Chapter 185
“You guys can take it from here,” Elliot calmly announced. It was apparent that he had no intention to participate in the meeting further, so he rose up from his seat and left.
As soon as he had left, everyone in the meeting room exhaled in relief. The heavy atmosphere earlier had been suffocating.
“Anastasia, we will fight for the position in a fair and square manner. If you can beat me, I’ll give you the position!” Alice sneered.
“I don’t need you to give it to me. Let’s each do our best,” Anastasia coldly refuted.
“Other than the three people whose names were called earlier, the others may leave.” Felicia asked them to leave, as she wanted to have a private talk with the trio.
In the task this time, all three of them would be responsible for one of the stores under the company. Whoever attained the best sales performance the next month would be crowned the champion. However, they were not allowed to request their friends or family members to make bulk orders. Only sales from free-will customers would be taken into account.
“You three may liaise with the store managers, or you may take care of the store in person. Ultimately, the three of you have the right to do anything in the store. The total sales next month will be the deciding factor.”
All three of them, including Anastasia, blindly picked a store. Since she had decided to participate in the competition, she wouldn’t give up that easily.
“Anastasia, I dare you to not rely on President Presgrave’s influence and compete with us fair and square.”
“I would have accepted the position if I were to rely on his influence, no?” Anastasia refuted.
“Anastasia, what in the world did you do to make President Presgrave treat you so differently? Could it be that you are hooking up with him?” Alice sneered in disdain.
Anastasia merely looked at the other woman coldly without saying a word. Upon hearing that, Felicia tried to make peace between them. “Alright, we are all colleagues. Please speak to each other politely.”
In the end, Alice tossed the documents on the table and announced, “Anastasia, I won’t lose to you!” With that, she arrogantly left the scene.
After Anastasia returned to her office, she received a call from her father. When Francis heard that she wouldn’t be bringing her son along, he asked, “Why aren’t you bringing Jared?”
“Dad, there are many people at the banquet. I’m worried that Jared would wander off. Besides, I’ve made arrangements for him.”
“Alright. Since you have made arrangements, just leave him at home, then.” Ever since the incident when Jared had been lost, Francis dared not show the slightest negligence when it came to the matter about the kid.
“And do remember to dress prettier,” Francis reminded in the end.
At that, Anastasia couldn’t help but look down at what she was wearing that day. It was regular office attire-a gray blouse paired with a tight-fitting skirt, and she didn’t prepare any other clothes.
At noon, Anastasia had lunch with Felicia. The latter told her that the mold for the custom-made jewelry had been produced by the factory. What came next would be the craftspeople doing their jobs, and the final product would be completed by the end of the month.
A sense of achievement bubbled up inside Anastasia upon hearing that. She, too, hoped to bring more profit to the company.
At 3.00 PM, Anastasia called Grace over to her office. She instructed her to help her to look after Jared, to which Grace happily agreed.
At 4.50 PM, Anastasia took Grace to the kindergarten to pick up her son. The moment she stepped into the classroom, the young female teacher asked in surprise, “Miss Tillman, why are you here? Jared has been picked up by his father.”
Anastasia’s heart skipped a beat and she asked, “Are you sure that… it was his father who picked him up?”
The female teacher was certain. “Yes, it was his father who came in person to pick him up.”
“I see. Thank you.” Anastasia felt annoyed at that. Why did Elliot pick my son up without informing me?
“Miss Tillman, what does Jared’s father do?” Grace immediately asked curiously.
“Uh… He’s in the finance industry.”
“Wow! That’s so cool! I wish to see what Jared’s father looks like someday. Jared is so good-looking, so I reckon that his dad must be very handsome!”
Anastasia’s face flushed red as she explained, “He’s a busy man, so you won’t be able to see him most of the time.” After she said that, she added, “Grace, I won’t be troubling you tonight, then. You may get off work.”
Grace nodded, feeling a little sad that she wouldn’t be caring for the kid that night.
As Anastasia walked toward the road to hail a cab, she dialed a man’s number.
The call went through. “Hello.”.
“Elliot, where did you take my son to?”
“Jared told me that you will be attending your father’s company banquet tonight. Since you won’t have the time to take care of him, you can just leave him in my care!”
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