Chapter 287 She Won't Be Here Much Longer

Chapter 287 She Won't Be Here Much Longer
Vera's POV

I was pretty surprised by what she said. Rose always acts so high and mighty at the company, but turns out she's a homewrecker.

"I'm the CEO of Lumina, Vera Green, not Rose West."

The woman's eyes immediately welled up with tears, hot drops streaming down her cheeks. "Ms. Green, I'm so sorry for the mistake! But your company's Design Director is a homewrecker—she's sleeping with my husband, destroying my family. You have to do something!"

Now this was interesting. Rose and the company executives had been embezzling funds together, covering their tracks perfectly. I couldn't just fire them all without evidence. Maybe this could be my breakthrough.

"Who's your husband?" I asked.

At this point, the woman had nothing to hide. "He's the CEO of Premier Props & Costumes."

"He came back from his business trip and went straight to that slut's place without even coming home. I kept calling him but he wouldn't pick up. I was desperate, so I came here."

"Ms. Green, please, I'm begging you. Help me."

Premier Props? A spark of excitement flashed through me. I glanced at Atlas. His eyes told me everything—he was thinking the same thing.

Premier Props & Costumes was Lumina's largest supplier for production materials—everything from props to wardrobe. Atlas suspected someone at Lumina was inflating procurement costs to embezzle company funds.

I'd been trying to figure out which supplier was involved. Looked like it was Premier Props.

I took a step toward the woman and smiled. "Want to see the cheater and the homewrecker get what they deserve?"

......

Year-end was approaching. In a few days, all the subsidiaries would present their annual reports to headquarters.

I called Sage and Willow into my office. I tossed a report in front of Sage, my face showing clear irritation.

"Company performance is down 15% from last year. Every metric lags behind the other subsidiaries. Are you sending me to this meeting to give a presentation or to embarrass myself?"

Sage put on this wounded expression. "Ms. Green, I just reported the facts. Would you rather I fabricate data?"

Seeing I was angry, Willow quickly handed me her report. "Ms. Green, please don't be upset. I have one here too. Could you take a look?"

I took her report and my eyes lit up. She'd analyzed the reasons for declining performance, including external factors, industry trends, and internal management issues.

She'd also written about how the changes I'd implemented since taking over had eliminated some of the company's chronic problems and improved overall efficiency, and how these changes would impact next year's performance.

I looked at Willow with a smile. "Not bad for a grad school student from a top university. Well done. Add two more points—this year we secured a two-hundred -million-dollar production deal, and we're competing in the entertainment industry awards with work that'll rank first among all production companies."

"Pfft!" Sage couldn't help but laugh, covering her mouth. "Ms. Green, headquarters wants a performance review, not a fantasy novel."

I leaned back in my chair with a cold smile. "How do you know I'm making it up?"

Sage said dismissively, "Our company's biggest contract is one hundred million, and my cousin Rose signed that one. We haven't broken that record since!"

"And the awards results won't be announced until the day of your presentation. How can you be sure we'll get in, let alone rank first?"

I didn't want to waste my breath arguing with her. My face hardened. "Sage, I don't think you're suited to be the General Manager's assistant anymore. You don't need to come in tomorrow."

Sage's eyes went wide with shock. "You're firing me?"

I'd kept Sage around to feed her false information that would go straight to Rose. But after running into the wife of Premier Props' CEO the other day, I didn't need her anymore.

This year-end review meeting would be Rose's last at Lumina.

I looked at Sage with a half-smile. "I don't have the authority?"

Sage clenched her jaw, her eyes filled with resentment. "Rose won't allow this!"

I let out a soft laugh. "Don't worry. She won't be here much longer either."

Sage stared at me in disbelief. She snorted coldly. "Anyone can talk big. Let's see how this blows up in your face!"

With that, she huffed out of my office. On her way out, she made sure to slam the door hard.

Willow looked at me with concern. "Ms. Green, is this... really okay?"

I glanced at her, giving her a reassuring smile. "Just focus on your work. Leave the rest to me."

Just then, my phone on the desk rang. It was Bill.

I answered. Bill's warm voice came through. "Vera, sweetheart."

I paused. "Grandpa."

He chuckled on the other end. "It's almost noon. Have you eaten?"

I smiled. "Not yet."

"Perfect," Grandpa Bill said. "Your old grandpa knows you work too hard. I brought you lunch. Come down and eat."

I was stunned. Bill had actually come all this way to bring me lunch.

A wave of warmth washed over me. I stood up and headed for the door, still on the phone. "Okay, I'm coming down now."

Bill's car was parked right at the company entrance. When I got downstairs, he was standing by the car waiting for me.

When he saw me approaching, he smiled so wide his eyes crinkled into slits. "Hungry, aren't you? Get in the car, Grandpa brought you something good."

I smiled back. "Thanks, Grandpa."