Chapter 8

Brenda felt smug. Once she coaxed the child, Lisa would arrive and fall at her feet in gratitude. She would win the contract with Victory Tech without even breaking a sweat. How would Eleanor compete with her for the position of deputy CEO? She couldn’t stop the corners of her lips from lifting. She used the most gentle tone she could muster as she spoke to Millie. “Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere, sweetheart?” She reached out to caress Millie’s head.

Millie’s vision was blurred by tears. When she saw Brenda reaching out to touch her, the latter’s red nails reminded her of the wolf that had eaten the grandmother in the fairy tale. It frightened her so much that she grabbed Brenda’s hand and chomped down on it.

“Ouch!” Brenda immediately shoved Millie away. She didn’t control her strength at all. Millie fell to the ground. Her butt hurt, and she wailed louder. Meanwhile, Brenda clutched her bitten hand and snapped, “How dare you cry when you bit me? Shut up! Stop crying! How can you be so uncivilized? I shouldn’t have expected more of a bastard child who doesn’t have a father!”

Eleanor’s expression darkened. “You’ve crossed the line, Brenda!”

A child’s cry was piercing, so the noise attracted the other parents. Why was the little girl crying at the top of her lungs? Had someone mistreated her? They couldn’t bear seeing the little girl wail, so they hurriedly asked what had happened.

Brenda was embarrassed and mad. Who would’ve known the little girl would be so hard to please?

Eleanor pulled a shiny bracelet from her bag. Then, she approached the fence and crouched with a small smile. “Hi, Millie. That’s your name, right? I saw your badge. Look at this, Millie. Isn’t it pretty?”

All children liked shiny things. Sure enough, Millie’s attention was captured by the bracelet. Eleanor placed it on her palm. “Do you believe this will appear on your wrist if you blow on it?”

Her tone was gentle, and she smelled nice, just like Lisa. Millie was reminded of her mother, so she got closer to Eleanor and blew on the bracelet.

“Abracadabra!” Eleanor cried. “Look!”

Millie looked down—the bracelet had appeared on her wrist. “Wow!”

Brenda gnashed her teeth at the sight.

Lisa finally arrived then. She hastily picked Millie up and kissed her cheeks, her eyes filled with heartache. “I’m sorry for being late, Millie. I got caught in traffic. Have you been crying?”

The parents who’d witnessed everything pointed at Brenda. One of them said, “Madam Lisa, this woman bullied Millie. I saw it all happen—she even shoved Millie aside!”

Lisa immediately turned to glare at Brenda. The latter hurriedly explained, “I didn’t mean to do it! I saw her crying and wanted to coax her, but she bit me. I only pushed her aside because it hurt, but I didn’t mean to harm her… Look, the bite mark is still here!”

Eleanor looked at her icily without saying anything. Brenda was destined for doom if she thought she could replicate Eleanor’s success.

Lisa didn’t believe Brenda’s explanation. She checked the preschool’s surveillance footage, and her expression turned uglier when she heard how Brenda had insulted Millie.

Brenda hadn’t expected there to be surveillance cameras in the area. “I… I only blurted that out because of the pain; I didn’t mean it. I can apologize! I’m sorry, Millie. I shouldn’t have said that. Please don’t be mad at me, okay? I have a bracelet, too. Here, you can have it. It’s Dior’s latest release!”

She removed her bracelet, wanting to put it onto Millie’s wrist. Unfortunately for her, children weren’t dumb. They were childish, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t distinguish between nice and nasty people. Millie put her hands behind her back.

Lisa asked coldly, “What’s your name?”

Brenda didn’t dare answer. Eleanor said coolly, “She’s Brenda Sandberg, daughter of Philip Sandberg and Sheila Bronson. She married into the Porter family a few days ago, so she’s also Maurice Porter’s wife.”

Brenda turned to glare at her. She knew Eleanor was deliberately giving Lisa a chance to bear a grudge against her by telling the latter exactly who she was!

Sure enough, Lisa said, “I’ll remember that. Rest assured that I’ll take you to court if Millie is traumatized by this, Brenda! Now, get out of my sight!”

There was no way Brenda could win Lisa over anymore. Naturally, the bouquet she’d prepared would also go to waste. She bit her lip resentfully but didn’t dare say anything. Ultimately, she left in resignation.

Lisa thanked Eleanor after soothing Millie. Eleanor smiled and introduced herself.

Lisa wasn’t surprised. “I knew who you were when you told me about Brenda. Both of you are after A22, right?”

“That’s right. I tried to set up an appointment with you through your secretary, but you turned me down both times. I had no choice but to resort to this,” Eleanor said truthfully.

“A22 is important to our headquarters as well… How about you come to my office tomorrow and tell me what you can offer? I’ll speak to headquarters and see whether I can push this in your favor,” Lisa said.

Eleanor’s smile widened. “Thank you.”

“This is yours, right?” Lisa held out the bracelet.

Eleanor put it on for Millie again. “It’s Millie’s now. It’s just a little trinket that isn’t worth much, anyway.”

Lisa said, “Say thank you, Millie.”

“Thank you, Eleanor,” Millie said innocently.

“You’re welcome. Bye, Millie!”

Eleanor hummed cheerily as she headed to her car after seeing Lisa and Millie off.

To her surprise, Brenda had yet to leave. She snapped, “That was a cheap move, Eleanor!”

Eleanor unlocked the car. “No move is ever too cheap. You should blame yourself for failing to even coax a child.” She glanced at Brenda. “Have you dropped the innocent act now that no one else is around?”

She was being so loud. What had happened to her gentle, fragile act?

Brenda was furious. She already had her memories of her past life. Why was Eleanor still coming out on top?

She glared at Eleanor. “No matter how jealous you get and how much you try to undermine me, it’s not going to change the fact that I’m now Maurice’s wife and the Porter family’s daughter-in-law! Maurice’s parents treat me well now, and Maurice is head over heels for me!”

Eleanor thought she was crazy. How had the conversation shifted to that topic?

Brenda screeched, “Meanwhile, everyone in the upper crust knows you’ve married the Porter family’s illegitimate son. Do you know what people called them in ancient times? Bastards! You’re just a bastard’s wife; you can’t compare to me!”

“Those times are over. You should’ve died with them if you cared about those things.” Eleanor laughed. “Anyway, if you’re so obsessed with those traditions, think about how I’m of higher standing than you purely because my father’s older than yours. Why aren’t you on your knees before me, then?”

“How dare you!” Brenda shrieked. “Just wait, Eleanor!”

Eleanor wasn’t going to wait for anything. She got into the car and sped off without another look back.

Honestly, did Brenda think life with the Porters was heaven? Henrietta was the only normal person there. The rest of them were psychos.

In Eleanor’s past life, Maurice’s father, James Porter, had broken into her room in the middle of the night, wanting to violate her. Fortunately, she’d been trained in taekwondo and had given him a good beating. She’d told Linda about it, thinking the latter would side with her and stand up for her.

To her disbelief, Linda had told her that since Maurice wasn’t having a child with her, it’d be the same for James to knock her up. The child would still be a Porter, and they wouldn’t shortchange her.

That had shattered everything Eleanor had known. That was also when she’d learned that Linda only looked graceful and classy on the outside. She’d long since become twisted on the inside, and James was no more than an unscrupulous piece of trash.

Brenda was stuck with a twisted pair of in-laws and a husband who had countless mistresses. If she thought a life like that was something she would enjoy, she could make the most out of it.

Eleanor couldn’t wait to see shit hit the fan.

The following day, Eleanor headed to Victory Tech as agreed. She’d only left a good impression on Lisa by helping Millie—whether she could score the business deal depended on whether Sandberg Group could satisfy Ransom Finance, Victory Tech’s parent company.

Eleanor was prepared for battle. She brought her proposal to Victory Tech and gave a concise presentation of Sandberg Group’s strengths.

Oddly enough, Lisa seemed rather indifferent. She didn’t seem interested in Eleanor’s proposal.

That shouldn’t have been the case… Eleanor had made a similar proposal in her past life, and this wasn’t how Lisa had reacted. It helped that Sandberg Group had a huge advantage over other competitors.

Ultimately, Lisa said, “I’ll get back to you, Ms. Sandberg.”

Eleanor had no choice but to leave. Once she was gone, Lisa made a call. “Sir, she’s gone. No, I didn’t give her a proper answer. How did she look? Pretty disappointed—this deal is important to Sandberg Group, after all. She made a lot of preparations; it’s natural she’d be disappointed not to receive a satisfactory response.”

Sebastian briefly fell silent after hearing that. Then, he made a sound of acknowledgment before hanging up.

Lisa actually wanted to ask him something—weren’t he and Eleanor married? It was one thing not to give her special treatment. Why had he specifically instructed them not to give her the project?

Sebastian sat in his office at Porter Group for a while. Ultimately, he couldn’t keep himself from leaving the company and heading to Sandberg Group.

He saw Eleanor when he arrived. In truth, people weren’t distinguishable from the back if their figures were similar… unless one had someone’s silhouette firmly etched in their mind. That was the only way one could instantly pick someone out from a crowd.

Eleanor was sitting in a cafe opposite Sandberg Group, and her shoulders were shaking. Was she… crying?