Chapter 195

The next day, Anastasia walked into Vincent’s office with a contract in hand.

Vincent took the contract and said, “I know you tried your best, but not landing this deal is definitely a loss for the company.”

“I’ll report the situation to management honestly, don’t worry.” As he spoke, he casually tossed the contract aside.

Anastasia reminded him, “Vincent, aren’t you going to look at it?”

Vincent thought Anastasia was being weird. Why would he need to look at a failed contract? What was the point?

“No need to look at it…”

“How can we move forward with the partnership if you don’t look?” Anastasia said.

“Partnership? What partnership?” Vincent froze, seeming to realize something. His hand trembled as he grabbed the contract he’d set aside and started flipping through it.

When Vincent saw the signature on the contract, he finally realized – Anastasia had actually closed the deal!

“How is this even possible?!” Vincent said in shock.

Anastasia looked at him and played dumb. “Vincent, why would you say it’s impossible? You gave me this contract because you trusted my abilities and believed I’d succeed, right?”

Vincent was speechless.

“Exactly! You did great!” Vincent’s mouth twitched as he forced the words out.

“Thanks for the praise, Vincent. If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back to work.”

This girl has zero modesty, Vincent thought. But he was curious how Anastasia had managed to get Griffin’s signature.

Vincent followed Anastasia out and announced, “I’ve got great news for everyone – Anastasia successfully secured the Orlando Group partnership. Let’s give her a round of applause! I hope everyone learns from her example…”

When Vincent finished speaking, everyone except Sharlene, who already knew about the deal, looked completely stunned.

Especially Narissa – her face went dark as a storm cloud.

Impossible. If even I couldn’t make it work, how could Anastasia…

Narissa’s gaze fell on Anastasia’s beautiful face and figure. When she noticed Anastasia was suddenly wearing a silk scarf, seemingly covering something up, her anger disappeared and was replaced by excitement – the thrill of catching someone in the act.

Hah, Anastasia acts all high and mighty, but she’s just like everyone else!

After Vincent went back to his office, everyone dispersed. Even though they weren’t gathered together anymore, people were still whispering among themselves. For a newcomer like Anastasia to land such a big contract so easily really made people question Narissa’s competence.

Hearing the whispered discussions, Narissa’s face darkened even more.

“Ana!” Sharlene popped her head up as usual, but this time with a mischievous grin.

Looking at Sharlene, Anastasia joked, “Why are you smiling like that? Did you find a pot of gold?”

At the mention of gold, Sharlene’s eyes lit up. “If only I could actually find some gold!”

Anastasia laughed. “Money on the brain?”

Sharlene said dramatically, “Money isn’t everything, but you can’t do anything without it. End of the month, totally broke.”

Sharlene was adorable, and so was her spending philosophy. She’d spend fifteen bucks on takeout, thirty on bubble tea, then go out for more food at night – hundreds on fried chicken and pizza – never depriving her taste buds.

But ask her to spend a dollar on tissues? Absolutely not!

As Sharlene put it: save where you should save, spend where you should spend.

Even though Anastasia was around the same age as Sharlene, she’d been raised by her grandmother and had picked up Elisabeth’s habits. Elisabeth believed in healthy living – no cold foods, everything fresh and seasonal, light and simple meals.

So Anastasia didn’t have strong food cravings, except for seafood.

“Since you helped me close this deal, there’ll be a bonus. Then you can spend money happily,” Anastasia told Sharlene.

Sharlene immediately perked up. “That’s awesome!”

Narissa walked over to them, and hearing them talk about bonuses, she sneered internally.

Bonus? In your dreams!

“Anastasia, that’s a beautiful scarf. Where did you get it?” As she spoke, Narissa suddenly yanked the scarf off while Anastasia wasn’t paying attention.

Narissa’s smile disappeared. “Why isn’t there anything?”

Anastasia shot Narissa a cold look and stood up.

Being taller than Narissa, when she stood up, her presence was overwhelming – like a mountain pressing down on Narissa.

“Nothing what? What exactly were you hoping to see on me?” Anastasia’s cold gaze seemed to see right through Narissa.

“I don’t know why you were suddenly wearing a scarf, I thought maybe…” She’d thought Anastasia was covering up some incriminating marks, like hickeys!

But there was nothing on Anastasia’s neck.

“I wear scarves as accessories. What did you think?”

Feeling guilty, Narissa threw the scarf back at her. “Here, take it back.”

But as she flung her hand out and back, the scarf came with it. That’s when she realized her nail art had snagged the scarf, causing it to run, and now it was caught on her rhinestone nails.

“My scarf,” Anastasia said angrily, looking at the damaged silk.

“Why are you yelling at me? I didn’t do it on purpose!” Narissa snapped back.

Anastasia said coldly, “You damage someone else’s property and then act like the victim? Did I ask you to touch my scarf?”

Narissa bit her lip. Anastasia was right – she hadn’t asked. She’d only done it because she wanted to expose Anastasia…

Who knew she’d make such a huge mistake.

“I didn’t mean to.”

Sharlene chimed in, “Narissa, even little kids know you should apologize when you do something wrong. You’re a grown woman – don’t tell me you’re worse than a child?”

Narissa glared at Sharlene, her voice shooting up. “Do I need you telling me what to do?”

Sharlene shrugged. She was just stating facts, and Narissa was getting defensive.

Anastasia said, “Sharlene’s absolutely right. Even kids know this stuff – are you really going to try to dodge responsibility? Apologize and pay for the damage. This is a custom Hermès scarf worth ten thousand dollars. I expect compensation within five minutes.”

“You’re price-gouging! How do I know that’s even real?”

Narissa had Hermès scarves too – they usually cost four or five thousand, not ten grand.