Chapter 288 The Annual Review Day
Chapter 288 The Annual Review Day
Vera's POV
After lunch, I headed up to the company rooftop.
Bill had sent over another one of those ridiculously elaborate meals today. Everything was perfectly to my taste, and I'd definitely eaten more than I should have.
Time to walk it off.
I'd barely started pacing when Willow Cross came bursting through the rooftop door, completely out of breath. "Ms. Green..."
She was panting so hard I walked over to steady her.
"Hey, what's got you so worked up?"
Willow glanced at me, then hesitated. Started to speak, then stopped.
I thought I was pretty approachable, but this girl always seemed kind of scared of me for some reason.
"It's okay, just tell me straight."
She finally spoke, though her eyes kept darting away. "Earlier, when you went downstairs... I saw Sage following you. When you were with that gentleman from Grant Group headquarters, I saw her taking photos the whole time. She looked really... pleased with herself."
"Oh, that..." At first I thought it was nothing.
Then it hit me. "Wait, she doesn't think—"
She doesn't think Bill and I have some kind of inappropriate relationship, does she?
Willow looked at me worriedly. "Ms. Green, you and that..." She didn't dare finish the sentence.
I smiled and patted her shoulder. "Do you trust me?"
Willow didn't even hesitate. She nodded frantically.
I smiled. "Then just pretend you never saw Sage taking those photos. Act like you don't know anything, okay?"
More nodding.
"You can head back down now. I'm gonna walk around up here for a bit."
After Willow left, my gentle expression hardened into something colder. If Rose wanted to play dirty, I would give her exactly what she's asking for.
Looks like it's time to bring Bill into this.
---
Before I knew it, the annual review day had arrived. I showed up at the office early and knocked on Rose's door.
Rose opened it and stood in the doorway. She was wearing a blue designer suit—elegant, polished, perfectly put together. Her expression was cool and superior.
I smiled. "Rose, you look amazing today. Got some important event planned?"
Rose smiled back smoothly. "Just in a good mood. No special occasion."
"Well then," I said, "why don't you come with me to the company's annual review at headquarters? You're one of Lumina's senior staff. Having you there would really put me at ease."
Rose's smile didn't waver. "Sure, sounds great."
Our eyes met. The air between us felt charged with something electric and dangerous.
---
Grant Group headquarters.
When Rose and I arrived, the review meeting hadn't started yet. We were shown to a reception room that was already filling up with people.
Several CEOs from other Grant subsidiaries gathered around me, making small talk.
Rose shot me a disdainful look and left the reception room.
The review meeting was being held in headquarters' main conference hall.
Besides the subsidiary CEOs, there were Grant Group executives and various department heads.
The massive hall was packed with people. The review order was based on company performance rankings. Lumina's numbers this year put us dead last.
Even though I was presenting, I listened carefully to the others. Grant Group's business portfolio was incredibly diverse—pharmaceuticals, real estate, film, fashion, and more.
All the other subsidiaries seemed to be doing well this year. Only Lumina had consistently underperformed. And in the month since I'd taken over, our numbers had hit an all-time low.
The meeting had been going for nearly two hours by the time it was my turn.
I walked up to the podium. My PowerPoint presentation started playing on the massive screen behind me.
As people looked at me, I could hear the whispers starting.
"So that's Lumina's CEO? Wow, she's really young. And pretty."
"Pretty doesn't mean competent. I heard she's only been there like a month and already the place is a complete mess. Numbers are the worst they've ever been."
"How does someone this inexperienced even get hired as CEO? There was no warning, she just showed up out of nowhere."
"With looks like that, I think we all know how she got the job."
The people talking exchanged knowing looks, their eyes full of contempt.
"Poor Rose. She waited so many years, and in the end she got passed over for this."
As they gossiped, they looked back up at me.
I had to admit my presentation skills were solid. I kept my posture confident, spoke clearly, and laid everything out in a logical flow.
"While Lumina's overall performance this year wasn't strong, we've recently made some major breakthroughs. We've signed a two hundred million dollar production contract, and we successfully secured a spot at the National Screenwriting Competition. In fact, our submitted scripts ranked first among all the participating studios. I'm confident that next year, Lumina will—"
"Hold on!"
Before I could finish, one of the executives spoke up.
"Ms. Green, you're saying you signed a two hundred million dollar contract, but headquarters hasn't heard anything about this?"
"And this competition thing—from what I heard, Lumina's application was rejected, and the script quality was extremely poor?"
Ruby was sitting with the other administrative staff off to the side. Rose sat with department heads from other divisions. Both of them were smiling with smug satisfaction.
Facing the executive's challenge, I stayed calm. My smile remained perfectly composed.
"The contract was finalized yesterday, so we haven't completed the headquarters filing process yet. But I had copies made. Everyone's welcome to review them."."