Araceli POV
I put down my bag and sat down in the chair. "You are..."
He snapped back instantly. "Oh, Ms. Chancey, I'm the director of this project, and my name is Korbin Capell. Please just call me Korbin."
"Nice to meet you, Korbin."
I nodded and smiled.
He continued, "Ms. Chancey, I can't believe you started a computer company at such a young age. It's my dream, too."
Korbin and I shook hands.
I smiled politely and said, "Thank you, Korbin. In fact, I couldn't have opened this company without the help of my friend."
Without Eliezer's help, I probably wouldn't have chosen an address yet...
Without showing too much emotion, Korbin continued, "Ms. Chancey, I'd like to talk to you about the pre-proposal for this project..."
"Buzz..."
My phone vibrated on my desktop.
I glanced at the caller ID.
It was Reynaldo.
I hung up the phone and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Korbin. Please continue..."
Korbin nodded.
"I just took a look at the program, and I have a question about..."
"Buzz..."
My phone vibrated again.
It was still Reynaldo...
What the hell did he want?
Reynaldo didn't usually call me. Did he really have something important to talk to me about?
"Ms. Chancey, you can get on the phone. It's okay."
Korbin smiled awkwardly and gathered up the pages scattered on the table.
I smiled apologetically at Korbin, put the phone through, lowered my voice, and said, "You better have something very important to tell me!"
"Araceli, I miss you..."
Reynaldo's flirtatious voice came through. I had to admit that his voice was quite nice and attractive.
He hummed lightly, "I helped you last time, and you said you were going to give me a reward. What is it? Are you coming to France to have dinner with me? I can book the best hotel near my office right away..."
I suddenly remembered that Reynaldo was the one who found the loopholes in Eclipse Group's account book last time.
I had bought a gift long ago and was going to send it to him.
I walked out of the conference room and said, "I did have a gift for you, Mr. Emerson. But, Mr. Emerson, since you're so rich, I don't think you'll need anything now..."
Reynaldo hurriedly said, "Araceli, baby, I love everything you get me. Or, I can take a private jet today and come to New York as soon as I can... Do you need me to bring you anything? I'll have my assistant go get it..."
His voice came faintly out of the receiver of the phone.
Korbin glanced at me.
I saw his look, guessed he'd heard something, and turned away.
Korbin didn't believe that I could start a company at such a young age. Perhaps his suspicions were reinforced when he heard what Reynaldo and I were talking about.
Raphael was smart and decisive, and had great business talent. Why did he choose me and work with me?
I thought anyone who knew about this would have suspected this.
In any case, Raphael was a man.
I came back to Reynaldo and said, "I have things to do. Don't call me."
After that, I hung up the phone.
I looked up, smiled, and said, "Excuse me, Korbin, now we can continue. Just now you said you had a question..."
However, Korbin interrupted me. "Ms. Chancey, I'm sorry. I'd better take this proposal back to Royal Group and study it carefully. See you next time."
I was about to say something, but Korbin stood up and continued, "Mr. Lancaster takes this project very seriously, and it's the largest investment Royal Group has made this quarter. There are some details that can't be finalized by the two of us. Sorry."
I froze for a second and didn't say anything else, just nodded my head.
"Yes. Sorry, Korbin. I'm sorry, but please take this proposal to Royal Group's technical department. We can wait until they've reviewed it before discussing the rest."
Korbin didn't answer me, glanced at me, took the thick folder, and walked out of my studio.
I sighed slightly, grabbed my bag, and walked into my office.
Next to my seat was the window. I pulled back the curtain just in time to see Korbin walk out of the building and get into his car.
He opened the door and casually tossed the folder on the passenger seat. After that, he impatiently took out his cell phone, cursed angrily, hung up, and drove off.
I frowned, looking at the distant car, and had a vague feeling of bad foreboding.
After I finished my work in the morning, I drove to Eclipse Group in the afternoon.
I was now the marketing manager of Eclipse Group.
I took the elevator to the marketing office, stepped on my high heels, and walked in.
When the employees saw me, they greeted me with, "Ms. Chancey."
I smiled and nodded at them, walked into the manager's office, and closed the door.
Outside the door, the sounds of discussion came through.
"Crap, Araceli actually came to be the manager of our department!"
"Shit. Melany got fired! She's really pathetic!"
"Shut up! Araceli is a cunning woman. Shh, keep your voice down. If she hears us, we'll also be fired!"
Melany's embezzlement of public funds was not revealed, but some well-informed people did find out about it. Now everyone in the company basically knew that Melany was expelled from the board of directors and was forced to step down as the general manager.
And I, for one, was the culprit for all of this.
Next second, the cold voice of a female employee came.
"Get the fuck back to work! Don't forget, the heir of Eclipse Group is Melany Chancey!"