At nine a.m., Emily was in a meeting at the Britt Group.
Many of their chain supermarkets closed down, and the remaining supermarkets also went bankrupt in a series of incidents. Maury and Eliot had tried to transform while they were there. Matthew, however, was a conservative. He did not want to make investments or innovations; he only believed in making the most of what he had.
The Britt Group had gone through a series of incidents lately, including supermarket bankruptcies and Beverly's tax evasion scandal. The police searched the company. The Britt Group was acquired. Maury died, and then Eliot was in a coma.
No one had expected to see Emily, the second daughter of the Britt family who they used to think of as a retard, in the center seat and hold a conference for them.
She did know more than they think. Last time, she calmly pointed out a numerical error after listening to the report from the marketing department. "Please concentrate on the meeting. I hope this won't happen again." She said in a clear voice as she scanned everyone in the room.
Her tone was much stricter than Maury's. That was if there was anything comparable between the two. Her father and brother both had a good temper. No one had ever heard such a cold tone from either of them.
Positioning was the first step of enterprise transformation. After Emily had shifted the company's positioning to advertising, their first big order came from Scavo Corp. That encouraged the whole Britt Group.
The Personnel Department was preparing to recruit new advertising staff, designers, and strategy managers, and so on. There had been some initial chaos, but the company had now stabilized. Although no one said anything, they secretly admired Emily.
On her first day at the meeting, people questioned and humiliated her. Many scoffed at the sight of her holding the acquisition contract and asked what she was doing there. However, Emily stood there with her head held high and announced.
"I'll take over the company."
Everyone thought she was crazy. They laughed at her. Someone sneered, "The Britt family is not going to make it this time. The rumor about bankruptcy had spread a long time ago. We were hoping that a new boss might improve things a bit, and now we've got a retard. Do you want to declare bankruptcy tomorrow?"
"Yeah, our former boss was okay. He seemed to have managed companies before. Look at the retard here. Did she really think she is the second daughter of the Britt family? The Britt Group had already collapsed. It does not even belong to the Britt family anymore. How stupid..."
"She doesn't look stupid, though. She can talk normally and all." Some people believed otherwise, "See what is she holding? It looks like the acquisition contract..."
Emily gave the acquisition contract to Harold and he read it out loud. She was not tall. Now she looked shorter sitting down. A group of people studied her rudely and even started discussing out loud whether or not she was stupid.
Only after Harold finished reading did Emily react. She stood up, pointed at three people in the crowd, and said to the head of the Finance Department, "Pay their salaries, and we will wave them goodbye."
She then turned to the rest, "My name is Emily Britt. I will be responsible for the Britt Group from now on. Please inform the shareholders to attend the meeting in thirty minutes. Have a good day."
She spoke calmly without the slightest bit of nervousness or discomfort, nor did she have the shyness and timidness typically seen in girls. She scanned the room coolly, and then turned to the three employees who were still there, "You heard me."
Those who stayed were her father's subordinates. They did not leave when the Britt Group was sold. Instead, they continued to work for the Heytons. Emily did not have a good impression of them in the first place. She had no hesitation in sacking them. Since the company was still in the transitional period, she could not sack them all in one go. She could only do it step by step.
Emily presented in the shareholder's meeting with 42% of the company's shares, which made her the biggest shareholder whether they like it or not. The 42% of shares consisted of her initial 20%, the 20% Elsie transferred to her this morning in a whirl, and the 2% from Donna. The right to make final decisions on matters concerning the Britt Group would be returned to her in a week.
On her first day, she shifted the company's positioning to advertising. On the next day, three new advertisement designers and two planners were recruited. On the third day, they received a big order from the Scavos. By the meeting on the fourth day, she had convinced everyone of her ability.
Although Emily looked young, she was very strict with her staff. No jokes or a slip of the tongue was acceptable in meetings. She believed a rigorous employee would draft things in mind before speaking.
Many were shocked when they first heard the news. They thought Emily was the one with the lowest education level in the conference room. They thought Emily might not have graduated from primary school, but how could she know this much?
So how could she know that much? In fact, all she had in mind was the next step for the company on the day the Britt Group was acquired and during Maury's funeral.
The Britt Group was her father's life. She had to take it back. She did not expect it to be so simple. She was prepared to fight the Heytons till her last breath. It seemed unnecessary now.
Emily could not proceed with her initial plan with Donna staying with the Heytons and being together with Jackson.
She spent the whole night contemplating how she would destroy the Heyton family, but Donna's sickly look kept popping up before her eyes. The information given by Harold told Emily how Donna was destroyed during her best years. Donna had been living in hell for half of her life until she met Jackson Heyton, her redemption.
Emily knelt in front of Maury all night. She didn't ask or say anything. She knew her father must have understood what she had in mind.
She did not forget about the hatred. She was waiting for an opportunity.
At times, she noticed herself changing into a different person. She had become more and more unfamiliar with herself. She was occasionally frightened of the reflection of her cold expression in the mirror.
She remembered what she had said to Vincent before she went to the hospital.
"Kiss me, will you?" Standing by the car, she murmured with her head down, "Eliot might feel scared when he sees my face."
However, she was not lucky enough. Eliot was not awake then.
Every day, she noticed Susan and the butler wiping their tears in secret after seeing the look on her face. Emily did not know why they cried, but she never bothered to ask.
She was always too exhausted to say anything after work.