Chapter 723 Critically Ill
Meanwhile, Oscar did not care about how Isabella felt. He refocused his attention on the documents. Despite being initially calm, he blew up in an explosive rage while flipping through the pages. “Linda, get the director of our Sales Department in here!”
After receiving that order, Linda hurriedly phoned one of the assistants in the Sales Department. She instructed the latter to get Jerry over at once.
In no time, Jerry arrived outside the office and knocked for permission to enter. She nervously asked, “You wanted to see me, Mr. Clinton?”
Oscar tossed the document over to her feet before thundering, “You’ve worked in this company for many years, Jerry. One can even say you’ve worked here the longest. So, tell me this. Why does the project I entrusted you to come up with an investment budget for require so much money?”
Startled by those words, Jerry instantly picked up the document and noticed an extra zero in the total budget. The original budget of only five hundred million became five billion, which was ten times more. If they were to proceed with that budget, the company would undoubtedly suffer massive losses.
All color drained from Jerry’s face. Never had she expected to commit such a grave mistake. In fact, it was her worst error since joining the company.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Clinton, I didn’t realize there was another zero. I swear there was no mistake when I checked the documents before printing them. I have no idea how this happened,” she explained.
“Jerry, I have always thought that you would never make excuses for your mistakes, especially after working here for so many years. Yet, you’re now surprising me with such a weak excuse. I can’t believe someone of your capability can make such a basic mistake. Take it away and revise it at once. Don’t let me catch you doing this again; otherwise, I’ll consider revoking your position as director.” With that, Oscar waved her off dismissively.
Jerry nodded. “I’ll be off then, Mr. Clinton.”
Oscar no longer bothered to look at her.
Following that, Jerry exited the office and walked toward the elevator. There, the elevator doors opened to reveal a smiling Amelia, who said, “Jerry, what a coincidence.”
Despite feeling aggrieved, Jerry forced a smile. “Hey, Mrs. Clinton. Are you here to see Mr. Clinton?”
Amelia instantly sensed something was wrong with the former and asked, “Did Oscar tell you off about something?”
“I made a mistake during work, so it’s only normal for Mr. Clinton to tell me off.” Jerry did not want to dwell on the matter, so she turned aside and added, “Go on in, Mrs. Clinton. I’ll head back to work now. We can chat later on when we’re free.”
Just then, Amelia grabbed Jerry’s hand and said, “I’ll go and look for you in a bit. Let’s go have some coffee.”
“Sure.”
Once Jerry entered the elevator, Amelia headed into the office with a half smile.
She questioned with an ambiguous tone, “Oscar, did you snap at Jerry?”
Oscar put down his pen, waved her over, and spoke. “Come here.”
In response, Amelia approached to sit on his lap. “Jerry has worked in this company for many years, and she’s a senior employee. Moreover, no one is perfect. You shouldn’t hold her to such a high standard or you might scare her off. If that happens, no one would dare to work for you after that.”
Oscar pursed his lips, feigning anger as he replied, “Did she complain to you?”
“Nope. Jerry is not someone who would do that. I merely saw her at the elevator earlier. Her grim expression gave me an idea about what happened. Oh well, I’ll have to go and comfort your employee later on; if not, she might sell you out to your competitors. We wouldn’t want that, would we?” While joking, Amelia pinched his cheeks.
“There’s no need for that. Jerry is a smart woman. She knows she’ll have a bigger chance of taking revenge on me if she stays here. Besides, she can never achieve what she has now, having a salary worth millions at the mere age of thirty if she joins another company,” said an utterly confident Oscar.
“You seem pretty sure of yourself.”
“One should have such a level of confidence when managing a big company. Otherwise, it’ll be hard to have authority over others.”
Airy laughter came from Amelia upon hearing those words.
She then planted feather-like kisses on Oscar’s lips before saying, “Can I at least know what Jerry did wrong? Was it really worth you snapping at her?”
To that, Oscar compliantly relayed a summary of what happened.
Amelia’s brows drew close as she spoke. “Based on Jerry’s usual attentiveness, she would never make such a careless error. Could there be a misunderstanding? It doesn’t make sense for a director to mistakenly write five hundred million as five billion. After all, she could get imprisoned if things were to go wrong.”
“No matter what, the undeniable truth is that she made a mistake. There’s no excuse for her actions,” Oscar icily declared.
A frown marred Amelia’s face as she pondered for a moment.
It was then that Oscar held her chin and made her look at him. His domineering tone rang out. “All right, that’s enough. I’m right in front of you, and I forbid you from thinking about others now. Focus on me instead. I want to be the only person in your mind and heart right now.”
Amelia was at a loss for words but amusedly teased, “How bossy.”
“Indeed, I am. Do you not like it?” Oscar shot her a narrow-eyed stare as if daring her to say otherwise.
Amelia shook her head and leaned in for a kiss. To that, Oscar was quick to comply, taking the initiative to kiss her back. The kiss deepened so much that the two did not want to separate.
Only after Oscar tried to unbutton Amelia’s top did she rest her hand on his, stopping him.
Oscar released her lips, his gaze pinned on her while his husky voice spoke. “What’s wrong?”
“Not here. You still have work later, and I’m meeting up with Jerry for some coffee. If we continue on like this, I won’t make it for my coffee date…”
“Reschedule it.” After saying that, Oscar leaned closer to relish Amelia’s lips that he could not get enough of. Since the latter could not refuse him, she surrendered to his alluring kiss.
It was already dark outside when Amelia awoke inside the office’s built-in bedroom. Her phone rang, and on the screen was Eleanor’s caller ID.
She answered it, saying, “Hey, Mom.”
“Amelia, your mom’s critically ill and has been calling out your name when she’s unconscious. Could you fly over to Saspiuburg?” Benjamin anxiously asked through the phone.
Upon hearing that, Amelia could not care about her aching body and instantly replied, “Okay. I’ll book a flight to Saspiuburg right away. Is Mom’s situation severe? Wasn’t she doing okay when Oscar and I were here?”
“These days, her condition keeps fluctuating. She’s currently in a coma but keeps calling out for you. Come over now if you care for her.” Benjamin sounded weary as he spoke.
“Okay, I’ll be right over. See you.” After hanging up, Amelia frantically got off the bed and put on her clothes. Perhaps it was the nerves, but she struggled several times when buttoning her blouse.
Just then, Oscar came in and saw a red-eyed Amelia, who was on the brink of tears.
“What’s wrong, Amelia?” Oscar was quick to ask, “Are you not feeling well?”
Amelia’s eyes lit up like she had seen her savior. While wiping her tears, she muttered, “Oscar, M-Mom’s in a coma. Can you get your secretary to book a flight to Saspiuburg? I need to go there now.”
“Okay. I’ll get Linda to book a flight right away, but you need to calm down. Mom’s going to be fine.” Samuel frowned, trying to comfort the panicking Amelia with his low, husky tone. “We’ll be there in no time. Don’t worry.”
Seconds passed as Amelia thought things through. She then firmly stated, “But the company is currently a mess. It’s best you don’t accompany me to Saspiuburg. Not to mention that Dad has already retired, so you can’t trouble an elderly like him to look after things while you’re gone. I’ll be fine going there alone.”
“The others in the company can—”
“Oscar, please, do as I say this once. The company needs you now. A good team needs a leader, after all. I don’t want you to get swarmed with work after returning from Saspiuburg with me. Please? Don’t make me worry about you, okay?”
Since it was rare for Amelia to make such steely decisions, Oscar relaxed a little and trusted her. “You truly don’t need me there?”
“I can handle it on my own. Although, I’ll need your help looking after Tony while I’m gone. Make sure both of you eat on time. No matter how busy work gets, you must go home for dinner with Tony and read him a bedtime story. Try not to make me worry, all right?”
Amelia continued nagging him about a list of things to do during her absence. Once that was over, Oscar asked Linda to book a flight for eight in the evening, leaving the two with one and a half hours to arrive at the airport.
Oscar eventually dropped Amelia at the airport. The latter had only brought some money and her ID card. She did not bring any clothes since she was in such a rush.
Before going through the customs, Amelia said to Oscar, “Make sure to tell Tony that I’ve gone to Saspiuburg. Ask him to behave while I’m away, and let him know I’ll call him every day.”
“What about me?”
Amelia lips curled into an amused grin right then. Gosh. He’s jealous of my love for our son?
She then said, “I’ll call you every day too. Once Mom gets better, I’ll discuss with the Hutton family to relocate her to Tayhaven for treatment.”
After chatting for a while more, Amelia held her flight ticket and walked past the customs checkpoint while Oscar departed the airport. He waited until her flight took off before a grim emotion showed on his face. One could not tell what his thoughts were at that moment.
