Chapter 30
After the auction ended last night, I heard Jessa complaining nonstop about Aiden playing favorites.
Levi told her it was just Aiden trying to make me look good, and that my designs were actually pretty ordinary.
I just smiled at the time. In Levi's mind, my work still isn't good enough.
The weather was nice, perfect for an outing.
Nola and I had agreed that today I wouldn't work - I'd spend the whole day with Celestia.
While Celestia was recovering from her injury, she mostly stayed home reading books by herself, with Indigo occasionally keeping her company in the yard, playing with the small animals.
I'd been busy with work, spending way less time with Celestia than before.
After a quick wash-up, I went to wake Celestia.
But when I opened the door, the room was empty. Where did Celestia go?
That helpless feeling of anxiety washed over me. I rushed downstairs in a panic and ran into Indigo, who was bringing milk.
"Mrs. Morgan, good morning."
"Morning."
I looked around frantically, then saw Celestia in the yard feeding carrots to the little rabbit. Only then did I relax.
"The little miss got up early today. She kept telling me you were taking her out, got herself ready, and has been waiting for you."
I took the milk and had a sip. I'm probably too afraid of losing Celestia, making me jumpy.
"Mrs. Morgan, Mr. Morgan left in a bit of a hurry earlier and forgot some documents on the table. I don't know if they're important." Indigo had already organized the documents together.
I shouldn't be worrying about the Morgan Group's business anymore. If I'm going to cut ties, I should do it completely.
But maybe it's from years of work habit - I couldn't help walking over to look through those documents. It was basically a detailed proposal.
The Morgan Group had many such documents every day. At the end of the document, I spotted a small checkmark - that was Levi's way of approving something.
I'd noticed this habit of his long ago. Whenever he thought something was good, he'd mark it with a checkmark.
"Mrs. Morgan, are you driving yourself again today?"
"Yeah."
Indigo looked at me with concern, probably thinking I was working too hard doing everything myself, while the family car just sat there unused.
"Just put it away for now. Maybe it's not needed. When he comes back, you can ask him before dealing with it."
Documents like this definitely had backups. I saw Celestia coming in and didn't want her to see work stuff.
Celestia rubbed her eyes and came up to me.
"Mommy, I'm a bit sleepy."
She really did look tired - probably went to bed late from excitement last night and got up too early this morning from anticipation.
I couldn't help but smile. Kids are always so adorable.
"Mommy, maybe you can take me out next time when you're free. I'm so sleepy I could fall asleep standing up."
Celestia made both Indigo and me laugh. I picked her up lovingly.
"Alright then, we'll go out when our Celestia isn't sleepy anymore." I couldn't help kissing her.
Celestia kissed me back. "Mommy, you can put me down. I'm heavy now, I'll hurt you."
"Sweetie, no matter how heavy you are, Mommy can carry you."
Indigo took Celestia from my arms, set her down, and took her back to her room for a nap.
My heart suddenly felt empty. Looking at the documents on the table, I hesitated - what if Levi forgot to take them and runs into trouble?
So with nothing else to do, I drove to the company.
I parked the car and walked in with Levi's briefcase, just like when I used to work at the Morgan Group. Everyone seemed unsurprised by my arrival, as if my resignation had never happened.
"Blair, did you take like several years' worth of vacation days? You've been gone so long." A colleague teased me.
"So jealous! Just wondering how much they'll dock from your pay."
I smiled awkwardly. I didn't have much salary to begin with - on paper, my wage was the lowest tier in that position.
Just as I was about to turn toward Levi's office, I saw James hurrying out of the conference room.
He saw me and shook his head helplessly.
"What's wrong?"
"The planning department messed up. They prepared the version of the proposal that was rejected. That's a pretty basic mistake."
I touched the briefcase under my arm. Could it be the version Levi left at home?
"The company should have a backup. If we fix it quickly, we should be fine."
"Mr. Morgan's face is dark. It makes our company look really unprofessional to our partners. It's embarrassing."
James was about to send the correct proposal. I had an idea.
"You send the official version to the conference room. I'll cover for you. Be quick."
I steadied myself and pushed open the conference room door.
"Everyone, I'm sorry. There was a small hiccup just now that wasted your time."
As I spoke, I handed the proposal to our partners, then calmly walked to the big screen.
Levi was clearly surprised by my arrival. He frowned, not knowing what I was going to do.
At that moment, James managed to get the electronic version on the screen, and I began explaining the proposal in detail.
In my years working at the Morgan Group, I'd attended countless meetings with Levi, big and small. I knew the Morgan Group's style inside and out.
I finished the presentation smoothly and bowed deeply.
"I sincerely apologize for the poor experience at the start. Nobody's perfect - I'm sure you can understand, right?"
Before they could respond, I continued, "I'm just Mr. Morgan's secretary, and even I have such detailed knowledge of this proposal. This should show you how seriously the Morgan Group takes our work."
The Morgan Group's proposal was flawless to begin with, and our partners had already done their homework. Today was basically just a formality. Without any additional questions, they agreed to the partnership.
So fundamentally, there was no problem - it was just the planning department's mistake that was frustrating.
"Mr. Morgan, I didn't expect your company's secretary to be so capable. Very impressive."
Levi remained calm, seeming to be in a better mood.
"Not at all, you're too kind."
Now he's being modest? Is it that hard to give me a compliment? I did save the situation, didn't I?
Actually, I wasn't sure myself. Acting so rashly - if I'd messed up, Levi probably would have been furious enough to eat me alive...
Both parties signed the agreement amicably. I watched them leave the conference room one by one, until only Levi sat there alone.
"Since you resigned, what are you doing here?"
Faced with Levi's question, I didn't want to answer at all. Who knows why I came back - wasn't it just my work habit from all these years, worried that leaving something behind would mess up his important business?
"You did well."
Levi's sudden praise caught me off guard.
I blinked, trying to act casual. "Just routine stuff."
After all these years by his side, I'd picked up so much just by being around him. I'd learned a lot about running a business from him.
He just never noticed, I guess - never noticed that I'm actually different from what he imagined.