Chapter 101
Company, employee break room.
Nora sat in the break area holding her milk, nervously gripping her phone.
Please be okay.
Savannah, you have to hang in there.
In Nora's eyes, Savannah was the kind of woman who could bloom even if thrown in the mud.
She was strong.
In prison, Savannah told her she had lost a child. She didn't know the guy was married, so she got pregnant with his baby.
When she found out later, she was furious and went to him for money, saying if he didn't pay up, she'd get an abortion.
She had actually already gotten the abortion.
She just wanted to get back at the jerk, but she never expected him and his wife to send her to prison together for extortion.
How ridiculous.
In prison, Savannah used to say that men were all trash, and she would never trust a man easily again.
After getting out, she would use men as stepping stones. She would climb up step by step.
But who knows how that man tricked her again this time.
Watching her get beaten but not daring to come out and protect her.
A man like that was even more disgusting than a con artist.
"You're not allowed to eat here. Disgusting. What's that smell? It stinks."
An employee said sarcastically.
Nora looked down at her milk. It was just a cup of milk, and they were all drinking coffee here.
Was there really such a big difference between coffee and milk?
"It's probably her body odor. When you've been with too many men, you start to smell."
Nora's fingers holding the phone stiffened. So they were talking about her.
"Nora, come here for a second." From the office area, the HR manager called out.
Nora stood up, finished her milk, threw it in the trash, and quickly walked into the office.
"Nora, your education—all we can verify is high school? The Smith Group has strict education requirements, and you don't quite meet them." Gia said in a serious tone. "I suggest you tell David and withdraw voluntarily. That way everyone saves face."
Nora didn't say anything.
"Or I can transfer you to another position. With your education, cafeteria cleaning or sanitation cleaning would work." Gia was humiliating Nora.
Nora didn't think there was anything wrong with those positions. As long as she could make money, it was all earned through her own labor.
"I'd like to try the evaluation in three days."
Nora looked at Gia without backing down.
The evaluation would be handled by David, since it was for Michael's personal assistant position.
Gia frowned, finding Nora stubborn. "You've seen the situation at the company. Everyone graduated from prestigious schools. At worst, they're graduate students from regular universities. For special positions, PhDs aren't rare. Are you sure you want to provoke everyone's anger for this job?"
"I'm a student in Business Administration at Emerald City Celestial University. I was top of my major for three consecutive semesters. I'm fluent in four languages and skilled in psychology, management psychology, marketing, and joint venture management. Before leaving school, I had already completed all my credits early. The school just didn't keep my enrollment status, but I don't think I'm any worse than the people you mentioned."
Nora looked at Gia calmly and continued. "You're the HR manager. The personal assistant position was always going to be decided by the CEO first. You understand this perfectly well, but you're still pushing me into opposition. That's not smart."
If the HR manager wasn't on the same side as Michael, there would be big trouble in the future.
Gia was a veteran employee of the company. It would be hard for Nora to deal with her, and one wrong move could backfire and create an even bigger problem.
The only option was to win her over and get leverage on her.
Of course, now wasn't the time yet.
What Nora needed to do now was give Gia a reminder to be careful about being used by others.
Gia looked at Nora meaningfully, narrowed her eyes, and seemed thoughtful.
After a long silence, Gia smiled. "Since you think you're capable of doing this job well, I'm looking forward to your performance."
If David dared to pre-select a personal assistant, it must have been Michael's instruction.
Luna was so resistant, insisting that she get rid of Nora no matter what.
If Gia did as told, she would be openly opposing Michael.
The situation at the Smith Group wasn't clear yet, so naturally Gia needed to think carefully about which side to take.
"I won't disappoint you." Nora bowed and left the office.
Gia watched Nora leave with interest. It seemed Luna's wariness of her wasn't completely without reason.
She looked harmless and easy to bully, but turned out to be quite assertive.
Work area.
Nora carefully studied Michael's past work schedule, noting in her notebook some details that previous personal assistants had missed.
"Here." David walked in. Nora didn't even hear him knock.
Seeing a sandwich box appear on the desk, Nora quickly looked up. "David?"
"You didn't eat lunch, right? Mr. Smith told me to bring this to you." David looked around to make sure no one was nearby and said quietly, "Don't tell me you can't even last three days. That would make me look bad."
"I won't." Nora shook her head.
"People in the work group are all talking about you. You've made everyone angry. Someone wants to drive you away. Can you handle it? If you can't, say so now." David didn't think Nora was the type who could handle difficulties.
She looked so delicate, like she'd fall over in a breeze.
"Mr. Smith is going to the capital. He'll be back the day after tomorrow. He's in the underground parking garage and wants you to go down."
David tapped the desk. "Come with me."
Nora froze. Michael was going on a business trip?
She quickly got up, gathered her things, keeping them with her, and followed David.
Along the way, employees whispered, but out of respect for David, they didn't dare say anything openly.
David was obviously deliberately taking Nora this route to warn these people that Nora was his person and not to go too far.
This was also Michael's intention.
David was actually a bit reluctant. They had agreed on a bet, and Michael promised not to interfere and let Nora handle things herself, but here he was secretly helping Nora.
Getting into the elevator indignantly, David glanced at Nora. What was so special about her? Why was Michael treating her so differently?
Arriving at the underground parking garage, Nora carefully got into Michael's car. "Mr. Smith is going on a business trip?"
"Yes. The nanny will stay overnight, so you don't need to worry." Michael nodded.
"I..." Nora hesitated, not mentioning that she wanted to go to Silverlight City.
After work, she wanted to go to Silverlight City to check on Savannah, then find a way to get back overnight.
It wouldn't affect her work the next day.
But thinking that she and Michael only had a working relationship, Nora didn't say more, afraid of causing him trouble.
"First day—are you adjusting okay?" Michael took the initiative to ask.
Seeing that David hadn't gotten in the car, Nora said quietly, "Does Mr. Smith know that the HR manager is Luna's person?"
Michael raised an eyebrow but didn't answer.
Of course he knew.
Not only did he know, but he knew Gia was tricky and hard to deal with, having been at the company for over twenty years and worked for Nolan for more than ten.
"Does Mr. Smith want to win her over?" Nora wanted to know Michael's intention. "Or just fire her directly?"
Michael smiled slightly. "After all, she's a veteran employee. Firing her directly would be a loss for the company."
While ensuring the company's interests, naturally it would be better to win her over.
"I can do it." Nora looked at Michael with determination.
Clearly, she already had a plan.
Michael was stunned for a moment, his gaze on Nora becoming increasingly intense.
If it were someone else, Michael would think they were talking big.
But when Nora said this, he found it believable.
"What do you want to do?" Michael asked with a smile.
"What happens if Mr. Smith eats peanuts?" Nora looked at Michael nervously.
"I get respiratory allergies, difficulty breathing. If it's serious, I could go into shock."
Michael told Nora his weakness without hesitation.
Nora opened her mouth, then lowered her head and said quietly, "I'll need Mr. Smith to make a sacrifice."
Michael chuckled. "Alright, when I get back from my business trip."
He didn't even realize his tone had become somewhat indulgent.