Family on Their Knees Heart Turned to Ice novel Chapter 115

Back in her office, Lillian rubbed her temples again.

She couldn’t afford to delay any longer. She needed better talent.

Opening her laptop, she typed in a familiar URL. After the page redirected, she navigated to another portal, entered a passphrase, and a new page loaded.

Three seconds after the new page opened, her computer began to chime incessantly with notifications.

The flood of messages was so overwhelming that her computer froze for a full five minutes.

After it finally recovered, hundreds of blinking message alerts filled her screen. Lillian glanced at them briefly before posting a new job offer with a bounty.

Two minutes later, someone had already seen the post and sent her a private message.

Lillian clicked on the newest message: [A million-dollar salary for a spot.]

Seeing the user’s ID, a smile played on Lillian’s lips. She typed back: [A million a year? Isn’t that a bit steep?]

The reply came back even faster, as if any delay would cause the message to be lost forever.

[A million a year, I’ll give it to you. I’ll pay *you* a million to work there. Is that still too steep? If a million’s not enough, how about two? Li, are you a little short on cash right now?]

The smile never left Lillian’s face, her fingers flying across the keyboard. [Two million works. Deal!]

She then sent an address. [Get here in two days, or the deal’s off.]

The other person quickly replied: [Don’t worry.]

Then, Lillian saw their ID go gray as they logged off.

Just as she was about to check her other messages, the same ID lit up again, and a new message appeared: [I’m bringing two apprentices. Their skills are so-so. I’ll pay you five hundred thousand for each of them. Give them a chance?]

Lillian’s smile widened. [Okay,] she replied.

With that, it seemed her recruitment problems were solved.

After deleting her bounty post, Lillian ignored the old messages and logged off.

Closing the browser, Lillian let out a sigh of relief.

By reactivating her “Li” identity and poaching talent for her own company, the pressure on her had suddenly eased.

Letting out a long breath, Lillian once again felt like a fraud.

She felt she was letting down all the people who admired her alter ego.

A single post had received such an immediate response, yet she hadn’t produced any noteworthy work in years.

As her thoughts swirled, Emma brought in her lunch.

“Ms. Mercer, it’s time for lunch. Mr. Hayes has been asking about it several times.”

Lillian nodded. “Just put it down. Oh, by the way, Emma, with more people joining the company, we need to sort out the meal situation.

You’re better at handling these things, so I’ll leave it to you to arrange.

Same old rule: regardless of whether the company is profitable yet, employee meals must be top-notch.”

Emma nodded, a sense of familiarity washing over her.

Back in the early days of their first startup, Lillian had always cared deeply about the employees, ensuring the food was always the best.

After Lillian left and Bella took over, she claimed it was to cut costs, and the first thing to be cut was the food budget.

Sebastian sat down to play with his father.

The old man observed his moves, which were just as they had always been.

Suddenly, he asked, “Why did you choose Lillian to be your wife back then?”

Sebastian looked up at his father, surprised by the question.

He answered honestly, “Because she could help me.”

It was a pragmatic answer.

The old man had nothing to say to that. Among wealthy families, there was little freedom in marriage.

At the time, Sebastian was still an illegitimate son, unrecognized by him, though he had always been ambitious and hardworking.

But he had still never gained his approval.

Under those circumstances, choosing a wife who could help him was indeed the choice of a smart man.

Weren't there all sorts of strategic marriages between powerful families?

Marriages of alliance, often devoid of any affection.

Old Mr. Blake asked again, “And now? The Mercer family has fallen. Lillian can’t help you anymore?”

Sebastian made a move, thoughtfully replying, “These past few days, I’ve been thinking that might not be the case.”

The old man glanced up at him, then back at the board. He placed a piece, capturing several of Sebastian’s in the process.

“So you’ve found a new use for her?”