bChapter /bb279 /b

    The assistant’s face turned deathly pale in an instant. She stammered nervously, “Just before you arrived, I talked to Mr. Soto on the phone. He bshould /bbe on his flight by now.”

    Maxine couldn’t help but feel a headacheing on. “It’ll be useless if it’s just the two of us in the meeting room,” she muttered.

    Although Dawn was Mr. Soto’s secretary, after all, she was just an ordinary employee with no say at all in front of those wily old shareholders.

    Maxine took a deep, anxious breath. “When can we reach Urban?” she asked, her voice tinged with worry.

    Dawn checked the schedule. “He’ll be here around 4:26 PM, but the meeting starts at 2.30 PM. That gives

    over an hour, we’ll have to buy some time.”

    As they stepped out of the elevator, Dawn was about to speak when a woman strode toward them. Frowning at her, the woman snapped, “Dawn, where have you been? Don’t you know how busy we are?”

    With that, she sized Maxine up and down, frowned, and asked sharply, ‘And who might this be?‘

    Dawn smiled and said, “This is a friend of mine. She heard I’ve been working overtimetely, so she just dropped by to check on me.”

    The woman clicked her tongue impatiently. “With everything going on at thepany, don’t bring outsiders in.” She paused, her tone dripping with condescension. “Let me be frank. Even though you’ve always been by Mr. Soto’s side, you still need to mind these details. If anything goes wrong bat /ba time like this and Mr. Soto or the board holds us ountable, none of us will be able to exin it away, will we?”

    ‘Just a temporary nuisance,‘ Maxine thought, unfazed by the woman’s deliberately hostile tone.

    As the three of them reached the office entrance, the woman stepped in front of Maxine, blocking her way. “This is a restricted work area, and we’re swamped right now. There’s a café and lounge on the first floor, you’ll have to wait there.”

    Dawn frowned. “Gloria, don’t you think you’re crossing the line here?”

    Gloria Hill narrowed her eyes and said, “I’m just stating facts. As if you didn’t know how swamped we’ve been these days. With the tender meeting today, everyone in the office is up to their necks in work. If you have anyints, take it up with Mr. Kaden.”

    Dawn seethed with anger, but Maxine reached out and grasped her arm. “Enough,” Maxine said calmly, “Why don’t you just walk me down? I’ll wait for you there.”

    The two exchanged nces, and Dawn quickly grasped her underlying message. Turning to Gloria, she said, “At least let me walk her downstairs, okay?”

    Even at such a simple request, Gloria’s face clouded with hesitation. “Well…”

    Maxine smiled good–naturedly and said, “Honestly, I have a terrible sense of direction. I’m just worried I might identally wander into some restricted

    areas.”

    This remark sobered Gloria up a little. If Maxine just left, that would be fine. But if she started wandering around thepany and identally walked into a meeting room, as the lead organizer of this event, Gloria would undoubtedly be held responsible.

    Gloria finally relented, forcing a strained smile at Dawn. “Fine, go ahead and walk your friend out. Ourpany’s quite a maze, wouldn’t want her getting lost.”

    As they left the office, Dawn muttered a curse under her breath, then exined, “She’s from the nning Department. Mr. Kaden put her in charge of all the arrangements and paperwork for this meeting, so now both her department and secretaries have to follow her lead.”