Chapter 309



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Hayden stood in the doorway for a while, but then came in and covered him with a warm blanket from the couch.

“Hayden…” Joseph opened his eyes, looking a little confused.

After learning that the girl in front of him was Hayden, he sat up and checked the time with his watch. “It’s too early, didn’t you sleep well last night?”.

Hayden nodded, “No, I ate too much Japanese food.”

He took her hands firmly and said unpleasantly, “Your hands are very cold, you should wear more clothes.”

“That’s all right. Our offices here are warm.”

“But it’s cold outside.” Then she seemed to think of something and let go of his hands to pull a hot water bottle out of a drawer. He pressed the button on it and handed it to Hayden.

“Hold this and you’ll warm up faster.”

Hayden took it and gradually felt the heat. Examining the print on the bag, he asked, “Did you buy this?”.

Joseph reassured, “It’s from my assistant. He gave it to me as a Christmas present for Noah.”

Earlier, when Noah and Stella went to the company, the one who took care of them was an intern who was in her early twenties. She later became Joseph’s secretary.

Hearing her answer, Hayden directed a meaningful look at Joseph, “But you know, her target is you.

The girl must want to have more connections with Joseph by giving him the supposed Christmas gift. After the first gift, she could keep asking what Noah likes and give him another gift like a hat or a scarf with the same pattern.

Joseph frowned, “Why?”

“He wants to have a relationship with you. Kind of like an office romance. Has he asked you anything about the gift?”.

“Yes.”

“You see.”

“I told him I hadn’t given it to Noah because the bag said children under five were forbidden to use it.”

He could imagine what Joseph’s face looked like as he answered the girl. Hayden was silent for a few moments and then said, “Maybe she’s tired of being your secretary, you might consider rewarding her with a higher salary.

Ordinary people would show their affection for the gift in a polite way, since a gift was a kind of compliment. But Joseph behaved in a very particular way when he received gifts.

It was obvious that the girl would not give him anything else for a while.

“It’s time for work.” Hayden looked at the clock, “There’s a meeting with the board of directors.”

“Another meeting?” Joseph frowned. “First of all, I think it’s difficult to hold a meeting with all the directors present; secondly, it’s no use negotiating with them about all the problems that have recently arisen in the company.”

Speaking of which, Hayden was also upset.

“This meeting was arranged by Belinda.”

Belinda, as the eldest daughter in the Mason family, tended to make a fuss whenever she tried to be the design director of the Advertising Department, specifically since she majored in overseas design.

When Bentley was still alive, he hadn’t given her any major positions in the company because he didn’t believe in her ability. Besides, at the time, he was the Downey Group’s authority and his words were orders. But now, the head of the Downey Group was Hayden and Belinda was going to expose some of his ideas. So, as expected, Belinda talked about the Phase 2 advertising contract.

“After the first stage publicity, I admit that our bottom line was going up noticeably. But in my opinion, Leon has so much negative news that I think it is not necessary to sign a contract with him for the second stage. Besides, we can change our celebrity for another one that better suits our needs.”

Belinda delivered her speech with an assurance that seemed plausible.

Hayden, as president, waited and asked after Belinda finished: “The decision to sign the contract with Leon should be made by the Publicity Department. Although I am not an expert in that department, I agree with you. And as for the risk you mentioned, the Publicity Department just proposed another plan, to change our poster boy.”

“By whom?”

When Hayden mentioned the name, Belinda burst out laughing, “Miss Downey, are you kidding? We all know it’s your brother.”

“Never mind.” Said Hayden calmly, “Freddie is totally qualified to be the poster model since he has no negative news.”

“Hayden, we know there are more and more of your family or friends in the company, what are you planning?”. Belinda suddenly stood up, looking mischievously at Hayden, “After you became the boss, you have fired many employees, even two of my cousins were sent to other branches. Are you going to empty out the whole company before my aunt comes back?”

In front of the board, Belinda dared to blurt out that speech, which indicated that Hayden was definitely restricted from carrying out her plan. Thinking about that, Hayden took a deep breath and looked at Belinda coolly.

“So, your goal in arranging this meeting is to criticize me? Belinda, you are only a shareholder, but not the authority. Here is the company, which is governed by rules and regulations. Besides, I am informed that your cousins embezzled public funds. Do you want more details about it?”.

Belinda’s cousins were in a position of power, they even invested for the project funds. But the result was that all the money disappeared and the project workers were not paid their salaries, prompting someone to charge them to the local labor security authority.

Their behavior sparked the Downey Group’s equity hole scandal.

“But everybody makes mistakes.” She kept trying to defend her cousins: “You’re not qualified to do anything with them. You’re just a temporary director.”

“As long as I’m still the director, I’m qualified.”

“What if my aunt comes back?” Belinda raised her jaw, which revealed some information, “My aunt is the largest shareholder, you’ll have to listen to her when she comes back.”

Before Hayden could answer her, the side door to the meeting room was opened by a secretary.

In a pink suit, with her suitcase and coat in the hands of her assistant, Sophia walked toward them while looking mischievously at Hayden. Then she said reluctantly, “Miss Downey, I am the authority.”

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