Chapter 30
And Amelia deliberately leaked this news at this moment; her purpose was crystal clear.
She wanted to expose my "inability to bring in investment" right in front of the headquarters leadership, to humiliate me publicly, to nail me to the pillar of shame so I'd never have a chance to recover.
She was certain that in one week, there was no way I could pull off the miracle of securing a hundred million dollars.
I looked at her face, twisted with jealousy and scheming, and my fingers hanging at my sides tightened slightly.
But on my face, I cooperatively showed just the right amount of shock and panic, my lips trembling as if I'd been struck speechless by this sudden news.
"This... this is too sudden..." my voice carried a barely detectable tremor, "One week, I..."
"Sudden?" Amelia let out a cold laugh, cutting me off. "You're the one who asked for this opportunity. Since you dared to make such bold claims, you need to be prepared to face the consequences. Luna, I'm really looking forward to your spectacular performance in front of the headquarters leadership in a week."
With that, she left me with a victor's retreating figure, swaying her hips triumphantly as she returned to her office.
The air in the office seemed to freeze. My colleagues looked at me with eyes full of sympathy and pity, though of course, there was also plenty of schadenfreude mixed in.
Only Violet frowned at me and sent me a message: [She's lost it, deliberately targeting you.]
I looked at my phone screen, my lips slowly curving into a cold arc.
I replied: [No, she's not targeting me. She's setting the stage for me.]
The perfect stage for me to sweep her and her cronies out in one fell swoop.
I ignored the sympathetic or mocking looks behind me and walked straight back to my desk.
I had lit the fuse of this farce myself, so naturally I would be the one to end it.
Amelia thought she'd backed me into a corner, but she didn't realize she'd personally laid out a red carpet leading me to the center of power.
Just then, the office intercom phone rang abruptly, cutting through the eerie silence in the office.
She picked it up impatiently, and after listening for a few seconds, her voice suddenly shot up, full of disgust and impatience: "What? Looking for someone? This is a company, not a family reunion show! Two old people? Tell them to leave quickly and stop getting in the way!"
She hung up, her face full of displeasure at being disturbed, muttering curses under her breath: "What kind of random people are they letting in?"
In the office, everyone fell silent, accustomed to Amelia's harshness, and no one dared say more.
Something stirred in my heart. I stood up and, under everyone's surprised gazes, knocked on Amelia's half-open office door.
She looked up, and seeing it was me, her eyes instantly turned cold. "What now?"
"Ms. White," I said calmly, showing no trace of having just been given a hard time, "the front desk situation let me handle it, to avoid affecting the company's image."
Amelia probably figured that having me do reception work was a form of humiliation in itself, so she snorted through her nose, which counted as tacit approval.
I turned and left the office. Violet gave me a worried look, and I shook my head almost imperceptibly, signaling her not to worry.
Arriving at the first-floor lobby, I immediately spotted the elderly couple being stopped by the front desk outside the security gate.
The two elderly people were about sixty or seventy years old, dressed in plain but clean clothes, completely out of place in this bright, modern office building lobby.
They stood awkwardly to one side, their faces showing a hint of bewildered confusion, being dealt with by the receptionist's professional fake smile.
I walked over and said to the receptionist, "I'll handle this."
The receptionist looked relieved and immediately stepped aside.
I approached the elderly couple and softened my voice, trying to appear friendly and harmless. "Hello, how can I help you?"
Seeing me, a glimmer of light appeared in their cloudy eyes.
The old Lady clutched her husband's arm and looked at me somewhat nervously, asking cautiously, "We... we just want to come in and look around. We won't wander off, just take a quick look and leave."
Their posture was very humble, carrying the kind of deference of people long accustomed to being looked down upon.
An inexplicable sourness rose in my heart. I stepped aside and swiped them through security. "It's fine, come in. It's cold outside."
I led them to an empty, small meeting room and poured two cups of warm water for them.
"Thank you." The old man took the cup with repeated thanks.
The old Lady held the warm cup, and her anxious expression finally eased a bit.
She looked up and studied me carefully, her gaze gentle yet somewhat probing, making me feel a bit uncomfortable.
"You're so kind," she praised softly, then asked, "We just wanted to ask about someone. We heard the White family's daughter works at your company?"
The White family's daughter.
Those words stung me slightly. My hand holding the water cup paused briefly, and I looked up, observing them without showing any emotion.
"What do you need with her?" I neither confirmed nor denied.
"Nothing... nothing important," the old Lady quickly waved her hands, as if afraid I'd misunderstand. "It's just... we received kindness from the White family before, and hearing she works here, we wanted to see if she's doing well."
This explanation sounded reasonable enough, yet there was something odd about it.
I was hesitating about how to respond when the old Lady's gaze inadvertently fell on the ID badge on my chest.
It showed my English name and position, and below the English name, there was a small, barely noticeable surname - White.
Her cloudy eyes struggled to focus, her body leaning forward slightly, muttering: "Luna... White..."
She suddenly looked up, her eyes showing disbelief and shock, pointing at my badge with a trembling voice, "You... you're Ophelia? You're the White family's daughter?"
The meeting room fell silent, as if even the air had frozen.
I looked at their shocked yet expectant eyes, countless thoughts flashing through my mind in an instant.
Their appearance was too coincidental, their identity too vague. At this critical time, I couldn't easily trust anyone.
But thinking again, they were just two simple elderly people with honest eyes and awkward mannerisms; they didn't look like they'd been sent by Amelia or Michael.
Even if I admitted it, so what? They and I would probably only meet this once.
The tightly wound string in my heart loosened slightly under their sincere and eager gazes.
I looked at them and finally nodded slowly, saying softly, "Yes, that's me."