Chapter 79 Steven Comes to Pick Her Up
Steven is someone with a very good memory.
Nora thought for a moment: "Did I say that? I can't remember at all."
Steven was certain: "You did say it."
He said it in a dream.
Nora was still confused.
Did she really say that?
But if Steven said so, then she must have said it, right? Steven didn't seem like someone who would lie.
Nora: "Then let me treat you to dinner tonight?"
She just got an order, so they could go out and celebrate.
Steven: "Okay."
The two agreed to go out for dinner that evening.
Nora was in a great mood. This would be her second date with Steven. If there was a chance, they could even catch a movie and make it romantic!
She closed the chat window and started inquiring about prices in the market, arranging for someone to deliver the chips.
She had calculated everything. As long as she could get monthly billing terms, this order would work out. She'd sign for monthly billing under Apex Technologies Corporation's name first, and once the order payment came through, she'd pay Willie back. She'd always done it this way before, and Willie had tacitly approved.
But at five o'clock, when someone came to deliver the chips, Bianca came over to find Nora. Looking at her own nails, she said, "Nora, there's someone outside delivering chips. Go pay for them yourself."
Nora looked confused. "Why do I need to pay? Isn't it monthly billing?"
"Your shop Starlight can get monthly billing?" Bianca said with a cold laugh. She'd been annoyed with her for a long time, and today she finally found an opportunity!
Her tone was pointed as she said, "Nora, didn't you say you had nothing to do with our Apex Technologies Corporation? Then why do you want to use our company to sign orders?"
Apex Technologies Corporation could sign for monthly billing because the company was quite large.
If it were changed to Nora's Starlight, many companies wouldn't be willing to offer monthly billing, because they were afraid of people taking the goods and running off.
"Isn't this how it's always been done?"
Nora thought Bianca was making a big deal out of nothing. It wasn't like she wouldn't pay the money back—she just needed to delay the payment date a bit.
Bianca said with a smile, "Sorry, but starting today, Apex Technologies Corporation doesn't plan to let you piggyback on us anymore. From now on, when you buy goods, use your own company name. If others are willing to give you a monthly billing, fine. If they're not willing, that's not our problem."
Nora's expression turned cold. "Bianca, you're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
She got a big order, so now Bianca was starting to cause trouble?
Bianca smiled dismissively and said, "Before, you bought small amounts, so we didn't care. But now, you're ordering over a hundred thousand dollars worth of goods at once. What if you run off? Who's going to cover that money?"
The first batch of goods alone was over a hundred thousand dollars, and there might be more later. Bianca figured this order must be pretty big.
By not letting her use monthly billing, she'd see how Nora would pull this off!
If she couldn't, the order would naturally be canceled, and Nora wouldn't get a penny.
That's just how society works—people in the same business can't stand to see each other succeed.
Once you start getting big orders, all the obstacles and troublemakers come crawling out.
All Nora needed was a small favor, and she could close this deal. But no, they deliberately obstructed her.
Nora wanted to find Willie, but Willie wasn't at the company today.
Nora called him.
Willie said, "We'll talk when I get back."
His attitude was a bit cold, deliberately so.
Sure enough, as soon as she got a big order, the ugly side of relatives was fully exposed, and their attitude was completely different.
Nora was extremely disappointed.
If Willie were her real brother, he definitely wouldn't treat her this way. Unfortunately, he was her brother-in-law, so the two years Nora had helped him meant nothing.
That's what relatives are like!
Nora felt completely dejected.
Without monthly billing, she'd have to come up with several hundred thousand dollars upfront to pay the market for the goods before she could close this order.
She covered her face.
It hurt.
Tens of thousands of dollars she could still borrow—just max out some credit cards.
But several hundred thousand dollars was too difficult. So when you're starting a business without a foundation, sometimes you can't even close big orders. It's the deep helplessness of having no money. Even if she wanted to get a bank loan, she'd need assets to use as collateral. What could someone like her, with nothing to her name, use as collateral?
After work, Nora still sat at her desk with a wooden expression.
All the happiness from this morning was completely gone.
If she couldn't close the order, seventy or eighty thousand dollars would just fly away. Who could be happy about that?
Her phone rang. Nora glanced at it—it was a call from Steven.
"It's past seven. Are you ready?" Steven asked her.
Only then did Nora remember they had agreed to go out for dinner. Most people at the company had already left. Nora sighed, "Where are you?"
"Downstairs at your company." Steven had driven his Audi over to pick her up.
He was becoming more and more aware of his role as a husband.
"I'll take the elevator down." Nora picked up her bag and walked out with heavy steps.
While waiting for the elevator, she thought to herself, no, she couldn't give up like this!
Doing business was all about solving problems one by one, then gaining wealth and reaching the finish line!
Getting discouraged over a small matter like this—that mindset was wrong to begin with.
Fire ignited in Nora's eyes.
They just wanted to obstruct her from making money, didn't they?
Well, she was going to go against the current!
By the time she got into Steven's car, Nora's expression had returned to normal, and she even smiled at him.
Steven asked her, "What do you want to eat?"
"I'm fine with anything." Nora fastened her seatbelt.
"How about something light?" He still remembered that today was the third day of her period, so she should watch what she ate.
"Okay." Nora nodded, picked up her phone, and called Tanner. "Hello."
The call connected, and Tanner answered, "Hello, Nora."
"Tanner, are you back from your hometown?" Nora wanted to ask how the insurance matter was going. If it was done, she wanted to get that money back to buy goods.
Tanner said with a laugh, "I'm back. Things went pretty smoothly..."
At this point, it sounded like someone had hit him. Jasmine grabbed his phone and said to Nora, "Nora, the insurance for my youngest son didn't go through. I'm sorry."
Meaning she had no money to pay her back.
Nora was stunned. Then Tanner and Jasmine suddenly started arguing.
"What are you trying to do?" Tanner yelled at Jasmine.
Jasmine screamed, "If you dare give that money back to her, I'll divorce you!"
"That money was borrowed, not given to you!" Tanner shouted at Jasmine.
"You dare yell at me? Tanner, I married you and got nothing, and you still dare to be mean to me? Steven's family gave her several expensive diamond jewelry pieces, and I have nothing. I married you—what did I get? Besides, do they look like they're short a hundred thousand dollars?" Jasmine said while crying.
Nora understood. Jasmine was indeed bothered. As soon as Tanner got back, she started making a fuss about the jewelry.
Then Wayne's voice came through the phone.
He took the phone and said to Nora, "Nora, I'm deciding the hundred thousand dollars you lent Tanner. Consider it money you're giving me for my retirement. Don't ask Tanner for it anymore. Your nephew is in this condition now, and they need to keep some money for the child's ongoing treatment. You need to understand Tanner's situation, too. His son's condition is quite serious, and he has to support both of us. You and Olivia haven't contributed anything usually, so giving this hundred thousand dollars is only right."