Chapter 387: Verbal Assassination

Chapter 387: Chapter 387: Verbal Assassination

Estelle Lockwood nodded, completely unapologetic. "You make a fair point. I’ll ask Mr. Lynch right now to see if this logic holds up."

She made a move to dial her phone.

Claire’s blood pressure instantly spiked. "...Estelle, I was just joking. You’re the person in charge. How could we possibly make you sit at the very back?"

Estelle put her phone away. "We’re in a meeting, Miss Yeats. Next time you make a joke, remember to read the room."

"..." Claire almost choked on her rage. Thinking about her upcoming plans, she forcefully swallowed her fury. "...Alright. I’ll keep that in mind."

Claire removed all the bags from another chair, and Estelle sat down without any hesitation. Her brazen attitude made the nearby shareholders grind their teeth in secret until one could no longer hold back and mocked her.

"Estelle Lockwood, you call yourself the person in charge, yet you’re late for a meeting! We said it started at nine. Just look at the time!

"Our old bones have been waiting here for an hour! Is this how you act as the person in charge? If Miss Claire hadn’t stepped up to handle things, this meeting would probably have been canceled!"

Estelle raised an eyebrow. "Since you know you’re getting old, you might as well go home and enjoy your retirement."

Before the shareholder could retort, Estelle took out her phone and played an audio recording.

"Estelle, the meeting is next Friday at 10:00 AM. Don’t forget."

It was Evan’s voice from when they were at the racecourse. Estelle had recorded it.

Everyone’s expressions stiffened as they turned to look at Evan Yeats.

"..." Evan’s mouth twitched. "At the time, I... remembered the time wrong..."

The shareholder barked, "Estelle Lockwood! A meeting time announced a week in advance is always subject to change. Mr. Evan told you the time a week ago, but why didn’t you consider that it might change? If you had just asked someone to confirm, this mistake wouldn’t have happened! At the end of the day, you’re just not taking this seriously enough!"

Estelle tapped play on another recording.

"Estelle, the meeting is tomorrow at 10:00 AM. Make sure you don’t forget."

Estelle fired back, "Evan remembered it wrong, and Miss Yeats also remembered it wrong?"

She then turned to the shareholder who had just spoken.

"If the time was wrong a week ago, was it still wrong as of last night?"

The shareholder fell silent.

The way the shareholders looked at Claire was now laced with disdain.

Claire was on the verge of failing to maintain her smile. "It’s... my fault..."

"Well, like I said before, it’s good that Miss Yeats is self-aware. But self-awareness isn’t enough; you also need to learn from your mistakes. This time, you remembered the time wrong and gave me the wrong information. The direct result was that I, the person in charge, was an hour late, wasting an hour of these ’old bones’ time.

"If Miss Yeats remembers the time wrong again next time and holds up Mr. Lynch, that would be terrible, don’t you think?"

Claire’s face flushed and paled in rapid succession.

"Alright, since everyone is here, let’s start the meeting."

Since there were more important matters at hand, Evan suppressed his impatience and interrupted. "Estelle Lockwood, we have no objections to you being the person in charge. But this collaborative project is complex. You might make a mistake on your own. Besides, since this collaboration leans toward design, you’ll need a design director."

Estelle raised an eyebrow, knowingly asking the obvious. "Oh? So? Who here knows how to design?"

Evan curled his lips into a smile, looking deeply proud. "That person would be Claire!"

Estelle feigned surprise. "Miss Yeats? I haven’t heard of her doing that before."

Claire smiled shyly, waiting for the others to praise her.

As expected, Evan and a few of the shareholders gladly played along.

"Miss Lockwood, you probably wouldn’t know this. Have you ever heard of the XM Design Competition? Oh, wait, how could I forget? Only the top professionals in the industry have heard of this competition. Miss Lockwood... sigh."

Although Estelle was Star’s exclusive designer, everyone remembered that she was also the chairman of Star. Factoring in her ties with the Kendrick Family, as well as Evan and Claire constantly brainwashing the shareholders with claims that "Estelle Lockwood lacks both talent and virtue," they naturally assumed her title of exclusive designer was entirely self-appointed.

They believed that in reality, she knew nothing about design and couldn’t even compare to Claire.

A shareholder boasted smugly, "Let me introduce this design competition to you, Miss Lockwood. It’s the pinnacle of the design industry and is held once every five years. Only the cream of the crop can even participate, let alone win the grand championship.

"And Miss Claire is the champion of the previous iteration! Not only is she the champion, but she is also the only Chinese champion in the history of the competition!

"Miss Lockwood, if we’re entering a collaboration, wouldn’t you say Miss Claire is the most suitable candidate for design director?

"Moreover, I heard that Mr. Lynch himself once praised this Chinese champion. He just didn’t know it was Claire at the time. If he knew, I’m sure he wouldn’t object either!"

As the shareholder finished speaking, the conference room fell silent.

Claire’s cheeks flushed red, as if she were terribly embarrassed to hear someone praising her. "Mr. Miller, you’re exaggerating. I’m not that amazing..."

"You’re far too modest, Miss Claire!"

The shareholder and Claire played off each other flawlessly. "Miss Lockwood, what do you think?"

Estelle let out a soft chuckle.

Even without Claire posing as the champion, she knew Claire would have found some other way to worm herself into this collaboration.

Coincidentally, that was exactly what Estelle wanted.

After all, this entire collaboration was completely fake from start to finish.

"Miss Lockwood, do you find this a bit difficult?" Claire bit her lip gently. "It’s fine. The senior shareholders were only making a suggestion. You can think it over. Even if you ultimately disagree, I’ll still..."

"I agree," Estelle said.

"...still not hold it against you," Claire continued on autopilot. "I might not have many virtues, but I am very magnanimous..." She blinked. "What did you say?"

Estelle smiled pleasantly. "I said I agree. Why does it sound like you were absolutely certain I’d refuse, Miss Claire Yeats? You claim to be a magnanimous person—are you implying that I am a petty one?"

Claire choked on her words.

She wondered why Estelle wasn’t playing by the rules and why she had agreed so easily.

Still... it was good that she had agreed.

Estelle Lockwood really was an idiot. Since she was practically giving away the director position, Claire would gladly take it without a second thought!

The shareholders exchanged glances, looking at one another in dismay.

Then, realization seemed to dawn on them.

It seemed Estelle Lockwood truly was an idiot!

A collaboration like this should be gripped tightly in one’s hands, yet Estelle had given up control so easily.

Fine. Idiots like her were the easiest to manipulate.

One of the shareholders’ eyes darted shiftily as an idea struck him. "Since Miss Lockwood has agreed, how about this: tomorrow, let Miss Claire accompany you to negotiate with Mr. Lynch."

"Exactly," another chimed in. "What if Mr. Lynch brings something up and you don’t understand? Wouldn’t that look bad? If Miss Claire tags along, she can help you handle the technical side."

Estelle nodded slightly. "Sure."

Claire bit her lip. "I’m just glad you don’t mind, Estelle."

Why would Estelle mind?

She was going to use Claire to bait out the person backing her.