Chapter 288 Additional Conditions
When everyone heard Jessa straight-up offer James a ten million dollar annual salary, they were floored.
No one saw it coming that Jessa would think so highly of James.
If James agreed, he could instantly ditch his loser label and join the high society club!
And the folks around wouldn't have any right to mock him anymore.
It finally clicked for them why James had turned Jessa down earlier.
Most people would've jumped at the chance without a second thought, but James knew Jessa really wanted him to head up ArtScape Center.
So he played it cool, first turning her down, then using that to get her to up the offer.
Irvin, lounging on the sofa, was pretty unimpressed with James's game because he thought he had James all figured out.
But for Irvin and Jesse, ten million bucks were just pocket money, so as long as Jessa was happy, Irvin wasn't going to hold a grudge against James.
Thalassa pouted and muttered, "Never expected him to be so cunning!"
"I wanted to use Grandpa's birthday bash to put Laura in her place, but she still gets to be all smug!" Thalassa grumbled, clenching her teeth.
Not far off, Nancy, Laura, and Lily were all grinning because they thought James's move was genius. By first saying no and then yes, he scored a bigger payday!
Dorian looked at James and let out a sigh of relief. He didn't care how much James made, as long as he didn't tick off Jessa and Irvin.
"I offered you ten million a year. You in or not?" Jessa asked James, full of confidence.
She figured there was no way James would turn her down now.
"I already told you, I'm not interested! So, sorry. I refuse." James shook his head at Jessa.
Jessa was stunned, staring at James in disbelief.
Everyone else was just as shocked.
"James, are you nuts?" Nancy yelled, eyes wide.
"Yeah, James, have you really thought this through?" Laura chimed in.
"I wouldn't say yes even if it was fifty million a year!" James replied calmly, then turned to leave.
For James, ten million a year was nothing; that kind of money didn't faze him.
Seeing James about to leave, Nancy shouted, "James!"
But James ignored her and kept walking towards the exit.
Thalassa, Elowen, Lily, Laura, and Nancy were all left in shock, staring at James's back.
It finally dawned on Laura that James hadn't turned Jessa down to get a better offer; he never planned on working there in the first place.
But Laura just couldn't wrap her head around why James, a broke student, would turn down a job with a ten-million-dollar salary.
The gig Jessa offered could totally change his life!
"Mr. Hays..." Dorian was so freaked out that he started sweating bullets. He looked at Irvin, shaking, not knowing what to say.
He knew that if James turned Jessa down today, it would be like slapping Irvin in the face!
And someone like Irvin wouldn't let a poor loser get away with that.
So when Irvin saw James walking away, he immediately got up with a dark look and headed towards him.
"Dear..." Jessa sensed Irvin's mood shift and quickly stopped him, gently shaking her head to signal him not to act rashly.
"Don't worry, I won't touch him. I just want to have a chat." Irvin replied calmly, his expression softening a bit. He walked up behind James and gently patted his shoulder.
"Do you need something?" James turned to look at Irvin, his tone icy.
"James, this is Mr. Hays! How can you talk to him like this?" Dorian shouted loudly.
Irvin turned and gave Dorian a cold stare, then said flatly, "It's fine..."
"Mr. Hays, James isn't from around Willowbrook; he might not know the situation here. Please don't take it personally!"
Dorian quickly tried to smooth things over. After all, James was now kind of part of The Hall family, and he didn't want James to mess up the relationship between The Hall family and the Hays family. Otherwise, things would get messy!
"I get it." Irvin nodded slightly, then walked up to James, squinting as he looked him up and down, and said calmly, "You're pretty good at playing the violin. It's your luck that my girlfriend likes you. I know you musicians are quite proud. Just throwing money at you won't work, so..."
"So what?" James asked, his face blank.
"How about this, the deal my girlfriend offered still stands. If you come work at ArtScape Center, consider it as me, Irvin, owing you a favor. In the future, if you run into any problems that I can fix, I'll definitely help you out!" Irvin said with a smile.
Normally, Irvin wouldn't handle things this way; he could easily use the Hays family's power to force James to work.
But since Jessa had reminded him earlier, Irvin was being polite to James.
After all, Jessa just wanted James to work at her art center; she didn't want to strong-arm him.
Because if James came unwillingly, he wouldn't do a good job.
Laura, Nancy, and the others widened their eyes again, staring at James in shock.
A favor from Mr. Hays, Irvin—that was worth a ton!
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