Stephen’s words seemed impartial, but they were actually biased towards Grace Wilson and Lily Warren.
Sophie’s eyes darkened; it seemed that with her mother gone, Stephen and Lily had indeed built a connection over time.
"Right." Edward Palmer’s reply energized Lily Warren, and she hurriedly asked, "What happened? What was affected?"
"Mom, even if there was a minor mishap because of Sophie’s company, Sophie didn’t do it on purpose." Grace Wilson seemed to be defending Sophie, but in reality, she was putting the blame squarely on her.
"Whether it was intentional or not, it was a problem of competence." Lily shot back sarcastically, "Stephen, I told you, having Sophie at home, we’re fine just supporting her there. How can she manage company matters?"
"The company isn’t just your own hard work; it’s also the hard work of so many employees fighting alongside you." Lily’s words made everyone in the conference room nod in agreement; clearly, she’d struck a chord with them.
They worried that if Sophie returned to the main company, she would make haphazard decisions, and how could the company possibly thrive?
"Edward." Stephen looked at Edward Palmer with a serious expression, "What exactly is going on?"
"Well, it’s all Sophie..." Edward Palmer started laughing, "President Payten developed a housing project and signed a contract with us. The houses in the project will be handed over to us for exquisite decoration, so the properties purchased by the owners are all fully furnished."
"Suddenly, the amount of work was just enormous, and it hasn’t been fully accounted for yet."
The conference room was overly silent, save for Edward Palmer’s laughter, which was not awkward in the slightest. He then smilingly said to Stephen, "President Wilson, it’s truly thanks to Sophie. Once the contract is signed, we’re just waiting to collect the money!"
"Good! Good!" Stephen finally reacted and laughed heartily, "Sophie, good! Well done!"
"It was nothing; I was just casually chatting and ended up clinching the deal." Sophie shrugged indifferently.
In Lily’s eyes, Sophie’s demeanor was clearly showing off.
And having Sophie’s success as a contrast, Lily’s continuous praise of her daughter earlier seemed like a slap in Grace’s face.
Could Lily stand her daughter’s embarrassment?
"Sophie, even if you clinched the deal, couldn’t you be a bit more humble? Do you have any manners?" Lily’s disdain made Sophie laugh, "Mom, are you saying you have no manners yourself, and never taught me?"
That word ’Mom’ was dripping with sarcasm; could anyone miss it?
Considering Lily continuously praised Grace while belittling her, Sophie’s rebellious attitude was entirely justified.
"Get out!" Lily shouted angrily, pointing at Sophie, "Get out!"
"Mom, let’s get one thing straight. This is the company, not our home. We’re discussing company business here; I negotiated the contract. President Payten wants to liaise with me. Do you really think that if I leave, President Payten will talk to anyone else?" Sophie nonchalantly questioned.
"Actually, what I’m curious about is... it’s a company meeting, Mom, you don’t hold any position here, so why did you come to the meeting room? Could it be because you saw your sister landed a big deal and wanted to share the spotlight?"