Chapter 96: Chapter 95: A Gentleman Does Not Stand Under a Dangerous Wall
She’s not into charity work, and certainly has no interest in nurturing people to play games or sleep.
A couple of them wore disgruntled expressions, clearly unconvinced, but kept their peace as she examined them carefully.
She remembered there were supposed to be 10 security guards, yet she only saw seven now.
So she asked, "Where are the other three?"
"...Didn’t come, they’re sleeping at home," Zhang Dabao said, somewhat defiantly.
Upon hearing this, Elliana Lyle was instantly furious. Not only were they slacking, but some simply didn’t show up?
She waved them off, unwilling to see these people any longer, and said, "Alright, leave."
Upon hearing this, the guards hesitated for a long while. Finally, one of them asked quietly, "...Boss, where’s our finance?"
...
The situation became awkward; indeed, the company didn’t have a finance department.
Looking at the somewhat bewildered guards, Elliana Lyle had no choice but to say, "I’ll settle your wages."
Half an hour later.
Elliana Lyle finally completed the payroll for the group. As they received the money, each of them left without complaint.
Just after she dismissed them, Luna leisurely arrived.
With a lollipop in her cherry-like mouth, dressed in a red Lolita winter outfit with rabbit prints, accompanied by a puffy skirt and pom-pom hair accessories, she looked round, almost like a dumpling, if not for her slender legs exposed outside.
"Where did you find the security guards? Eight thousand a month?"
Just entering through the door, Luna seemed a bit surprised, then replied, "Posted online for recruitment." She then glanced around and asked, "Eh? Where’s everyone?"
"I fired them."
Elliana Lyle’s expression wasn’t great, realizing something was amiss, Luna didn’t ask more and nodded in agreement, "Good decision."
Then she headed towards the office, calling out, "Follow me, I’ll show you some stuff."
After entering the office and closing the door, it was just the two of them.
Elliana Lyle sat on the sofa, watching Luna open her notebook.
"Look."
The display screen showed a man’s photo—tall and thin, with a large dark mole under his eyes, a face Elliana recognized.
"George Lyle?" She looked at Luna puzzled, not understanding what she was supposed to see.
Luna nodded and asked, "Can’t you see anything unusual?"
As Luna prompted, Elliana had to refocus on the screen. The George Lyle in the photo looked very different from the George she knew—much thinner, unshaven, and seemingly less spirited.
"Check the next one," Luna suggested switching.
The man in the second photo appeared robust and well-fed. On closer inspection, the mole had significantly shrunk, yet it was the George Lyle she knew!
Then Luna explained, "Recently, when I was looking into victims of illicit lending, I stayed near George Lyle’s hometown. Locals said George had always been thin and poor, but very filial. After his parents passed, he would visit their graves every fortnight. Yet after a trip abroad, he returned and hasn’t been seen paying respects for years."
Listening intently, Elliana suddenly felt an ominous foreboding and instinctively asked, "Do you mean the current George Lyle isn’t really him?"
Luna spread her hands, "It’s not impossible."
Knock, knock, knock!
The knocking interrupted their thoughts, Luna, reclining on the sofa like a lord, was nearest to the door, but Elliana had to answer it herself.
"Tuck your feet in."
As the door opened, she first saw the knocker, Raymond Wood, followed by Norman Bennett and the group behind him.
This was Norman Bennett’s team, brought in to take over the studio. Of course, Elliana was still the boss here.
And Andrew Hue and the others were also brought over by Norman Bennett.
"You’re Luna Sutton, right? Your external identity at the law firm is Head of Cleaning and Special Advisor. No objection, sign the contract," Deputy Director Shengming arranged Luna’s position.
Chewing gum and somewhat taken aback, Luna almost swallowed the candy, frowned, examining the scholarly bespectacled group before her, eyes full of doubt.
"What do you mean? You want me to clean?" Luna said, looking incredulously at Norman Bennett, then glanced at the equally surprised Elliana.
Seeing Luna’s discontent with this arrangement, Norman Bennett coldly asked, "Do you have a lawyer’s license or relevant documents?"
"..." Luna fell silent upon hearing this. Indeed, she had no certificates, but... that wasn’t a reason for her to clean, was it?
She then argued to Elliana, "Your wife doesn’t have them either."
The man replied, "She’s the boss."
...
"Huh, alright, Norman Bennett, I’ll remember you," Luna smirked while nodding, but the anger in her eyes was unmistakable.
Faced with Luna’s threat, Norman Bennett was indifferent, hardly sparing her a glance: "If you don’t want to work, you can return to XRB with your brother and be the young lady again, I won’t stop you."
"...Let’s sign the contract," Luna urged Deputy Director Shengming, knowing the wisdom of adapting to circumstances, avoiding jeopardy.
...
The fifteenth day of the New Year, Lantern Festival.
After breakfast, Raymond Wood came, saying he had purchased two thousand gifts.
Out of curiosity, she asked, "With so many gifts, are we sending them to the employees?"
The man replied, "Yes, during the New Year, there was an urgent batch of orders at the factory. The group retained some workers with triple pay, I’m going to the factory to console those working overtime, I’ll return late tonight."
"Oh~ got it."
Seeing the girl’s eyes filled with obvious reluctance and dejection, the man affectionately touched her head and asked, "Do you want to go?"
"Can I?"
"Yes."
When the man said yes, she nodded almost without hesitation.
--- Two hours later.
The car arrived at a chemical plant, an asset under the Harmony Melody Group.
The location was an open field at a mountain’s base, with a broad view of the landscape, albeit the air carried some unpleasant odors.
The car stopped at the factory gate, but the gate’s security guard seemed missing.
After estimating a few minutes, the barrier finally lifted automatically.
Stepping out of the car, allowing herself to be led by the man inside, she kept quiet and tried not to disturb Norman Bennett’s work.
At this time, a middle-aged man in a black padded coat hastily stepped out from the factory building.
This man was Charles Lee, the factory’s manager. Had he not received a call earlier, he wouldn’t have known people would come from the higher-ups.
Though he hadn’t seen Norman Bennett personally, his keen perception guided him to address the man most resembling a leader with respect and warmth: "Hello, Mr. Bennett, I’m Charles Lee, the factory manager."
Then, Charles Lee led them to the office, while Elliana inspected the vast factory—there weren’t many people around.
Once inside the office, the man showed no intention of staying but advised her, "You rest here for a while, Lana will accompany you, I’ll be back soon, be good."
She understood Norman Bennett intended to inspect the work, so she nodded, "Mm."
Estimating about half an hour later, she heard footsteps from the corridor. When she looked towards the door, she saw the man returning with a somber face.
That intimidating and uneasy expression was the same she saw last when she escaped from the hospital.
What happened? Was he unhappy with the inspection results? Of course, she wouldn’t ask in front of so many people.
Following Norman Bennett were Charles Lee and other managers, now sweating profusely.
Charles Lee also didn’t know what went wrong, causing Norman Bennett such anger!