Chapter 85 Falling Into Her Trap
Chapter Eighty - Six
Soon, the meeting room was quiet once more.
Aria turned back to the employees, “Alright. Let’s get back on with the meeting.”
The employees, confused now, looked from Aria to Nathan. They thought Nathan was the one presiding over the meeting, but now it seemed like the tables have been turned over to Aria.
Aria saw their looks of confusion, and turned to look at Nathan, her gaze cool and detached, “What’s wrong?” She uttered , “Do we still have some confusion about who is the leader here? I am the head of the marketing department. Does any one have any problem with that?”
The employees cleared their throats, shuffling their feet and glancing at Aria underneath their eyelashes.
Aria had indeed showed that she was in charge when she had fired Debra, and Director Nathan went with her wishes.
Suddenly, it dawned on them why Nathan was not saying anything.
If Nathan does not think Aria was capable of being the head, then why did he carry out her order? Or was it because he was the one who actually caused Debra to be fired?
The employees were confused now, and this showed in their demeanor.
Aria had a secret smile on her face when she saw this. This was what she had been hoping for and it actually worked.
She knew the employees would not believe her if she merely stated that Debra had disrespected her by not heeding her requests.
But when she had demonstrated her authority by firing her, it somehow changed things.
Not only that, she had also roped Nathan into the ordeal. When he acted, he indirectly established her authority in that area.
She could make core decisions like firing an erring employee, and getting her orders to be followed.
Aria’s smile got wider as she dwelled on the fact that Nathan had no choice. If he had not carried out her order, he would have been exposed by Debra.
He was not going to take that and had unconsciously shot himself in the foot still.
She had actually used him and he had fallen for her trap.
This thought tickled her so much that she started laughing right there and then, to the astonishment of the other employees.
Nathan himself was silent, because like everyone else there, he had come to the full realization that Aria had deceived him.
Now he couldn’t very well challenge her authority because he already proved she had one.
By himself, without coercion.
If he had not done that, he would have been outed as the villian who had caused problems for Aria on her first day of work.
“How stupid!” He swore internally, anger coursing through him, and it was all he could do not to punch the table through, “How could I have been stupid enough to fall into her trap?!”
He glared at Aria, her laugh grating the insides of his ears and he felt like punching her as well.
Aria soon stopped laughing, her laughter dying to a trickle, as she wiped her eyes.
“Well,” she started “Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, we can get on with the meeting. Isn’t that right, Nathan?”
Nathan’s face contorted with a distasteful look, not bothering to look like the kind and passionate boss.
“It’s not that we can’t continue with the meeting,” he said harshly, “It’s just that you won’t be able to understand anything we say. How then are we supposed to have an effective meeting?”
The other employees snickered, laughing behind their palms.
Aria smiled coldly, “Why don’t you start first?” She uttered.
Nathan rolled his eyes, “You are only going to delay us, Aria.” He uttered dismissively, “Maybe you will sit this one out.”
Aria leaned forward, her green eyes sparkling like emeralds but the anger in them were not beautiful at all.
“You want to take this up with the one who has the power to actually decide?” She asked, “How about we take this matter up with the CEO?”
Nathan’s upper lips quivered with rage, “Why you!…”
Aria leaned back and smiled, almost making Nathan to have a brain aneurysm from anger.
He knew she had intentionally brought that up to anger him. And also because she knew he would never challenge Lucian’s authority.
“The sly bitch!” He swore underneath his breath, “How dare she try to set me up again?! How dare she?!”
He was also very much astonished that Aria was like this, challenging him in the office, where he was supposed to have more power.
He had thought he would be able to easily cripple her here in the company, but she was a formidable as her husband.
It pissed Nathan the hell off, and he said nothing.
“It seems Director Nathan also agrees with me.” Aria replied after sometime. She faced the employees once more, “Resume the meeting. Now.”
The employees looked at each other, then at Aria. One by one, they adjusted themselves, straightening their clothes and clearing their throats.
“Yes ma’am,” the employee presenting uttered. He turned to the screen and proceeded to continue his presentation.
Aria watched the screen and went through the reports which had been placed before her , her attention piqued. After a while, she sighed and rubbed the space between her eyes.
Everyone froze and the guy presenting trailed to a stop, swallowing hard.
Nathan swore underneath his breath, “Who does she think she is, disrupting the meeting?”
He gave Aria a disdainful glare, “why? What’s the matter?you don’t understand what’s on the screen right?”
His tone was cutting, the mockery slicing through the air like knife through butter.
The employees dared not snicker this time, at least not openly. Instead, they watched with interest, waiting for what Aria would say next.
Aria gave Nathan a hard look, “Why are we going with the Crown Avenue project?
Nathan scoffed in disbelief, almost flipping over what he thought was Aria’s audacity, “What do you mean why? It’s the hottest retail expansion project in the city. Everyone wants it and we are the most eligible to get it. It’s safe and very lucrative. Do you have any other objections?”
Aria looked at him, “Yes.” She uttered calmly, “We are dropping it.”