Chapter 55 Efficiency
Clara was scratching her head, totally confused. 'Why's Dad freaking out? If these three are so good, he should've kept them around when he was in charge.'
So, she asked, puzzled, "Dad, what's up with them?"
Nathan took a deep breath, his voice barely above a whisper. "They're Bianca's people, and they probably have proof of my embezzlement!"
Clara's eyes went wide. She knew Nathan had been skimming money for years, but she didn't think he'd be sloppy enough to leave evidence.
Her voice wavered, but she kept it low, worried someone might overhear. "What! You left evidence? Dad! How could you mess up like that? Why didn't you make them hand it over when you fired them? What do we do now? Diana must know, that's why she brought them back!"
Nathan explained, "I tried to get it from them, but they all denied having anything. One person alone isn't a big deal, but with Diana backing them, it's a ticking time bomb. Clara, you need to fire them all."
Clara was fuming. "I'm just a rep for the Percy Group, I don't own any shares. How am I supposed to fire Diana's people? Mr. Percy can't stand me, so asking him is out. What now?"
Seeing Clara panic, Nathan calmed down and thought back to when those three were still at the company. They were all key players, close to the action. Over time, they must've noticed something was off.
First, there was Henry from finance. He handled all the money and took some dodgy accounts home. When Nathan found out, he fired him for leaking secrets. Those accounts were deleted, but he was not sure if Henry kept backups.
Next was Douglas from marketing. He knew all about the company's deals. He found something fishy and quit on his own. Nathan even tried to keep him with a promotion and raise; it seemed Douglas had dirt on him too.
Last was Saskia. Nathan was sure about her. He almost sent her to prison to take the fall, so she had the most damning evidence.
After Saskia left, Nathan had her followed for a long time, looking for clues. They only stopped when the Spencer Group was about to go under. Saskia hated Nathan for nearly ruining her life.
Now, with Diana bringing them all back, Nathan had to act. Whether for their skills or the evidence, these people had to go.
A cold, murderous look flashed in Nathan's eyes, and he said slowly, "If you can't fire them, then make them shut up for good."
Clara froze, realizing what he meant, her hand shaking as she held the phone. But if these people lived, the Williams Family was done for. She couldn't, and wouldn't, lose to Diana. "Okay, Dad, I'll do it," she uttered in determined tone.
Nathan reassured her, "Clara, you don't have to do it yourself. Just handle the company, and I'll take care of the rest."
Clara agreed, still anxious after hanging up. She wasn't a saint, but taking a life was a whole different level. If they had to blame someone, it was their bad luck for knowing too much and backing the wrong side.
Thinking about it, Clara closed her eyes, her expression softening a bit. She wasn't in any shape to hold a meeting herself. So, she opened her laptop and shot a message in the group chat.
Clara: [Today's meeting is canceled.]
The employees outside saw the message and got excited for a couple of seconds until another one popped up.
Clara: [Everyone, finish the proposal by the end of the day and send it to me. If you can't, just resign.]
Their emotions went on a rollercoaster. No meeting, yay! But still had to crank out proposals, which they'd done a million times with no results.
They wondered, 'What does Clara even want? She probably doesn't know herself, but we still gotta do it anyway.'
While they were grinding on the proposals outside, in the conference room, Diana's team was sorting out their recent progress.
Diana said, "So, the product packaging and promotional direction are still up in the air, right?"
Everyone nodded. The Spencer Group had ready-made products, but if they wanted to keep using them, they had to rebrand and ramp up promotions.
Since they didn't have a design department, they decided to let Diana handle it. Plus, promotion was where they needed to spend the most money now.
"For promotion, we're thinking of themes like 'childhood food' and 'the taste of memory.' Also, we want to highlight the company's past charity work to build goodwill. But we're not sure whether to hire celebrities or internet influencers," Calliope from the promotion department added.
Diana nodded and tackled their questions one by one, "First, marketing team, find an outsourcing company for packaging designs. Pick a few for Ms. Wipere to review. Second, the promotion direction is good. I have a plan for the specifics. Start with some preliminary work. Get the company's social media accounts up and running. Finally, everyone gather and estimate the funds needed, then submit it to finance."
Everyone stared at Diana, surprised at how quickly she came up with solutions. She didn't seem like an intern at all. Seeing them stunned, Diana knocked on the table. "What's wrong? Any questions?"
They snapped out of it and quickly shook their heads. Henry, still in disbelief, spoke, "So we just get to work? The meeting's over?"
Diana found it amusing. "Yep, unless anyone has other questions? Feel free to bring them up."
Henry laughed heartily. He had doubted Diana's abilities, but today she blew him away. She reminded him of how energetic Bianca used to be. Diana said, "Alright, any other questions? Speak up."
The others looked at each other, silent as they glanced at their documents. Seeing this, Diana clapped her hands. "No questions? Great, meeting's over. Thanks for your hard work, everyone. Keep it up!"
Their meeting lasted less than half an hour. When they came out, they were still smiling. Clara's team was dumbfounded. 'What? Our meetings usually last at least two hours. Diana's team is done already? Is that even a meeting?'
Especially since they came out looking clear-headed and focused, like they had a solid direction.
For a moment, Clara's team felt even more resentful. But there was no other way; they had to speed up and hope to come up with a plan that would satisfy Clara.
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