In a fleeting moment, a bizarre thought crossed Claire’s mind. Could the Mr. Wade that Doris mentioned actually be her husband, Charlie Wade? Upon further reflection, she dismissed the idea as utterly ridiculous. After all, Charlie was an orphan who had grown up in a welfare home! But then again, who in the world had ever treated her as well as Charlie did? Thirty million dollars might have seemed like an extravagant dream, yet they had offered her sixty million…

Unable to contain her curiosity, she asked, “Miss Young, is your chairman Charlie Wade?”

Doris felt her heart race. The chairman had explicitly instructed her to keep his identity a closely guarded secret, only revealing his last name to the public. If Claire guessed correctly, she would be in trouble!

She quickly shook her head and replied, “Miss Wilson, I urge you to drop that question. Our chairman is from a prestigious family in Eastcliff. His identity is highly confidential, and I’m not authorized to disclose any details.”

Claire nodded, calming herself at the mention of an Eastcliff descendant. After all, Charlie was an orphan and certainly not from a prominent family. It seemed she had been overthinking things.

***

Still feeling dizzy and dazed, Claire stepped out of Doris’s office, clutching a sixty million dollar contract between Wilson Group and Emgrand Group. It all felt surreal, like a dream come true.

As soon as she spotted Charlie at the entrance, she rushed over, excitement bubbling inside her. “Charlie, I did it! I did it!”

Charlie felt a grin tug at his heart. ‘Of course, your husband is the owner of Emgrand Group; securing the deal was a given!’ But he feigned surprise and exclaimed, “Wow! You managed to land such a challenging project! Darling, you’re amazing!”

“Not really,” Claire said modestly. “It seems they just handed the project to me.”

“Huh?” Charlie looked confused. “What do you mean?”

Claire hesitated, worried that mentioning the chairman’s intentions might make Charlie jealous. So, she quickly changed the subject, “It’s a long story. Let’s head back to the office and share the good news!”

Charlie chuckled. “Alright! This time, that arrogant Harold must honor the bet and kneel before me!”

Claire agreed, “Yes! He’s so snobbish and conceited; it’s time he faces a reality check!”

In truth, Claire had her own strong personality. Harold and the rest of the family had always looked down on her and Charlie, but now that she had achieved the impossible, she was determined to humble them a bit.

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the Wilson Group office. The atmosphere in the conference room was tense and peculiar. Everyone knew Claire had gone to Emgrand Group that morning, but they didn’t believe she could succeed, so they were there to mock her. To their surprise, she returned much sooner than expected. As Claire and Charlie entered, they were met with sneers and disdainful looks.

Harold sneered, “Hey, Claire, back so soon? Couldn’t even get past their door, right? Hahaha!” Wendy chimed in, “Claire, failing in less than an hour? That’s a world record!”

A cloud of disappointment shadowed Lady Wilson’s face. She was irked; she understood that tackling a project with Emgrand Group was daunting, but Claire should at least show some determination, even in failure! How could she give up so easily?

Lady Wilson glared at Claire and said, “Claire Wilson, you disappoint me.”

Charlie frowned at their reactions. How could they be so vile? They were ridiculing Claire without knowing the outcome! Especially Harold, the insufferable brat! Who did he think he was to look down on them? He better be ready to kneel before him!

Initially thrilled, Claire’s excitement began to wane in the face of their mockery. Anger simmered inside her as she replied, “I’m sorry to disappoint, but I’ve secured a deal with Doris Young from Emgrand Group!”

“What? You actually did it?”

“No way! That’s impossible! You couldn’t even meet Doris Young!”

Everyone gasped in disbelief.

“Claire Wilson, do you think we’ll fall for that?”

Harold regained his composure and slammed his hand on the table, shouting, “Miss Young from Emgrand Group is a well-known elite in the city. Why would she want to meet you? Are you even aware of your status?”

Faced with the crowd’s doubts, Claire retrieved the contract and handed it to Lady Wilson. “Here’s the contract. Please, take a look.”

The contract landed in the conference room like a bombshell, sending shockwaves through everyone present!

Harold still refused to believe it, shouting, “She must have forged it! I can’t believe she could handle Emgrand Group!”

“He’s right!” Wendy chimed in, aghast. “Who does she think she is, striking a deal with Emgrand? It’s a thirty million dollar project! If she could do it, I would have already secured it myself!”

Claire scoffed. “Cousin, you’re mistaken; it’s not thirty million, it’s sixty million!”

“No way!” Wendy laughed derisively. “Sixty million? You must think we’re all idiots! If you claim it’s sixty million, I can just as easily say I’ll land a hundred million dollar contract!”

Harold curled his lip in contempt. “Claire, you’re making fools of Grandma and us!”

He turned to Lady Wilson, saying, “Grandma, this is unacceptable! You can’t just let her off the hook!”

Lady Wilson was fuming, her teeth clenched in anger. She already thought it was a stretch to land a thirty million dollar deal, but Claire came back claiming it was worth sixty million… Did the young lady truly believe she could toy with everyone in front of such a large audience? If she didn’t expel this rebellious girl from the family, how could she maintain control in the future?

With fury in her eyes, Lady Wilson slammed the table and commanded, “Claire Wilson! Go to the HR department right now and submit your resignation!”

Claire stared in disbelief. Were they out of their minds? How hard could it be to simply open the contract and read it? Just then, someone shouted, “Wow! Emgrand Group’s official social media account just announced it! The sixty million dollar contract is real!”