Chapter 209 This Girl Has No Brains
Isabella had no intention of staying long at Ascend Global Group.
By 2 PM, Clarence would receive the notice about the detained shipment and would naturally contact her.
She turned to leave, but someone called out from behind, "Are you the Taylor Group's heiress?"
Isabella turned around and saw several men walking toward her.
She actually recognized one of them from her prior research—it was Stanley Ortiz from Zenith Global Group, the company Ascend Global Group was planning to partner with.
Isabella's gaze settled on him. "That's right. What do you want?"
Stanley looked Isabella up and down, his eyes full of disdain. "You're here for the Crown District project? Let me tell you, don't waste your energy. This project belongs to our Zenith Global Group!"
Isabella looked at him and asked calmly, "Have you signed the contract with Ascend Global Group yet?"
Stanley was stumped.
Of course the contract hadn't been signed yet.
Seeing his silence, Isabella let out a light laugh. "Since it's not signed yet, that means nothing's been decided. And if nothing's been decided, that means this project could go to the Taylor Group."
Stanley's face immediately darkened when he heard this. "Where do you get your confidence?"
He waved his hand dismissively and continued smugly, "The Taylor Group was kicked out of the running ages ago. You came all this way, and in the end you couldn't even get a meeting with Mr. Fisher before being kicked out like a dog, right?"
The man beside Stanley chimed in, "The Taylor Group really is pathetically persistent. Everyone in the industry knows the Crown District project is ours at Zenith Global Group. Hayden can't win the project himself, so he sends a woman—how pathetic."
Stanley looked at the girl's strikingly beautiful face and sneered, "You don't actually think that just because you're pretty, you can seduce Mr. Fisher and get him to give the project to the Taylor Group, do you?"
"You're way too naive."
"Even if you climbed into Mr. Fisher's bed, this project would still belong to our Zenith Global Group."
...
The men surrounded Isabella, their mocking and sarcastic remarks coming one after another. Anyone else would have been red-faced with embarrassment by now, but Isabella's expression didn't change at all.
Isabella just tugged at the corner of her mouth, her cold eyes narrowing slightly, her voice low and carrying a hint of menace. "Wait until tomorrow to laugh. By then, I'm afraid you won't be able to."
Stanley froze for a moment. Looking at Isabella, he somehow felt a sense of pressure and unease when their eyes met.
This person in front of him was clearly just a girl who had barely come of age—how could she give him a sense of threat?
Could he actually be worried she'd steal the project from him?
Impossible. He'd been taking Clarence to all sorts of high-end venues lately, and they'd practically become friends. Clarence would definitely give this project to Zenith Global Group—there would be no surprises.
Just then, a security guard from Ascend Global Group walked over.
He clearly recognized Stanley.
"Mr. Ortiz, if you're here to see Mr. Fisher, you can go straight up. Blocking the entrance affects people coming and going."
After hearing this, Stanley just gave Isabella a haughty glance before swaggering into the elevator with his people.
Isabella didn't look at him again. As she came out of the building and was about to walk toward her car, she heard a faint mocking voice from nearby:
"What's wrong? Hit a wall?"
Isabella turned her head and saw Chase walking toward her.
Chase had heard from Hayden that Isabella, in order to refuse marrying Zachary and avoid handing over the gemstones, had proposed to win the Crown District project instead.
So when he learned Isabella was coming to Ascend Global Group today, he came to take a look too.
He wanted to see how Isabella would compete for the Crown District project.
But just now, from outside the glass wall, he'd seen everything—Isabella hadn't even made it upstairs before being refused a meeting.
He wasn't surprised at all.
Isabella glanced at Chase, a bit surprised he was here, but too lazy to deal with him. She stepped forward to get in the car.
Chase's expression changed slightly. "Isabella, what's with that attitude? I'm talking to you and you're ignoring me."
Isabella turned to look at him and said flatly, "You came here to watch me fail. Why should I bother with you?"
Chase frowned. "You should just apologize to Dad and listen to him. Marry Zachary. The Crown District project isn't something a girl like you can handle. The company is seriously short on cash right now. If we can't get funding from the Baker family, we'll be in real trouble."
Chase was the eldest son in the family and the one who would inherit the company in the future.
If the company was gone, what would he have left to inherit?
So he just hoped the company could get through this crisis—after all, it was crucial to him.
After hearing Chase's words, Isabella's expression turned cold. "Have you ever thought about why a perfectly good company is short on cash? As the company's vice president, is this the result of your management?"
"You and Hayden mismanaged things and created problems, and the only solution you can think of is to make me marry into the Baker family. By that logic, you're completely useless."
"You—"
Chase's face turned ugly. He wanted to say something but couldn't find the words.
Seeing he had nothing to say, Isabella sneered and turned to get in the car.
Watching her movements, Chase quickly said, "Isabella, you're part of this family too. Even if you don't want to get engaged to Zachary, Dad just asked you to hand over the gemstones—you won't even do that? You'd refuse such a small request? Is your heart made of stone? Or are you so obsessed with money that you value a few stones more than your own family?"
Through the car window, Isabella gave him an indifferent glance. "You say my heart is made of stone, but I'm not standing by doing nothing. Aren't I working right now to win the Crown District project for the Taylor Group?"
"But you—besides standing here watching me fail, you've done nothing."
"Completely worthless."
Hearing these words, Chase's face turned livid with anger. "Isabella, how can you say that about me? I'm your older brother!"
Isabella rolled up the car window and told the driver, "Drive."
Chase watched the car speed away from him, his face extremely ugly.
He was furious inside.
Isabella was like a completely different person from when she first came to the Taylor Villa.
Disrespectful to her elders, arrogant and rude.
So infuriating.
——
The Taylor Villa.
Hayden was in his study handling documents.
Chase pushed the door open and entered.
Hearing the sound, Hayden looked up at him. "You went to Ascend Global Group? How was it? What did Isabella do?"
Chase sneered coldly. "What could she do? She didn't even get to meet Clarence."
Hayden's movements paused at these words, and his expression darkened somewhat. "She's that useless?"
She couldn't even get a meeting, yet she'd dared to promise so confidently that she could win the Crown District project for him?
Should he say Isabella was brainless, or too calculating?