Chapter 15 Nora is Troubled
Bianca sauntered over, curiosity etched on her face. "Nora, you're usually so frugal. You won't even buy a cup of coffee, you bring your own lunch, and you wear the same few outfits all year. How did you manage to splurge on these diamond accessories? Did some rich old guy buy them for you?"
Bianca was convinced Nora had a sugar daddy!
They both hailed from the same small town, and Bianca knew all about the Adams family's financial struggles.
But she had a powerful brother, something the Adams family lacked!
"Why do you care if I buy coffee or clothes?" Nora shot back, glaring at Bianca.
The Reed family members were all pretty useless, yet they waltzed into the company and snagged high positions.
Bianca was a supervisor, her brother Terry was a manager, and they had pushed her, one of the co-founders with Willie, out of the way!
Nora smirked, "Does everyone have to be like you? Spending money on pastries, buying designer bags, and pretending to be some rich heiress? If I remember right, you make just over $4,000 a month. Are you blowing all of it on these things? Does carrying a designer bag make you feel accomplished?"
Nora knew Willie's financial situation like the back of her hand.
Even though he made hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, most of his money was tied up in inventory, and his actual cash flow wasn't much.
Terry and Bianca were on salaries. At most, Willie covered their living expenses, but he wasn't going to give them any more. Willie himself had to seek funding; he wasn't an idiot!
Bianca's face turned red at Nora's words.
Nora continued, "But since you're buying bags, why not buy shoes and clothes too? If you're so rich, wouldn't it be better to wear an entire outfit of designer brands?"
Amelia clapped and cheered for Nora!
Nora was amazing!
Bianca was just a fool.
She bit her lip in anger.
Terry came out of his office and yelled, "This isn't a place for arguments! Get to work!"
Bianca stormed into Terry's office, fuming, "Terry! I can't stand this! I want to get rid of that bitch Nora!"
Nora had humiliated her, and she wanted revenge!
"Send her to Aurora Tech to deliver goods," Terry said while playing a mobile game. "She offended Aurora Tech yesterday. Let her go deliver the goods now."
Bianca's lips curled up, "Alright!"
The Reed family had secretly discussed pushing Nora out. Willie hadn't said much, implicitly agreeing with the family decision.
Bianca went out and wrote up a delivery order, handing it to Nora, "Nora, this box of chips is for Aurora Tech. You need to deliver it."
Both companies were in the chip business.
The market's goods were always being exchanged back and forth.
Nora raised an eyebrow, "Which company?"
Bianca replied, "Aurora Tech."
Nora didn't want to go, but she felt guilty for not doing much at Apex Technologies Corporation. Sometimes, when the employees were swamped, she would help out.
In the end, Nora went.
Aurora Tech was in the neighboring Harman Tower, on the 45th floor.
Nora carried the box of chips into the elevator.
Aurora Tech's office was spacious, with a sleek black-and-white design that gave it a high-tech feel.
She had heard that the company's CEO was a wealthy heiress named Vivian Bennett.
When Nora arrived, Steven was in the CEO's office discussing a project with Vivian.
Vivian had personally made coffee for him, blushing as she said, "Steven, I made this coffee myself. Give it a try and tell me what you think."
Steven, flipping through documents, took a casual sip of the coffee.
Vivian's eyes sparkled with anticipation.
Steven didn't acknowledge her, calmly browsing the files.
Vivian was a bit disappointed but not discouraged.
Her father had told her that Steven was naturally cold and hard to win over. She needed to put in more effort to warm his heart.
At that moment, Steven looked up and saw a familiar figure approaching through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
His wife, Nora.
Steven thought he was seeing things and squinted.
But it was her, wearing the floral dress from that morning, gracefully walking into Aurora Tech's doors in high heels.
Vivian noticed Steven's gaze and looked outside.
Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, she saw a beautiful figure standing there. Vivian didn't recognize her, but she could tell that Steven's gaze was intensely focused on her.
"Steven, do you know her?" Vivian asked, wondering if he knew her or if it was love at first sight.
Steven glanced at her but didn't respond.
He was too indifferent.
Vivian felt a bit uncomfortable and excused herself to step out of the office.
Nora handed over the chips to an Aurora Tech employee, who happened to be Cindy, the same person who had delivered goods to Apex Technologies Corporation the previous day.
Cindy sneered when she saw Nora. What a small world!
Nora remained calm, "These are the chips Aurora Tech ordered. Please inspect them."
"Wait here," Cindy said, deliberately making her stand while she slowly inspected them one by one.
Each tray had a hundred chips, and there were ten trays in a box, making a thousand chips.
Vivian walked out, wearing expensive high heels, and everyone greeted her respectfully, "Ms. Bennett!"
She had a noble background and impeccable grace, making her the idol of all the female employees at Aurora Tech!
Nora glanced at her.
So this was Aurora Tech's CEO, Vivian Bennett, a wealthy socialite whose family was in the phone manufacturing business.
Not selling phones, but making them, with chips supplied by Aurora Tech, making Aurora Tech one of their family's enterprises.
In other words, the financial backing behind Aurora Tech was incredibly strong.
"What's going on here?" Vivian bent down to ask Cindy.
Cindy was startled that Vivian had come personally and said, "She's Nora from Apex Technologies Corporation. Yesterday, she rejected the chips I delivered."
Those chips had indeed been part of a batch that included some fakes, which Cindy had initially received. After the rejection, Vivian had ordered an investigation and found that a third of the chips were counterfeit.
Vivian had made Cindy take responsibility for a tenth of the faulty chips as a warning.
But Cindy was unhappy about it and held a grudge against Apex Technologies Corporation.
So this was the woman who had spotted the faulty chips.
Vivian glanced at Nora and then looked towards the CEO's office at Steven.