"Are you sure?" June wrinkled her forehead at Leah.
"Mhm. I am also participating. The competition is going to be quite exciting. I hope the best one wins!"
"..."
June did not need the best one to win.
She needed the most useful one to win.
It was a bright and sunny day, but a storm came rolling into the general manager's office.
"Chris Henderson, I can't believe you. Are you not going to do anything?" June's sharp voice was heard in the room.
Chris Henderson lowered his newspaper slowly and stared at his wife, who had both hands pressing at her hips. She looked angry, but at the same time oddly refreshing and beautiful.
"My dear, why didn't you tell me that you planned to come over?" Chris beamed. He was hoping that his winning smile was enough to coax his displeased wife.
Alas, June had never been the type of woman who let herself be swayed by a mere smile or a string of sweet words.
Fuming from anger, she glared at Chris instead, "What is it, am I not allowed to drop by anymore? Are you keeping a little mistress around?"
"No!" Chris widened his eyes in alarm. "Darling..."
Chris stepped out from behind his desk and went to hug his bad-tempered wife. "I am just concerned for your and our child's well-being."
"If you really are, then you should do something against your uncle."
Chris took a deep breath.
"What is it, June? What else did he do?"
It was rather amazing that June sometimes knew more about what was going on in Primavera than him. Without stepping a foot into the building.
"Didn't you know that he is using that perfume competition to select a new R&D Manager?"
"Oh, so what. Let him do that. It is not that important."
June grabbed Chris by his tie and dragged him close.
"Are you insane?" she hissed at her husband. "Have you forgotten that he stole the CEO position from you? You need to do something to shine in front of your grandfather! Right now, you are not shining at all!"
Chris gulped.
"It's not like Damian is arranging for one of his allies to be the R&D Manager. I don't see the harm at all."
June sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her lips quivered slightly as she said a little prayer in her heart to beg for a huge load of patience.
"My beloved Chris," she spoke with a honey-loaded voice once she opened her eyes again. "What if Damian is using this competition as an excuse to put his trusted person in the position?"
Chris thought about it for a while, but then he shook his head.
"Impossible," he claimed. "Damian knows no one in the company, especially not anyone in the R&D Department."
"Exactly," June's smile morphed into a scary one. "Isn't this the perfect opportunity to smuggle his trusted person from outside?"
Finally, it dawned on Chris.
"Dear, this is terrible news!" he shouted. "We definitely need to do something!"
June rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue.
"I have an idea," she winked at her husband. "By chance, I met with Leah Mitchell today."
"Leah who?"
Never mind that Chris also did not get to hear Leah's name during the dinner event, June was quick to judge him.
"How can you be so forgetful? Do you remember that beautiful woman in silver dress who you ogled the entire night back then?"
"Which one? Which night?"
"Duh, your grandfather's dinner? The night you embarrassed yourself and lost the CEO position?"
Chris' face darkened at the reminder.
"What about it?"
"Well, Leah Mitchell was the amateur perfume creator who tried to impress us with her creation. Do you remember her now?"
Chris rubbed his forehead to shoo away the bad memories of the night and focus on the beauty that June mentioned.
"Oh, yes. And?"
"Well, weren't we talking about possible cooperation with her? She is also joining the competition, you know. Why don't we support her in the competition and let her take the R&D Manager position? That fool Damian will think that she is a neutral person, but she is not."
June smoothened Chris' suit and smugly announced, "She will be our inside person in R&D. I will use her as one of the pawns to pave our path to glory."
Chris put both hands at June's waist and swayed her from side to side.
"My wife is as brilliant as always," he praised. "But don't we already have an insider person in R&D?"
June raised an eyebrow at her husband.
"Who?"
"Janine Mayer."