Book 2 : She Becomes Glamorous After the Engagement

Chapter 59

Chapter 787: A Commercial Conspiracy?

Nora was a little surprised.

Mrs. Hunt gave her money only because she had never believed in her “friends”,but wasn’t Joel in the Imperial League?Didn’t he see what King said in the group?

King had already said in the group that gold prices would rise in the future.He should have become aware of it after seeing the message,so why was he still giving her money?

Suddenly,Nora thought of something and she looked straight at Tanya.She asked, “I see. What about Dad?”

Tanya replied, “Dad has been paying a lot of attention recently to what is happening to you but he didn’t offer to give you any money this time.When I bumped into him while I was on my way here today,he didn’t mention anything about it,either. I reckon it probably didn’t occur to him?Is the money not enough? I still have some,and so does Joel.How much more do you need?”

Now that Joel was Ian’s son,Tanya had also become his daughter-in-law.

Therefore,she also addressed Ian as Dad now.

Upon hearing what Tanya said,Nora suddenly understood.

As it turned out,Ian was still using that count? Didn’t he already give it to Joel?Why did he take it back? Honestly…

With that in mind,Nora cast her eyes down and slowly asked, “How is Joel doing lately?”

At her question,Tanya glanced at Nora. A moment later,she finally sighed and said, “Actually,there’s something I don’t know whether I should say or not.”

Nora replied, “Is there still anything the two of us shouldn’t be saying to each other?”

The two were already close friends when they were still in Switzerland.

Now that Tanya was with Joel,she was leading a blissful and happy life.Coupled with how much of a cutie Mia was,even her firecracker-like temper had significantly changed for the better.

She had always been a straightforward woman, though,so she simply decided to come straight out and say it. She said, “To be honest, Joel’s relationship with Dad did become a little delicate after your return.Dad had given all of his shares of the company to Joel,but now that you’re back, Joel often says that everything that the Smith's own should have been yours.”

Just as Nora was about to speak,Tanya sighed and went on. “But Dad said that you are lazy and don’t like taking care of such things,so he wants Joel to continue taking care of the company.You should also know that the management of a family business requires absolute control in company shares,so this led to Dad having to give him 51% of the shares.Dad only had 70% of the shares,so he can only give you 19% now. Because of this,Joel keeps saying that you’re at too much of a disadvantage,so he has decided that for as long as he’s alive,he will give you half of all the dividends he receives.”

Nora: “!”

He really didn’t have to.

She was fine as long as she had enough to spend.What would she need that much money for?

She refused her right away. “No,it’s fine. I will set up my bank account to reject the funds.”

Nora’s way of doing things had always been direct and decisive.

Tanya covered her mouth and laughed. Compared to before, she had really become much gentler.At the sight,Nora couldn’t help but remark, “Just laugh if you want to.What are you covering your mouth for?”

Tanya rolled her eyes. Then,she said emotionally, “Nora,do you know? I have always thought that people’s relationships with one another are predestined and everyone we meet will surely impart to us a little knowledge.In Mia’s case,she taught me how to be gentle.How would I possibly dare to be loud when I speak to her?Before I knew it, even the way I laugh became a lot gentler!”

Nora agreed with her, though.

Since she was a child, she had always been lazy and had never thought about having children at all.Who would have known that she would become pregnant all of a sudden and even give birth to three at one go.

No matter how lazy and unwilling to communicate with others she was,with Cherry the little chatterbox sucking up to her all day long, before she knew it,even she had started to talk more.

She felt that she had talked more to Cherry than she ever did during the first twenty years of her life.

While she was thinking, Tanya got back to business.She said, “I knew you wouldn’t want it,so Joel said that he has thought of a way to make it up to you!”

A way to make it up to her?

“What is it?”Nora asked.

Tanya pursed her lips and replied, “That’s something top-secret among the Smith's,so how would I know?In any case,he told me not to worry.”

“Oh.”

She handed the check back to Tanya. “When you’re back,tell Joel that gold prices will rise in two days.If he’s interested,he can also buy some.”

Tanya didn’t really understand,but she was a messenger between the two,so she took back the check and said, “Okay,I’ll tell him.”

Then,she got up and left.

It wasn’t until she stepped out of the Hunts’ manor that Tanya suddenly realized something.

Because of what had happened to Justin,her heart had been very heavy when she came. She wanted to keep Nora company as much as she could,yet she also had to restrain herself and make sure that she didn’t bring up Justin,lest it saddened Nora.

But as she chatted with Nora, upon seeing that she was in such a good state of mind and completely didn’t look like she had just lost her beloved,she forgot all about the matter.

It wasn’t until she left that she finally remembered.

However…

Wasn’t Nora in a little too good of a condition?

As she thought so,she shook her head slightly, suppressed her doubts, and went back to the Smith's.

–

After seeing Tanya off, without having any time to wonder what Joel was referring to that was more important than company shares, Nora went straight to the Hunt Corporation.

Now that she was the CEO of the Hunt Corporation,she couldn’t stay at home and sleep in every day anymore.

In addition,she had to take care of all the company matters and get everything on the right track as soon as possible.Only then would she be able to leave and look for the V16!

When Nora arrived at the company in the car, the surrounding employees all looked at her and started pointing and gesturing at her.

The moment she arrived at her office, Roger invited himself in. At the sight of Nora,he sighed silently and said, “Nora,didn’t I already tell you to sell the gold futures?Yet you simply refuse to listen!Well, look at how we’ve made even more losses now!”

Nora lowered her head. “Mmhmm.”

Roger hadn’t closed the door when he entered, deliberately letting the people in the secretarial department outside hear what he was about to say.

“Nora,I know you are rich,and I also know that Grandma gave you 50 million dollars.But it’s the company that’s losing money here!

You have enough money to support your willfulness,but what about the company’s shareholders?And these employees in the company too.What are they supposed to do?”

Nora frowned and replied, “I will bear all the losses.I will also give the shareholders and employees an explanation,you don’t have to worry about it.”

Before he came,Roger had already guessed as much that she would say that,so he immediately acted like he was painstakingly trying to persuade and talk sense into her.

“Nora,I know you are rich.Even if you use up all of Grandma’s 50 million dollars as compensation,you still can get money from the Smith's.At the worst, you can even compensate for the losses with Justin’s money,but don’t you know that you are just eating into your savings by doing that?You will empty your savings one day!Besides,with the way you’re behaving, how are you going to give the people in the Hunt Corporation any hope?Do you know that everyone in the company has been feeling jittery and uneasy since Justin’s accident?In fact,there are even rumors going about outside that the Hunt Corporation is about to lose its position as the number one company in America!”

Nora: “?”

Roger continued. “Over the years,the Hunt's and the Smith's have been vying for the top spot in America.From the start, the two companies’ profits have been more or less the same.If you make losses in a few projects,it may lead to a change in our position. Do you really want to see that happen?!”

Everyone said that the Smith's and the Hunt's were competing and fighting with each other, but from Nora’s perspective,the two companies had always been doing business in a mutually beneficial manner.It was fine as long as both made money,why bother caring about who earned more?

Whether it was Joel,Justin,or even Ian,they had never thought about competing for top spot and whatnot.On the contrary,these empty accolades were all given by outsiders.

As a Hunt,it went without saying that Roger understood that.

Yet he’d still voiced such a ludicrous question—especially when his question caught the attention of those outside.

Through the door,Nora could see that everyone in the secretarial department had pricked up their ears to hear how she was going to answer!

In addition,before she could answer,Roger was already starting to set up a trap for her.He said, “No,wait. Nora, you’re a Smith, o you must favor the Smith's instead! I see,so that’s how it is!Even though you’ve borne Justin three children,you’re still a Smith!And your daughter is also a Smith!Even after she and Justin acknowledged each other as father and daughter,she didn’t change her last name all this time!”

Roger suddenly thought of something and he even said, “I get it now, I’ve finally figured it out! I have been perplexed about why you refuse to cut our losses despite gold prices clearly plummeting day by day. As it turns out,you were lying in wait for that!”

Nosy and gossipy secretaries would send news of their dispute to the group chats.Thus, Roger’s words were like a thunderbolt that bombarded the hearts of all the employees of the Hunt Corporation.

Everyone launched into a discussion in the group chat.

“Is Ms.Smith’s heart really not in here?”

“Surely it’s not that bad?After all, the two families have already allied with each other through a political marriage.They even have children!”

“Friend,Ms.Smith and Mr.Hunt are just engaged,they are not married yet!Legally,Ms. Smith is not Mr.Hunt’s wife yet!”

“Oh my god!Now that you’ve put it that way, I’m suddenly starting to form a conspiracy theory here.No,no, surely not?Is Ms.Smith actually here to harm us?Will a company as big as the Hunt Corporation really go out of business?”

“I feel so anxious!Will they lay off staff?Will I be laid off?I’m already middle-aged!If I lose this job,I won’t be able to find a better job at all!”

Everyone was speculating.For a while, all the employees in the company panicked.

The local media also reported the incident and it made headlines in business news.For a while,everyone was discussing it on the Internet as well as in real life.

The focus of their discussion was:

In order to take the top spot in the country,the Smith's were stooping too low!

Nora also came under fire on the Internet:

“I’ve suddenly understood the Smiths’ ploys.The way wealthy families manipulate people is really so sinister!Oh gosh,how scary!”

“Nora?She’s the top socialite, right?So,the way to rout the enemy is to bear him a child, then inherit his business and bring down his company?”

Some reporters also cornered Nora and asked her for her opinion on the matter.

Nora merely looked at the camera and said a few words.

“In two days,I will tell you the answer.”

Chapter 788: It’s Time For Some Face-Slapping!

That one line of Nora’s immediately went under analysis by everyone, who then posted it on the Internet.

Some people’s interpretations were:

“She’ll give us an answer in two days? Gold prices will probably hit a new low in two days!When that happens and the Smith's become the most profitable company of the year, she’ll then announce her break with the Hunt's?”

“Friend, are you kidding?Her children can already inherit the Hunts’ property.What will remain of Ms.Smith if she breaks off ties with them?That bit of dividends from the Smith's?”

“Now that you’ve mentioned the dividends,won’t the Smiths give Ms.Smith the position of successor?After all, everyone knows that the current head of the Smith's is the previous head’s nephew!”

“Haha,I am a Smith Corporation employee.I can tell you very clearly that Ian Smith has already transferred the company shares to Joel Smith,so he now has 51% of the shares, which gives him absolute control over the company.The previous head only gave Ms. Smith 10 of the shares,so all your speculations are nonsense!”

“You’re from the Smith Corporation?Then can you tell me if your company and the Hunt Corporation have really been in a competitive relationship all these years?”

“Of course we are!We are not only competing with them on the outside but also internally.Every project always has two teams studying and developing it.Only competition can motivate a person’s most primitive passion, but as far as I know,the Smith Corporation does not care about things like being first or second.The Smith Corporation’s annual turnover is not much less than that of the Hunt Corporation!”

“Even if it’s not much less,it’s still less than theirs.Even if they don’t care about who’s first or second,they are still in second place.Who wouldn’t want to get rid of their fate of being in second place forever? Besides,Mr.Hunt only has one son.Even if Ms. Smith plays a few small tricks and makes the Hunt Corporation lose 80 million dollars,all that will happen is that they’ll become the second in terms of annual turnover this year.The Hunt's won’t be too concerned.But by doing so,the Smith's can take first place for once,so why not?It’s just 80 million dollars, the Smith's probably don’t even think anything of it,right?”

Some believed it while some didn’t.Everyone gloated over others’ misfortune while they chatted about the gossip and waited quietly for the results that would come in two days.

Nora wasn’t one to bother listening to what outsiders said.Instead, she was dealing with the Hunt Corporation’s affairs as well as looking for an overseas project so that she could find an excuse to go to Switzerland.

In the company,she approached Celine,a female staff member who was temporarily taking Lawrence’s place in the secretarial department,and asked, “Does the company have any projects in Switzerland?”

With her head lowered, Celine answered stiffly, “No.If you have the time to be looking at overseas projects,then why don’t you settle the company’s domestic affairs first?Regarding the gold futures,what exactly are you thinking?”

After Justin’s accident and in Lawrence’s absence,Celine had temporarily taken over the latter’s position as the leader of the secretarial department.

However,she had always been supportive of Nora.Her current attitude, though. Something wasn’t right.

Nora looked up to see the woman,who was usually mild and gentle, staring at her with her clear and attractive eyes.Her voice was obviously very gentle, yet the way she spoke was very stiff.She said, “Gold prices have dropped again today. Why aren’t you doing any trading in the market?With the way you’re behaving,don’t you think you’re letting down Mr. Hunt?”

Nora: “?”

She raised her brows. Suddenly,she asked, “Do you also think that I am not doing my best for the Hunt Corporation?”

Celine bit her lip. “Isn’t that right?If you really were doing your best for the Hunt Corporation,then why would you fire Lawrence?”

Nora was taken aback. “What did you just say?”

Celine sneered, “I’ve already found out about everything that happened,so you can drop your act!Lawrence is very familiar with the company and he is also Mr. Hunt’s right-hand man.You fired him because you want to bypass him and do things unfavorable to the company,right?Ms. Smith,when Mr.Hunt was still around,we could all see for ourselves just how well he’d treated you.Don’t you think your actions have really let him down?Lawrence is very loyal to Mr.Hunt,how can you fire someone like him just like that?”

Nora: “?”

She countered with a question of her own. “When did I fire Lawrence?”

Celine sneered and said, “You don’t have to pretend anymore I already know all about it.You fired Lawrence the day Mr.Hunt died. His resignation letter is right there in the company’s email inbox. I’ve already seen it!”

Nora: “!”

She went through the email inbox at once. Sure enough,she saw Lawrence’s resignation letter,which was sent on the day that Justin died.

Lawrence’s resignation letter was written very clearly.To sum it up roughly,he wrote that Mr.Hunt had been very kind to him, o he needed some time to get over what had happened.He also told them not to look for him.After that, he left…

Nora: “…”

To think she had been wondering why no one noticed that Lawrence had disappeared just like that after Justin faked his death.As it turned out,it was because he had already made all the necessary preparations in advance.

So,he had left together with Justin?

Where had they gone, though?Switzerland?

They must have done that and concealed their identities just so they could go to Switzerland to look for the V16,right?

But when she thought of the man in black who was still alive,and how he’d forced her and Justin to retreat all by himself,as well as how Justin had also been forced into faking his death as a countermeasure;deep worry arose at the bottom of Nora’s heart.

No,this wouldn’t work. She must go to Switzerland right away.

Nora made up her mind. Suddenly,she looked up at Celine and asked, “Who told you that I was the one who fired Lawrence?”

Celine had already seen Lawrence’s resignation letter a long time ago, yet her attitude towards her a few days ago had still been very good. However, this had suddenly changed today. Someone must have said something to her.

Sure enough, the next moment, the look in Celine’s eyes changed. She lowered her head and replied evasively, “I promised that person that I wouldn’t tell you their identity. Don’t bother trying to find out who told me the truth. That person is someone you trust, otherwise I wouldn’t have believed them so easily.”

Someone she trusted?

How many people did Nora trust?

Her friends were all absolutely worthy of her trust. It was impossible for any of them to betray her.

Nora didn’t think any deeper into it. Instead, she said, “I didn’t fire Lawrence.”

However, Celine yelled agitatedly, “Are you still denying it at a time like this? Lawrence was in such a bad mood after he was fired that he has been keeping his cell phone switched off all this time! He doesn’t answer my phone calls at all! You don’t understand Lawrence’s feelings for the Hunt Corporation! If he does anything silly, I won’t let you off!”

Her behavior…

Nora raised her eyebrows. “You’re in love with him?”

Her words made Celine choke. Then, she said, “Yes, I’m in love with him, I’ve had a crush on him for five years. Ms. Smith, I can tell you this very clearly—if you cannot handle the matter about the gold futures well, then please forgive me for not being able to cooperate with you!”

After speaking, she turned and walked towards the door. However, when she reached the door, she turned her head to the back, looked at her with determination, and said, “Feel free to fire me. With the Smiths’ abilities, I believe that you’ll be able to find someone to take over my duties in no time. However, I didn’t stay in the Hunt Corporation for so many years for nothing. If you fire me, everyone in the secretarial department will also leave with me! I am not Lawrence. He may allow himself to be driven away by you, but I won’t!”

After saying that, Celine went out the door.

Nora: “…”

She looked at Celine. The woman was highly efficient and extremely capable. When Nora first took over the Hunt Corporation, she had helped her a lot.

Celine was not like Mr. Livingstone. She was loyal to the company. Even now, she was still protecting the Hunt Corporation in her own way.

Such people were relatively prone to becoming loyal to a fault.

Unfortunately, such people were also extremely easy to make use of!

Nora wasn’t going to fire her. How could she fire someone who did their best and gave their all for the company’s interests?

She just needed to wait one more day to pass. Once Celine understood her efforts, she would surely regain trust in her character. Going by how loyal Celine was to the company, she would definitely tell her who the one sowing discord behind the scenes was.

Thus, when the next day came…!

Chapter 789: Her Friend

At seven o’clock in the morning, Mrs.Hunt woke Nora up.

Had it been before,she would have lost her temper a long time ago-after all,she had always been extremely grumpy right after she woke up.Now,though, no matter how displeased she might be,when she saw how aged Mrs.Hunt looked and how she had become even less spirited than before,she could only get out of bed in silence.

Then,under the supervision of Mrs. Hunt,she would go out for a run.

Next to her,Mrs.Hunt said, “You can stop once you work up a sweat.If you don’t,then you have to continue running until it’s eight o’clock.Only then will you look more energetic.It’s obvious from how listless you look all the time that you are not exercising enough.”

Nora let out a big yawn, her eyelids so heavy that she could hardly even lift them.

Mrs. Hunt was still standing where she was and saying, “Can you open your eyes? Otherwise,how would you be able to intimidate and keep those people in the Hunt Corporation in check?They are all waiting to laugh at you today!”

Nora yawned again.

Mrs. Hunt felt even more distressed when she saw her yawning non-stop.She couldn’t help but say to Fanny, “Justin had always been self-disciplined. He went to bed at eleven every night and woke up at five to exercise.How on earth did he fall in love with a lazy woman like her?”

Fanny sighed. “You talk about her so disdainfully,yet you are always encouraging her with your actions!”

Mrs. Hunt said, “Of course I have to be encouraging towards her! Otherwise,what if she goes on strike? Even if it’s just for Pete, I have to inculcate in her a sense of belonging to the Hunt's!”

Fanny did not speak.

Mrs. Hunt then said, “I wonder if she will ever remarry,and if she does, will she be willing to be buried next to Justin after her death?Justin would be too lonely if he’s all alone… It’s all my fault. In the past, I had thought that just him being strong would be enough…”

It was only when someone was no longer around that others would realize that it didn’t matter what they did,as long as they were still alive.

Often,people only learned to cherish what they had after losing it.

It was just like how parents often wanted their children to do well in school,but once something went wrong with their health,they would realize that their children’s health and happiness were what truly mattered the most in life.

This was the same for Mrs.Hunt toward Justin.

When Fanny heard what she said,she heaved another quiet sigh.

Justin’s departure had dealt too great a blow to Mrs.Hunt,causing even a competitive woman like her to become much more laid-back.

In the past,she would have demanded a lot of Nora,but now,she only had one requirement for her, and that was… to look more energetic and keep up appearances?

Fanny shook her head and looked in front of her again.

What entered her sight, though,was Nora jogging at a speed neither too fast nor too slow and in control of the rhythm.She had already been jogging for half an hour though.A normal youngster would probably already be sweating profusely, yet she didn’t even break a sweat.

“Alright,that’s enough.”

Half an hour later,at the sight of Nora’s pale visage,Mrs.Hunt stopped the training.In the end,she couldn’t bear to push her too hard after all,for fear that the sudden training load would be too much and end up burdening her.

She said, “Just increase the duration bit by bit every day,doing so much in one go won’t work.Look at how pale you’ve become,your complexion is almost transparent!Do you feel dizzy?Let’s go back and have a bite!Your health is too poor!”

Nora: “?”

She had just been warming up!

Was it already over?

The old lady was too easy to please.

As Nora thought so,she yawned again.

Her complexion had become even paler because of her sleepiness,so the old lady fed her a lot of nourishing food for breakfast.She said, “You are too lazy.If you stay this lazy all the time,your body will become weak.Eat more and exercise more from now on,okay?”

Nora: “…”

After gobbling down the food,Nora got up to go to the office.

She had only just stepped out of the house when Mrs.Hunt suddenly got up.

“Where are you going?” Fanny asked.

Mrs.Hunt cast her eyes down and said, “To the office.Today is the last day of the three-day period she mentioned. Outsiders aren’t the only ones paying attention;some of the old-timers in the Hunt Corporation are paying even more attention than them.So,I’m going there to support her!”

Mrs.Hunt knew very well that the people currently in the company were all either capable or loyal to Justin.

However,it was exactly these people who would make things difficult for Nora.

Of course,Mrs.Hunt would never be bewitched or blinded by the rumors and gossip outside.She knew very well that the Hunt Corporation and the Smith Corporation had always been in a win-win situation.

Only with competition between the two would there be pressure on the companies to grow. This was also the foundation that both companies needed in order to survive and continue being leaders in business.

This was a kind of commercial balance.If one established a monopoly,then they easily became arrogant, leading to them becoming blinded and missing the forest for the trees.If that happened,it would instead put the enterprise at an even bigger risk.

Fanny said, “Alright.”

At the Smith's.

Joel got up early in the morning and went downstairs.Tanya asked, “Why are you setting off so early today?”

Joel replied, “The market opens at nine o’clock.Once it opens, gold prices will also become set.I suspect that the Hunt's will make use of this to make things difficult for Nora,so I’m going over to back her up.”

Upon hearing this, Tanya immediately took Joel’s arm and said, “I’ll go with you!Let’s support Nora together!”

Joel nodded. “Yeah.”

—

At the Andersons’.

Simon was counting his savings.Melissa sighed. “Mrs.Hunt could produce 80 million dollars so easily,and so could the Smith's.Once upon a time,our family was also considered well-off,so why are we so poor compared to them?”

Simon also sighed. “Yeah,I know,right?”

While the two of them were grousing,Logan entered the room and took out a check. “This is a check for 30 million dollars.Why don’t you pass this to her?”

As soon as he said that, Simon and Melissa both looked at him. “Logan, did you go racing again?”

When Logan suffered his leg injury previously, many doctors had said that it would be very tough for it to heal completely.However, Nora had cured him subsequently,so he’d continued his most beloved career.

Logan was now America’s top car racer in standard car racing!

In spite of that,Logan was still working hard to improve his skills. Whenever someone asked him about it,he would always say, “Compared to her,I’m still too far behind!”

Logan nodded. “I wonder if this is enough.”

Simon said, “With our money added,it should be enough to make up for the losses this time. Surely she won’t incur a loss of 65 million dollars,right?Melissa, what’s on your mind?”

Melissa replied, “I suddenly feel like we may not really need to send her the money.”

Simon was taken aback. “Why?”

Since Melissa married him, she had always given her all for the family.Had she suddenly become selfish?

However,Simon was understanding about that too.Life hadn’t been easy for his wife all these years.

As soon as the thought formed in his mind, Melissa said, “I suddenly thought of the last time Nora invested in stocks for me.It was also a constant loss in the beginning,but in the end,I made money.”

As soon as she said that, Simon chuckled and said, “You were investing in stocks then, it’s different this time. Gold prices have been falling for two consecutive months,it is impossible that they would rise all at once.”