Chapter 735 The Gift
After the master and the apprentice examined Eleanor and had a quiet discussion, the former said, “Mr. Hutton, judging from Mrs. Hutton’s current condition, I’d recommend conservative treatment first. For now, her brain isn’t in the best condition for surgery, but don’t worry. We will develop a new medicine that can reduce her headache as much as possible to contain the malignant transformation of her skull.” “How big of a chance can it be treated?” Benjamin’s joy disappeared completely in an instant.
“Be patient, Mr. Hutton. The malignant tumor has already spread to the late stage. By right, there’s a low chance of curing this sickness. But lately, I’ve been developing medicine that can subdue this disease. I’ve also picked up several new herbs. If it works, the success rate can be as high as seventy-five percent.”
“Professor, please hurry up with your research. If you need any funds, I can support you. Just let me know if you need anything. As long as you can cure my wife, everything else isn’t a problem.”
The mentor nodded. “I’ll continue my research with James, so I’ll take my leave now.” After James and his mentor left the ward, James asked, “Professor, how confident are you regarding Mrs. Hutton’s case?”
“Thirty percent. Her case is very tricky. Her condition changes faster than any other I’ve seen in the medical field. Otherwise, it would not have reached the middle stage within a few months. It’s possible that her cancer is in its late stage now. But I admire her will to live. Her brain cells are very active, so this means she is unwilling to die just like that. This can also be a good opportunity for us to save her.”
James nodded. He thought so too.
The two of them made their way to the meeting room, and James gathered the neurologists in the hospital for a meeting to discuss Eleanor’s case.
The discussions in the meeting room were getting heated. In the ward, Benjamin glanced at Amelia and said awkwardly, “Thank you, Lia. I didn’t expect you to ask him to come here. I’ve heard about his achievements in the medical field. With his help, I believe your mom will have a higher recovery rate.”
Amelia was about to say something when Oscar’s phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and realized it was his secretary, Linda.
He picked up the phone. After he listened to what Linda said for a while, his expression turned solemn. Once he hung up, Amelia asked worriedly, “Oscar, what’s wrong?”
“There’s a small issue at the company. I have to go back for a while. I’ll come back soon.” “Okay. Do you need me to go with you?”
“No. I can handle it myself.” The moment Oscar left, the atmosphere in the ward turned tense. “Oscar seems busy.”
“He has a big company to run. My father-in-law handed over the reins to Oscar, so his workload has increased. Besides, he has been pretty stressed lately because of the matter related to his employee absconding with the money and stealing information.”
Benjamin nodded.
Amelia walked over to the side of the bed to look at Eleanor, who was still sleeping. She didn’t have much to say to Benjamin.
Isabella was already waiting for Oscar at the entrance when he got there. She went up to him immediately when she saw him. “Oscar, you’re finally here! There are some problems with the software designs during your absence in the past two days. Some clients have provided feedback that their customers were seriously injured from getting electrocuted when using their phones. Two police officers came to investigate, but we’ve sent them away.”
“Have you and the others visited the patients who were electrocuted?”
“Oscar, we’ve sent someone to the hospital the moment we learned about it. However, those patients were still unconscious, and their family members were very emotionally unstable. They said that the phones manufactured under Clinton Corporations are defective, and whoever uses them will get hurt or die. If our competition uses this to spread rumors on the internet, I’m afraid it will have a massive impact on us,” Isabella said after considering the advantages and disadvantages.
Oscar replied calmly, “Get public relations to pay attention to the trend on the internet and send someone to see if anyone else was hurt because of the phone. If it’s only a few people who got hurt, there won’t be any other problems if we compensate them well.”
“Don’t worry, Oscar. I’ve already sent someone to look into it and deal with the compensation matters. As long as the victims’ family members are satisfied with money, they will keep their mouths shut. However, I think our priority is to investigate why the technical department would make such a low-level mistake. From my knowledge, Clinton Corporations has been designing phones and parts for many years, and the phones became top-sellers as soon as they were launched. The two brands, Vevio and Oqqion, have gotten a lot of good reviews in the country and abroad, so I doubt there are any problems here,” she said as she walked behind him.
Oscar pursed his lips, looking very serious.
Upstairs, Oscar gathered all the company executives for a meeting in the meeting room to discuss the emergency measures.
Oscar knew that someone was attacking Clinton Corporations in the shadows. It seems that the person behind this is well-prepared. He’s able to make Clinton Corporations, which has been standing strong all these years, face two big problems twice. He’s incredible.
Oscar sat at the head of the table and put his hand on his forehead. “Everyone, what do you think about the matter of the electrocution of our phones which made the users pass out?” he asked in a plain voice.
“Mr. Clinton, I’m to blame for this since it’s the technical department’s fault. However, our products passed the inspection before we launched them. I didn’t expect such a thing to happen. I’m willing to take full responsibility,” the manager of the technical department said. Oswald was in his thirties, and he looked like a mild-mannered man in his rim glasses.
Oscar glanced at him. “Oswald, the purpose of this meeting is not to ask you to take up the responsibility. Besides, even if you do that, it’s out of your league. The company will deal with that. What I need is a solution from you.”
Oswald thought about it and replied, “Yes, Mr. Clinton. After the incident, I’ve already gathered everyone in the technical department to examine the phones to see if there are any problems with them. However, all of the test devices passed the inspection. Therefore, I believe that those who were electrocuted were either playing with their phones or calling someone when their phones were charging. It should be their own fault, so—”
“So, you’re saying that the five victims were playing with their phones or making phone calls at the same time?” Oscar asked coldly.
It’s possible for one victim to become unconscious after getting electrocuted. However, for five users who were at different places to be in the same situation, and all of them were using phones manufactured by Clinton Corporations, I’m sure it wasn’t a coincidence. There must be a hidden danger somewhere in the quality of the phones.
Because of Oscar’s dominating aura, Oswald involuntarily avoided Oscar’s scary gaze. Oswald stuttered, “M-Mr. Clinton, t-t-that’s not what I meant. I meant that it must be an accident.”
“I don’t care if it was an accident or a coincidence. The technical department has to give me a logical explanation. As for the public relations department, pay attention to the trend on the internet. I don’t want to see any negative or bad comments about Clinton Corporations.”
“Yes, Mr. Clinton.”
“Anything else? If you have nothing else to say, we’ll end the meeting now.”
Everyone was a little down and left the meeting room with long faces after being lectured by Oscar. The employees were worried too since too many things had been happening lately.
“Oscar, I heard that Amelia’s mother is hospitalized in Tayhaven. Can I know which hospital she’s in? I’d like to visit her,” Isabella said, putting on a gentle expression as she held the files close to her chest.
“Haven’t you heard about it already?” Oscar asked with a frown. In other words, he meant, “You’ve already known about it, yet you still ask me pretentiously. It’s obvious that you are faking your concerns.”
Isabella’s expression darkened at that. She laughed. “Oscar, don’t take it the wrong way. I’m just worried you’ll think I’m nosy and disturb Mrs. Hutton’s rest. So, I’m asking for your opinion first.”
“You don’t have to.”
Her eyes lit up as she said, “Oscar, are you saying I can visit Mrs. Hutton?”
“No. I just thought if you have time for this, you might as well do your job properly. I don’t need an outsider to meddle with my family affairs.” Oscar trotted out of the meeting room after he said that.
Isabella’s face clouded over.
She gritted her teeth and followed him shamelessly. When she tried to walk into his office, Linda stopped her.
Isabella didn’t get angry. Instead, she walked to the pantry, made a cup of coffee, put a few pastries on a plate, and passed it to Linda. She said softly, “Linda, could you help me bring these in? Oscar doesn’t really want to interact too much with me other than on matters related to work. I’m worried that he is tired and hasn’t eaten since he’s been busy with matters in the company and taking care of his mother-in-law. Please help me send these in, but don’t tell him it’s from me. Thank you so much.”
Seeing that Isabella was so nice and kind, Linda had no excuse to turn her down and could only agree to it.
Linda knocked on Oscar’s door while holding the tray with the coffee and pastries. She only pushed the door open and walked in after he allowed her to.
“Mr. Clinton, I prepared these for you. Please have some,” Linda said as she put the coffee and pastries down on the table.
Oscar glanced at her, and she quickly explained, “Please don’t misunderstand, Mr. Clinton. I don’t harbor any ulterior motives toward you. It’s just that Mrs. Clinton asked me to pay attention to your health last time so that you don’t starve when you’re too busy. I really don’t have any ulterior motives.”
Oscar’s expression eased up a little. “Just leave them there. I’ll eat them in a while.”
“Yes, Mr. Clinton,” Linda said. After a brief hesitation, she added, “Mr. Clinton, Mrs. Clinton left this coffee in the pantry and asked us to make this for you. She said you love this brand. Is that true?”
Oscar’s expression turned gentler. “Is it really prepared by Amelia?”
“Mr. Clinton, if you don’t believe me, you can ask Mrs. Clinton. She really loves you. Although she doesn’t usually come to the office, she has asked us to take good care of you. Sometimes, she would also bring some pastries over. But every time she came, you were in a meeting. So you probably didn’t know that Mrs. Clinton was the one who brought the pastries over in a hurry before she left,” Linda said as if she wanted to take credit for it.
Oscar looked happy.
“I understand. You can carry on with your work. If Amelia brings any food in the future, you can just leave them in my office straight away.”
“Yes, Mr. Clinton.”
Isabella hadn’t left when Linda walked out of Oscar’s office. She asked anxiously, “Did he eat it?”
“Don’t worry, Ms. Walker. When Mr. Clinton heard it was from Mrs. Clinton, he ate them immediately. He’s really in love with her.”
Isabella’s face fell. However, she didn’t say anything else after knowing that he would eat the pastries.
“Thank you, Linda. Let me treat you to a meal after we get off work. I wish to be friends with you.”
Linda hesitated.
“What? Are you planning to turn me down?”
“No. Of course not! I’m honored to dine with you, Ms. Walker. I’ll meet you after work.”
Isabella nodded.
After Isabella left, Linda’s face darkened. She didn’t want to get close to Isabella at all. She didn’t want to lose her high-benefit job by offending Oscar because of little favors. Only an idiot would do that.
“Linda, you’re doomed. Ms. Walker has targeted you. You’d better not end up like your previous namesake. I heard she went to work in a small company after leaving Clinton Corporations. Not only were the benefits there worse than ours, but I also heard that the CEO of that company is a pervert. You’d better be careful, or you might lose everything,” another secretary, who was close with Linda, reminded.
Everyone could tell that Isabella couldn’t forget Oscar, and the best way for her to get him nearby was to be on good terms with Oscar’s secretaries. As long as Isabella was close to them, she could get closer to Oscar. However, if Oscar found out about it, he would fire the secretaries.
Only a fool would be so short-sighted to offend Oscar for little benefits. Anyone who offended him wouldn’t be able to survive in Tayhaven.
“Mona, can I leave with you after work instead? Let’s just say I’m not feeling well. I don’t want to be pestered by Ms. Walker when I finally became Mr. Clinton’s secretary.”
“No, no. You’re on your own here. Don’t drag me into this.”
Linda felt helpless. After getting off work, she left with Isabella.
The two of them went to a pretty fancy restaurant. Isabella ordered two dishes and smiled. “Order whatever you like, Linda. Don’t worry about the price. It’s on me.”
Linda ordered the two cheapest dishes on the menu and passed the menu back to the waiter. “Ms. Walker, do you happen to need my help with something since you’re treating me to dinner?”
“Oh, no. I just think you’re interesting, that’s all—unlike your previous namesake, who was stubborn and acted high and mighty. I thought it would be interesting to be friends with you.”
Linda shuddered secretly at that. Indeed, scandals as such are the most sought after.
“You’re being too courteous, Ms. Walker. I’m not interesting at all. I only became Mr. Clinton’s secretary because I’m honest and good at zipping my mouth, so if you’d like to know anything from me, I’m sorry to say that I can’t help you. I don’t want to lose this job.”
Isabella couldn’t hold back her laughter. “What were you thinking, Linda? I only wish to have a meal with you. I won’t ask you to do anything that will harm Oscar. Well, I only wish you’d help me send the food I prepare to Oscar’s office. I’m worried that he might forget to eat when he’s busy. Of course, I’ll give you something for helping.”
Isabella bent over and took out an exquisite-looking bag before holding it out to Linda. “I saw this branded bag yesterday. I thought it suits your skin tone perfectly. Do you like it?”
Linda was shocked. She quickly pushed the bag back to Isabella. “Ms. Walker, it’s my job to remind Mr. Clinton to eat, so you don’t have to be so polite about it. This gift is too expensive. I can’t accept it. If you wish to give him something to eat, I’ll help you bring them in since it’s no big deal. You don’t have to be so courteous.”
Isabella cracked a smile as she said, “Linda, are you looking down on this bag?”
“No. I believe it’s worth a few months of my salary. The bag is too expensive, really. I can’t accept it, so please take it back. I’m just a normal employee in the company, so you don’t have to give me such an expensive gift.”
Isabella’s expression turned grim.
Linda forced a smile. “Ms. Walker, I hope you’re not angry about it.”
