Chapter 16 She Must Be Something
At the office doorway, Rosalie spotted William and Camelia.
Camelia wore a tailored white suit, hair in soft waves, makeup flawless, smiling sweetly as she chatted
with William.
Movers were hauling boxes in and out. Most glaring of all, the nameplate that used to read “Deputy
Director, Rosalie Ashford” now said “Deputy Director, Camelia Becker.”
Rosalie strode over and asked coldly, “What do you think you’re doing? Who told you to move my things
out of my office?”
Camelia rushed to explain, “Rosalie, don’t get the wrong idea. Your dad said your thesis has you swamped, and this job is high-pressure. He asked me to help out for a while. I thought it was only temporary…”
Rosalie gave a cold laugh and looked past her to William. “Dad, did you sign off on firing me?”
William frowned. “Rosalie, the company has policies. You haven’t had your head in the work for six
months. The board is dissatisfied. I have to consider the interests of Stellar as a whole.”
Rosalie’s voice sharpened. “You know exactly what I built here. Using that excuse to push me out is just
making room for someone else, right?”
She shot Camelia a look, the mockery unmistakable.
Camelia’s face went pale. “I’m sorry, Rosalie. I thought we were friends. I only wanted to share your
workload. If you’re upset, I can give the role back. I don’t want to cause a rift between you and your dad
because of me.”
“This isn’t on you, Camelia,” William said at once, moving to shield her. His tone turned scolding as he faced Rosalie. “She’s an outstanding returnee, just the kind of talent we need. Watch your tone! You’re out
of line!”
Across the floor, heads began to pop over cubicle walls.
“Did you hear? Last week, Mr. Fenwick broke off the wedding for Ms. Becker.”
“No way! Seriously? If she can make Mr. Fenwick do that, she must be something.”
“Of course she is! She’s an MIT grad who even won an international Al award. I heard several top firms were fighting to sign her the moment she landed.”
“Compared to that, what has Rosalie really done? She’s where she is because she’s the chairman’s daughter.”
“Right. All she does is throw tantrums. Camelia comes to help, and Rosalie starts nitpicking. She just can’t read the room.”
Chanter 16 The Must Be Bomething
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The chatter wasn’t loud, but it was clear enough for Rosalie to hear.
Rosalie let out a cold laugh.
“Rosalie,” William snapped, “come to my office! Stop making a scene here!” He softened as he turned
back to Camelia “Settle in, Camelia. I’m here. Don’t worry about anything else.”
Just then, a young engineer rushed over, out of breath. “Ms. Ashford, we’ve got a problem! The Firmament
System’s main server crashed again! The user data reads are throwing exceptions!”
William cut him off. “Why are you panicking? Can’t you see Ms. Becker is right here? From now on,
technical issues go straight to her!”
The young engineer was stunned, his eyes flicking from Rosalie to Camelia, not sure which way to turn.
Camelia pasted on an apologetic, worried look for Rosalie. “Maybe you should handle it. Mr. Ashford only
wants me to carry some of the load. If my being here makes you upset or causes losses, then that’s on
me.”
Rosalie watched her performance with a cold stare and held her tongue.
Truth be told, Rosalie was curious. If Camelia was really as brilliant as the gossip claimed, how was she
going to fix a problem that had even made Rosalie pause?
