Chapter 228
“Our boss, Mr. Etheridge, shows up to work every single day, rain or shine! So, you think you’re even more impressive than Mr. Etheridge, huh?”
Effie said, “I know I messed up today. I overslept.”
“Oh, you actually admit when you’re wrong? I thought landing one deal would go straight to your head-you’d forget your own name!”
Nelly paused, then sneered, “Effie, I never figured you’d stoop so low. Selling yourself just to close a deal!”
Effie’s eyes darkened as she shot Nelly a cold glare. “Shut your filthy mouth. Did you have a pile of garbage for breakfast? You reek! Say another baseless word and I’ll make sure you regret it.”
She’d learned that with someone like Nelly, there was no point in turning the other cheek—a sharp tongue worked better.
“Don’t get too cocky. Just wait, Mr. Butler will set you straight!”
Unable to win the argument, Nelly resorted to name-dropping Irving Butler.
Effie’s mind flashed back to catching Nelly and Mr. Butler together at the OB-GYN clinic.
She smirked, “You keep bringing up Mr. Butler like he’s your guardian angel. People might start to wonder what’s really going on between you two.”
Effie’s words hit home. Nelly’s eyes flickered and she quickly looked away, unable to meet Effie’s gaze.
Just then, Irving Butler stepped out of his office.
“What’s all this noise? I could hear you from my desk,” he snapped, his eyes landing squarely on Effie.
He was targeting her on purpose of course he was.
“Effie. My office. Now.”
Shirley shot Effie a worried look, but Effie just gave her a subtle, reassuring nod and followed Butler inside.
“Mr. Butler, is there something you need?”
She barely finished speaking before Butler slammed a file down on the desk with a loud thud.
Effie had been bracing herself, but the sudden noise still made her flinch.
With a cold voice, Butler said, “Effie, you know perfectly well what you did to land this contract.”
“Using tactics like that will only end up hurting you.”
Effie could tell he was holding something back, barely keeping his temper in check.
Clearly, Butler had gotten the cold shoulder from Randell during yesterday’s meeting. After being humiliated there, he came back here to take it out on her.
But Effie wasn’t anyone’s punching bag.
She met his gaze and said deliberately, “So, Mr. Butler, is there an issue with the contract itself? Do you need me to revise it? Or-“
“That’s enough. Drop the act. I said everything I could yesterday, but Mr. Hoffman barely looked at me. He made it clear-he’ll only negotiate with you.”
Butler scoffed, his eyes full of disdain. “I’ve done my part. I even assigned a team to help you handle The Hoffman Group. If anything goes wrong, that’s on you. Don’t drag me down with you-use your head, Effie.”
Effie had known from the start that Butler would never be able to steal her project.
Now, he had no choice but to hand it over himself.
But she also knew the type-someone like Irving Butler wouldn’t let it go that
easily. She’d have to keep her guard up in case he tried to sabotage her from the shadows.