third person's POV
Stuart said on the side, "Melinda's resume has already been checked. Her grades at school were always steady. If she really went out to work, she should be able to get a foothold in the financial world."
Of course Vanya knew.
Before she was reborn, after Melinda went abroad to study, she came back and helped Cliff make a lot of money.
Cliff saw her differently because of that and gave her special training.
It was already dark, and Vanya drove back to the Silver Moon Pack's villa.
Veronica was indeed sitting on the couch, surrounded by the heavy sandalwood scent of her pheromones, which carried a repressed anger. She didn't look too happy.
"Where's Cliff?" Vanya stepped into the living room, her scent as fresh as lilies trembling lightly in the heavy sandalwood air.
She thought Veronica would call Cliff back, but it looked like she wanted to talk alone.
"Cliff was still in a meeting, I told him to come back later."
Veronica said the scent of sandalwood was so strong it was like a fog that wouldn't clear, carrying the unique pressure of someone in power.
Vanya didn't say anything, just stood quietly to the side. Her lily-of-the-valley pheromones pulled back gently, like she was afraid of disturbing the heavy air.
Veronica spoke up, her tone a bit accusing, the scent of sandalwood suddenly sharp like a blade: "I heard from Jenny you've barely been home these days, and even when you come back, you only stay for a little while before leaving again. So? Did you find yourself a nice place to stay outside?"
Vanya smiled, and there was a light, cheerful ripple in the scent of lilies of the valley: "I thought it wasn't good to just sit around doing nothing, so I found a job."
"Ridiculous!" Veronica really got mad, and the sandalwood pheromones burst out with a cold, heavy pressure.
Her vertical pupils flashed with that unique wolfish glint under the light. She said coldly, "You were the eldest daughter of the Dalton family, the Luna of the Silvermoon Pack! You had to know your place. How could you just show up at work like that? If word got out, what would people think of the Todd family?"
Vanya wasn't mad.
Veronica was born never having worked a single day, had enough money for several lifetimes, and of course didn't understand what it was like to be broke.
In her past life, she also thought that with the Dalton family behind her and marrying Cliff, she could just relax, but what happened in the end?
The Dalton family wasn't reliable, and Cliff was even less reliable.
She knew what it felt like to have no way out, and she would never let herself go through it again.
Her lily of the valley scent always stayed light, but there was a hint of hidden coldness at its core.
Vanya pulled over a chair and sat across from Veronika.
Veronica probably didn't expect her to actually sit down. The sandalwood pressure paused for a second, her pupils shrank, and she was stunned for a moment.
Vanya still had a smile on her face, and there was a hint of sharpness in the scent of lilies of the valley: "Don't get mad yet, I'm just working at my own family's company, handling some business, nothing to be ashamed of. Right now, you shouldn't be worrying about me, but about Cliff—his company got squeezed by M Group lately, a bunch of projects fell through, and they're definitely losing money. I'm working outside just to help out the family a bit more."
Veronica frowned, the sandalwood scent heavy like it was about to drip: "What do you mean? An unknown M Group could ruin the Todd family's project? Even if we lose some money, we can afford it. Do you really need to go out and show your face?"
Vanya gave a slight smile, her lily-of-the-valley pheromones probing just a little: "Of course I know the Todd family is big and powerful, but this loss isn't just a little. A few tens of billions of dollars—not a lot, but not a little either, right?"
"What did you say? Tens of billions?"
Veronica thought she misheard, the sandalwood pheromones suddenly scattered, her pupils widened in shock, and all the color drained from her face.
Vanya explained casually, the scent of lilies of the valley drifting with her words: "M Group just opened a new shopping street, which totally messed up the Todd family's new business city plan. After it opened, nobody went there. And a few companies that used to work with Cliff all got kicked out by him. Now they're all working with M Group, and their projects are the same as the Todd family's..."
She watched Veronica's pale face and went on, "You see, LA is only so big, and the market is just one cake. Cliff used to have it all to himself, but now M Group took more than half. How could the Todd family not lose money? I'm saying tens of billions is a conservative guess—they might lose even more later."
Veronica's face was pale, her sandalwood pheromones were so faint they almost disappeared, and her body was trembling a little.
At this moment, there was the sound of the door opening at the entrance.
Cliff just walked in, carrying a tired scent of cedar mixed with sulfur. Veronica rushed over, her hand shifted for a second, wolf claws flashing coldly, and she slapped him hard: "Tell me! How much money did the company lose?"
Cliff got hit, his cheek burned with pain, and the cedar pheromones flared up in a flash like exploding sparks. His vertical pupils narrowed into dangerous slits.
He looked up at Vanya and saw a faint smile on her face. There was a hint of subtle mockery in the scent of lily of the valley, and he instantly realized she was the one who told on him.
"Grandma, you didn't need to worry about the company. I was here." Cliff's voice was low, but the calmer he was, the more complicated Veronica felt things were.
Veronica was shaking all over: "The company was started by your grandpa. If it went down in your hands, you'd be a fool!"
Cliff looked at Vanya, who was quietly drinking coffee nearby, and said calmly, "Grandma, the company won't go under, it's just losing some money, it's not as serious as you think."
Vanya sneered to herself—The Todd family probably had never lost this much money in all their years of running a business.
Cliff said it like it was nothing, but he was just relying on his rich family.