Chapter 17: The deal is off.
An hour later...
Inside the conference room...
"Mr. Knox, this is Miss Tessa Morgan, our new vice-president," Elena said, introducing her to him. "She will be handling this project from now on."
"What?" The middle-aged man frowned. "Miss Elena, I agreed to this meeting because I believed I would be working directly with you. And now, you are suddenly telling me someone else is taking over. This is unacceptable."
Tessa’s eyes flickered with irritation. "Mr. Knox, are you doubting my ability before even speaking with me? I graduated from one of Europe’s top universities and have years of overseas experience. Compared to her, I’m far more qualified."
Mr. Knox’s expression shifted. "You..."
"Mr. Knox," Elena interrupted. "Please calm down. Let’s discuss the contract first."
She gently pushed the file in front of him.
The man sighed. "Alright. I’ll review it."
As he flipped through the documents, he continued murmuring, "You are such a talented employee here. If you worked under me, I would have promoted you to vice president."
He glanced at Elena. "Why don’t you join my company instead? People here don’t value you. Why are you still here?"
Tessa felt humiliated. Wasn’t he directly saying she wasn’t worthy to be the vice president?
"You are being very disrespectful, Mr. Knox," Tessa snapped rudely.
The room instantly fell silent.
The middle-aged man whipped his head up and looked at her with surprise.
"You are here to discuss business," Tessa continued. "But instead, you are insulting our company’s decision. You are praising Elena, but it sounds cheap. It seems like you are flirting with her."
Elena gasped in shock. She couldn’t believe Tessa would speak so rudely to an important client.
Even Mr. Knox’s assistant nearby looked stunned.
"I know a man like you so well," Tessa continued arrogantly. "You are filthy. Your company might have expanded so quickly by using dirty means. Before criticizing others, you should reflect on yourself first."
"Tessa, that’s enough," Elena snapped, unable to keep quiet. "Apologize to him. Now."
"Apology?" Tessa scowled at her. "He clearly flirted with you. And you are asking me to apologize to him. How dare you? Don’t forget you are my assistant. You have no right to tell me what to do."
"Tessa, please stop..."
Mr. Knox closed the file. His face turned completely cold. He rose from his chair.
"Miss Morgan," he started icily, "I have been doing business longer than you have been in the corporate world. In all those years, I have never met someone so arrogant and unprofessional."
Tessa snorted and crossed her arms across her chest. There was not a hint of regret on her face.
He pushed the contract file aside. "This meeting is over. Zenith Core will not consider any future collaboration with Sinclair Group."
He pushed the chair backward and stormed out of the conference room, his assistant following him.
Elena turned to Tessa, furious. "What did you do?" she demanded. "I told you how important that client was. And you humiliated him. Now the deal is off."
"So what?" Tessa barked. "He is just a client. If he doesn’t want to work with us, it’s his loss."
Elena held her head.
For months, she had repeatedly approached Mr. Knox for this collaboration. After countless meetings with his delegates, negotiations, and rejected proposals, she had finally managed to secure a meeting with him. And Tessa had destroyed it in just a few minutes.
"We will get other clients," Tessa said confidently.
Elena raised her eyes at her. "But we lost him. And it’s not good."
"Humph," Tessa snorted arrogantly. "That man was not suitable to partner with us. We’ll find someone better. And I’ll make sure of it."
Dropping those words, she left.
Elena remained seated there in silence, staring blankly into the empty space.
The news of the failed meeting reached Noah. Anger exploded. He slammed the file he was reviewing onto the desk.
"How did this happen?" he barked.
His assistant trembled. He lowered his head instantly. "Miss Tessa humiliated Mr. Knox. That’s all I know."
Noah’s expression turned murderous. But he still took Tessa’s side and let out his anger on Elena.
"Tessa just joined the company. She doesn’t understand how the negotiations work. But Elena... what was she doing? I told her to help Tessa. Yet the things ended like this."
"It was not Miss Elena’s fault." The assistant tried to defend her.
"Shut up," Noah roared.
The assistant flinched violently.
"Contact Mr. Knox. Do whatever it takes to arrange another meeting."
The assistant bolted out.
Noah’s phone rang on the desk. When he saw his father’s name on the screen, he drew a breath.
"Hello." He forced himself to calm down.
"In my office. Now."
Beep
Noah’s face twisted. Hearing his father’s icy tone, he realized his father had heard about the incident.
"Shit..."
He took another deep breath, running his fingers through his hair. Once his breathing steadied, he went to meet his father.
The moment he entered the chairman’s office, a folder came flying straight toward him.
Noah dodged instinctively. The folder crashed onto the floor beside his feet.
He looked down briefly and looked up, speechless.
His father’s face was burning with rage.
"Have you completely lost your mind?" Richard thundered. "You made Tessa the vice president?"
Noah swallowed. But he managed to stay calm. "I made that decision after careful consideration."
"Careful consideration?" Richard lost it completely. "That was a reckless decision. Now look at the consequences. Because of her stupidity, we lost the deal with the Zenith Core."
"It’s not entirely her fault," Noah said flatly. "She is new. Mistakes happen."
Richard’s eyebrows furrowed deeply. "You are still defending her?" he asked with disbelief. "She humiliated an important client and destroyed a multi-billion dollar opportunity. And you refused to see her mistake."
"We still don’t know what exactly happened in the meeting," Noah said. "Tessa wouldn’t react like that without a reason. I’ll get to the bottom of it. If I find she is really guilty, I’ll fire her."
"You..." Richard was so angry that his whole body trembled. He wanted to strike him. He gritted his teeth as he swallowed his rage.
"You shouldn’t have hired her in the first place. That position was meant for Elena. But you gave it to Tessa. Did you even stop to think about Elena’s feelings?"
No matter how hard he tried to suppress his anger, it still rose even more fiercely. "She recently miscarried. The wedding was cancelled. And now, the position she desired was also gone. Don’t you fear she will suspect you with Tessa? What if she wants to leave you?"
Noah’s heart clenched at those words.
"You should stay away from Tessa. Focus on Elena. She needs you."
Noah said nothing. Deep down, he knew he had been unfair to Elena. He did want to make things right with her. But he couldn’t abandon Tessa.
"Tessa saved me," he said bluntly. "I’m doing this to repay her favor."
"For that, you didn’t have to make her the vice president," Richard roared. "That position was for someone responsible, hard-working, and professional, not for someone like Tessa."
At that, Noah lost his temper. He glared at him. "Why are you always against her?" he snapped back. "I loved her. I wanted to marry her. But you drove her away."
Richard’s face twisted in uncontrollable rage. He slammed his hands and jumped to his feet.
"How dare you question me? Have you forgotten what happened back then? Under what circumstances we brought Elena into this family? Do I have to remind you all that?"
Noah went silent, his mind buzzing. His face turned pale.
"Treat Elena well," Richard added, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Or she may get tired of you and leave you. And this is not good. And you know the reason."
Noah’s fists tightened. "She’ll not leave me," he said with conviction. "She can never."
He stormed out.