re coming with me to The Grandeur Hotel to entertain Mr. Chandler. Look sharp, and make damn sure you keep this important client happy!"
The three young women whose names had been called turned deathly pale.
Lucy Coleman instinctively took half a step back, the tips of her fingers turning to ice.
The terrifying memory of the last time she’d had to entertain Mr. Chandler flooded her mind.
His wandering hands, the lewd suggestions, the endless glasses of alcohol he forced on her, and the fear she’d felt while secretly vomiting in the restroom, terrified she wouldn’t make it out of there...
Beside her, Mona Langdon’s voice trembled, and she pleaded in a small, tearful voice, "President Sterling, I... I’m really not feeling well tonight. Could I possibly..."
"What’s more important, your health or this company?!"
Benjamin Sterling’s expression turned thunderous as he cut her off. "I’m giving you an opportunity, so don’t be ungrateful! Mr. Chandler specifically requested some of the ’lively’ ones. This is your chance! Wear something nice. If you screw up this contract because of your attitude..."
He let out a cold sneer, threatening them word by word. "You can forget about your bonuses. Just head straight to HR tomorrow to pack your things and get the hell out!"
His gaze finally settled on Lucy Coleman as he added with pointed meaning, "Especially you, Lucy. Mr. Chandler was very... impressed with you last time. If you don’t play along this time, you’ll face the consequences yourself."
With a final, cold snort, he turned and strode away.
The three girls remained frozen in place. All around them, their colleagues lowered their heads, angry but too afraid to speak out.
「As dusk fell and the city lights began to glow.」
On the rooftop terrace of The Grandeur Hotel.
Noah Sutton was lounging in a sofa chair, swirling the whiskey in his glass. He arched a brow at the tardy Ethan Hawthorne. "Well, well, Young Master Hawthorne. Getting you to come out for a drink is like pulling teeth. Anyone who didn’t know better would think you’re a married man."
Standing to the side, Erza Sinclair dipped his head to hide a smile. He knew his boss was about to start bragging.
Ethan Hawthorne ignored the jibe, his tone flat as he dropped a bombshell. "I am. How did you know?"
"PFFT—COUGH, COUGH, COUGH!" Noah Sutton choked on his drink, his handsome face flushing red. "What did you say?! Married?! You, the perpetual bachelor, actually got married?"
He whipped his head toward Erza Sinclair, seeking confirmation.
Erza Sinclair nodded. "Mr. Hawthorne did, in fact, officially register his marriage one month ago."
"Holy hell!" Noah Sutton slammed his glass down and leaned forward. "You’re serious? Hell has officially frozen over, Ethan Hawthorne! Spill. What kind of goddess managed to tempt a stone Buddha like you down from your pedestal? I have to meet her!"
He knew Ethan Hawthorne too well. Any woman who could get him to agree to a whirlwind marriage had to be extraordinary.
Ethan Hawthorne looked at Noah Sutton’s curious, probing, and notoriously flirtatious eyes. ’Alarm bells started to ring.’
"She’s wonderful," Ethan Hawthorne said succinctly, his tone possessive. "But she’s very busy. She doesn’t have time for idlers."
"Tsk. Stingy," Noah Sutton scoffed, leaning back into the sofa and resuming his usual devil-may-care attitude. He downed the rest of his drink in one go. Reflected in the neon lights, his eyes grew distant. "Still, that’s amazing... getting to marry the person you love."
For a moment, the flippant, life-is-a-game facade fell away, revealing a profound loneliness that seemed utterly out of place on him.
Ethan Hawthorne’s gaze darkened. He knew Noah was once again thinking about her... the woman he could never have.
*****
