What If?

Chapter 24 - The Right Hand

"What?! It’s not that simple, Glenn!"

Simon slammed his hand hard against his executive desk, jumping to his feet with ragged breathing as he glared sharply at his son. "Promoting an intern with no proven track record or experience to be your personal assistant? That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard! Do you think this company is a playground?!"

Faced with his father's raging fury, Glenn remained completely unfazed. He leaned back in the luxurious office chair across from Simon's desk, casually crossing one leg over the other as if the middle-aged man's anger meant absolutely nothing to him.

"I’m not asking for permission, Mr. Simon. I’m simply informing you," Glenn replied calmly, his baritone voice dropping into a flat, steady drone.

Simon let out a mocking chuckle, crossing his arms over his chest. "Know your place, Glenn. I am the CEO here. If you don't like my rules, the exit door is wide open. Do you want to threaten to quit? Go ahead. That will only make you look incredibly childish and irresponsible in the eyes of the Board of Directors."

Glenn didn't take the bait at all. Instead, the corner of his lips curled up slightly, forming a very prominent, mocking smirk.

"Quit? Do you honestly think I’d threaten to quit like a normal person and just let you fire me?" Glenn leaned forward, holding Simon’s gaze with a lazy yet defying look. "We both know the law here, Chief Executive. According to the legal clause in my mom's valid will, my position as the Head of Audit here is absolute. If you are reckless enough to unilaterally fire me over a trivial matter like this, my mom's trust law firm will immediately withdraw all her remaining assets and shares from the Ellsworth Group this very day. Do you want to be forcefully ousted by the Board of Directors for crippling the company’s capital?"

Simon’s face instantly tightened. His jaw clenched tight from the legal checkmate Glenn had just thrown right at his face. The older man knew all too well that Glenn’s legal standing was completely ironclad.

"Besides, my choice isn't even that bad," Glenn leaned back casually in his chair again, nonchalantly tapping his fingers on the armrest. "Launa actually does good work. Even though she’s only twenty-one and just an intern, her work is neat, meticulous, and she catches on fast. She is far more competent than those senior staff members under you who do nothing but brown-nose."

Simon let out a cynical chuckle, looking down on Glenn with a disparaging gaze. "What capacity are you even talking about, Glenn? You’ve only been on the job for a few days, yet you act like you’ve known her for years. Her intern performance report from her supervisor hasn't even hit my desk yet."

"Oh, so a CEO of the Ellsworth Group is now the type to just blindly trust reports on a piece of paper without seeing actual proof?" Glenn countered instantly, a mocking glint flashing in his eyes. "That’s why, Dad, you need to step down from your high horse once in a while and see it with your own eyes."

Simon knitted his brows, his jaw tightening. "What exactly are you implying?"

"Don't be naive. This office is crawling with sycophants these days. Those sweet, perfect reports landing on your desk are probably nothing more than fairy tales made up by people who are experts at playing politics," Glenn pointed out bluntly, leaving Simon completely speechless.

Glenn leaned forward slightly, tapping his fingers on the partnership document on the desk. "I don't need to wait for a formal report from any supervisor. The concrete proof of Launa’s neat and efficient work is right in front of my own eyes, in my own office. That’s why I’m taking her. In the middle of an office environment packed with two-faced foxes, I need at least one sane girl working in my room."

Simon was stunned. The middle-aged man fell silent, appearing deep in thought for a long moment. Glenn’s remark about the office being "crawling with sycophants" somehow struck a heavy blow to Simon’s professional ego. As an experienced CEO, he knew his son's underlying mockery held some truth many of his staff members were indeed two-faced. Simon's sharp gaze shifted, scrutinizing his son's face, which looked completely confident and unwavering.

After a long, suffocating silence in the room, Simon finally let out a heavy sigh. His arrogance slowly deflated, cornered by Glenn’s layered arguments.

"Do whatever you want," Simon hissed sharply, averting his gaze in defeat. "Handle the transfer paperwork through HR today. But remember, Glenn do not let that intern cause any chaos in your division."

Glenn smiled with satisfaction, instantly rising from his chair without any intention of giving a polite farewell.

"Don't worry about it. My division is my business, and my new assistant's." He turned around and walked out with long strides, leaving the CEO’s office with a landslide victory in his hands.

*****

Launa’s fingers moved at a constant rhythm across the computer keyboard. Her focus was entirely swallowed by the rows of data on the monitor screen. For the past hour, she had been completely engrossed in organizing the monthly data recapitulation tasks assigned by her supervisor. For Launa, burying herself in piles of numbers and documents like this was the best way to distract her mind from her anxiety.

The atmosphere on the intern division floor was initially filled only with the rustling sound of typing. However, for some reason, the air around Launa suddenly turned dead silent.

The clacking of keyboards from the neighboring cubicles abruptly stopped. The awkward silence caused Launa to reflexively freeze her hands. Before she could even look up to find out what was going on, a shadow of a broad figure, carrying a familiar, masculine cologne—stepped closer and stopped right beside her desk.

Thud!

A thick blue document folder was casually dropped onto Launa’s cubicle desk, landing right next to her coffee mug.

Launa flinched and looked up, her eyes instantly widening in shock. "M-Mr. Glenn?"

Glenn stood there with one hand buried inside his dress pants pocket. His formal suit jacket was intentionally left unbuttoned, exuding a relaxed yet authoritative vibe.

"Pack up your things. Now," Glenn said, his casual baritone voice echoing with absolute authority across the entire room.

Launa knitted her brows, glancing at the blue folder with a sinking feeling. "What do you mean, sir? I haven't finished this assignment yet—"

"Your intern duties on this floor are finished," Glenn cut her off quickly. "Starting today, you are officially moving upstairs. You’ve been promoted to my field assistant in the Internal Audit division. The transfer paperwork has already been signed by the CEO and HR. It’s all inside that folder."

Hearing Glenn’s shocking words, the entire division floor seemed to instantly freeze. The faint clacking of keyboards that had lingered in the background vanished completely. Every employee in the surrounding cubicles suddenly went dead silent, holding their breath and straining their ears to eavesdrop on the rest of the conversation.

"Ckh!"

Glenn clicked his tongue in annoyance. Realizing they were currently the center of attention, he swept a sharp gaze around the room, causing several employees who had been stealing glances to hurriedly look away.

"I promoted you to be my assistant purely because the monthly data recap you did yesterday was exceptionally neat, meticulous, and you caught on fast! I need someone whose work is efficient and sane, just like you!" Glenn intentionally raised his voice, letting his words echo loudly across the room to shut down the rumors and close the ears of anyone who loved to speculate.

A monthly data recap? Launa blinked. As far as she could remember, she hadn't even done anything yet. Was this part of Glenn’s script? Ah, whatever. She would just go along with her boss's playbook for now.

After delivering that absolute emphasis, Glenn tapped the blue folder on the desk once more. "No need to be tense. Bring all your things. I’ll be waiting in my office, ten minutes from now."

Glenn turned around and walked with long strides toward the executive elevator, leaving the entire floor still buzzing in shock.

The moment Glenn’s broad back disappeared behind the elevator doors, Launa immediately buried her face in her hands. Her head suddenly throbbed, engulfed by an overwhelming sense of confusion. Why did it have to be so sudden and in-your-face like this? her mind screamed in panic.

True to Glenn’s prediction, social jealousy instantly set the division floor ablaze. A second later, the faint, cynical chatter from the opposite cubicles was intentionally raised just enough to catch Launa's ears clearly.

"Heh, I guess having a pretty face and a nice body can instantly get you promoted to the CEO's son's favorite assistant, huh? No need to bust your back working overtime like the rest of us."

"Right? What kind of 'neat work' are we even talking about here? Just make sure it isn't 'neat' somewhere else," a woman’s voice beside her chimed in, followed by a crisp laugh that sounded utterly disgusting and degrading.

Underneath the desk, Launa’s hands clenched into tight fists until her knuckles turned white. A whirlwind of emotions rushed through her frustration, hurt, and anger. But Launa knew there was no point in confronting them or lashing out out of nowhere; it would only make them feel like they had won. At this very second, Launa truly realized that this new job from Glenn came with an incredibly high stake for her mental health.

"Launa..."

A soft call made Launa look up. Standing in front of her was Sofia, a fellow intern who wore thick, round glasses. Sofia beamed with a wide smile, extending her hand toward Launa.

"Congratulations, Launa! You finally scored a permanent position upstairs, and as a personal assistant, no less!" Sofia said, her eyes shimmering with immense pride.

Launa stared into the pair of eyes behind those glasses, trying to spot any trace of insincerity. But there was none. Sofia’s face looked genuinely happy for her, without a single ripple of jealousy. The suffocating tightness in Launa’s chest slowly began to lift.

But suddenly, Sofia lowered her hand and looked down deeply, staring at the tips of her own shoes with a face that had suddenly withered.

Noticing the change, Launa knitted her brows. "What's wrong, Sof?"

"I... I just hope that we... we can still be friends like we used to," Sofia squeaked softly, sounding incredibly insecure because she felt their statuses were now worlds apart.

Hearing that innocent fear, Launa spontaneously let out a soft laugh. Her tension vanished completely. "Oh, what are you even talking about, Sof? You're being way too dramatic! Of course we can still be friends. After all, we started out here together."

Launa gently patted Sofia’s shoulder to reassure her. "Let's grab lunch together later, okay? My treat at the cafeteria downstairs."

Sofia's eyes instantly lit up again. "Really? I'd love to!"

"Hey, hey, newbie."

A shrill, cynical voice suddenly cut through their sweet conversation. Costa, a senior staff member and the supervisor who had been overseeing Launa’s internship, walked over with a stack of files in her hands. She eyed Launa up and down with a highly hostile glare.

"Mr. Glenn just called and said all your unfinished data recap tasks need to be handed over to other staff members. Pass them over to me, I'll distribute them!" Costa snapped.

She forcefully snatched the draft sheets from Launa’s desk with an arrogant flair, then flashed a crooked, utterly fake smile.

"Congratulations, Launa. Aren't you just amazing?" Costa said in a forced, sweet tone that was dripping with sharp sarcasm. "You've only been here a few days working under me, and yet... now your position has jumped right over my head. Turns out you have quite an extraordinary 'talent,' no wonder Mr. Glenn was instantly hooked."

Hearing the insinuation that was clearly degrading her self-esteem, Launa chose to keep her mouth tightly shut. She merely stared at Costa with a blank expression, refusing to give the woman the reaction she was fishing for.

Feeling ignored, Costa let out an annoyed huff, rolled her eyes lazily, and strutted away without another word to distribute the files to the other staff members.

Launa took a long, deep breath to calm the brewing storm in her chest. She immediately pulled a small cardboard box from under her desk and began packing her personal belongings a small notebook, her water bottle, and a few stationery items.

Seeing Launa starting to struggle, Sofia deftly stepped in to hold the box steady. "Here, Lau, let me help you pack your things so you can get done faster."

"Thank you so much, Sof," Launa said sincerely, feeling incredibly grateful that at least on this first stormy day, she still had one sane person standing by her side.

*****