Love's New Bloom by Simone Hastings

Chapter 21 Identity Discovered

The meeting lasted for two hours.

Erin went back to her office feeling awful. She had not only received criticism from her supervisor but also needed to work overtime to complete the 20 designs because of the lengthy meeting.

Her hatred for Chandler grew deeper.

Shortly after she went back to work, it was lunch time. Dana and the others came to invite her to eat together.

“You guys go ahead. I won’t have lunch today. I still have work to finish…“ Erin stared listlessly at the computer screen.

Dana pulled her up. “Erin, do you think you’re a robot? How can you work without eating? Although we’re office workers and not manual laborers, our job has high mental demands! Besides, you just recovered from a cold. Do you want to get sick again by damaging your body like this?“

“Yeah, Erin. We know you’re not in a good mood, but we’ve decided to treat you to a big meal. Eat to your heart’s content, then come back to work!“ Even Milly, who was usually stingy, spoke up to invite her. Erin’s heart wavered.

Ella chimed in too. “Let’s go. We’re running out of time, and we all have a lot of work to do. Erin, don’t disappoint us.“

Seeing everybody so eager, Erin gave in to their requests. “Alright, let’s go.“

Since they had agreed to treat Erin to a meal, they went to a restaurant nearby instead of the staff’s canteen. The restaurant had a 300-dollar minimum spend per head.

After ordering a few dishes, they began chatting as they waited.

Dana looked at Erin sympathetically. “Don’t blame me for being nosy, but I always feel like our director is targeting you. If you’re late for a meeting, he threatens to deduct your year-end bonus. He’s not even from the HR or finance departments. Does he really have the power to deduct staff bonuses?”

Sipping on her water, Ella hesitated for a moment before saying, “I have some inside scoop. My husband’s uncle used to collaborate with Frost Corporation. Rumor has it that Mr. Grant and our president are related, so he does have that power.”

offend. Since Ella mentioned the president, she immediately asked. “Do you know who our

don’t even know the president’s name? His electronic

can still make out the

sounds domineering and ruthless! As expected of the top businessman in

Chandler Frost…

while connecting some of the clues she had. She recalled Claire calling the man

Chandy…

of Frost Corporation made her so scared that she accidentally knocked over her water

getting their dresses wet, the three girls instantly jolted

“Waiter…”

to another one. When they were seated again, Erin apologized immediately. “Sorry, I was

“No worries. Besides, we managed to avoid it

chatted for a while, and the dishes arrived soon. Since they were pressed for time, they focused on eating.

over and respectfully asked, “Hello,

initiative to pay. She took

paid. It was paid by this young lady.” The waiter

Dana complained, “Erin, when did you pay the bill? Didn’t we agree

treat

so generous of

“Thank you, Erin!”

more. They returned to their respective offices once they

the pantry to get some water, and Dana

designs but also businesses. She previously had some problems negotiating with a company’s president, but she didn’t want to lose that business. Recently, she picked two female designers to go negotiate with her, and you’re one of them. I heard some rumors saying that the president is a lecherous old man, and Janette might make you two entertain him.

nodded. “Dana, thank

in the same company and need to help each other out sometimes.

“Okay, I will.”

to their seats and worked

was

a design competition, and the top three participants would be able to participate directly in a new project. If the project went well, each participant would receive

participating designer could receive roughly 100 thousand dollars as a