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Although Emilia didn't know the 'dynamics' of the employees at Samantha's office, she could more or less feel that the receptionist girl was terrified of her older sister.
She patted the receptionist's hand that was still holding onto her own, causing the girl to freeze in shock. "No need to be so nervous. Since my sister is here already, just head back to work."
The receptionist still felt that she was doomed, but her boss hadn't exploded immediately, and Emilia did give her a temporary way out, so she could only stiffly stand up and move back to her desk, trying her best to hide the shivering of her legs.
Emilia didn't pay her any more attention, and instead pulled the shy heroine in front of her sister. "Sam, meet Crystal, the most brilliant, most intelligent, and kindest girl in our school! Crystal, you can call her big sister. You don't mind, right, Sam?"
Crystal's entire face went red at Emilia's over-the-top introduction, even though in her heart she was also extremely flattered that her crush would think of her like that.
Samantha smiled, though Crystal felt like there was something weird about her expression. "Of course not. Nice to meet you, Crystal. I hope you always remain Emilia's good friend."
The blonde ducked her head, feeling a little embarrassed. "U-Un, nice to meet you too, b-big sister."
Emilia had already informed Samantha about the reason for her impromptu arrival, and the three of them entered the lift to head back to Samantha's office for a more private place to talk.
Samantha gave the two younger girls a sideways glance, staring pointedly at their still entwined hands, making the blonde girl flush in embarrassment as she hurriedly broke their hold in a panic.
Emilia gave her a curious look, but the heroine turned her head away, not daring to look at her in the eyes.
'Cute…'
Cynthia scoffed. "More like childish, or immature."
Emilia internally rolled her eyes. 'Not any more than you, right? And she's actually quite young, while you are…'
"I dare you to finish that sentence."
Emilia clicked her tongue, deciding to ignore her partner.
Anyway, even if she was sure that a cannon was empty, she wasn't stupid enough to put her head in there.
Once they finally reached Samantha's office, the older girl took the 'boss chair' while motioning the two girls to sit across the table.
Crystal had thought that Emilia's sister would have an office that covered an entire floor, with full-length glass windows on all sides, and perhaps even be full of antiques that each would cost more than her entire house.
However, the actual place looked quite normal, though definitely a very 'high-end' and luxurious office, it contained no antiques, and was of a much more reasonable size.
While the heroine was still looking around curiously, Emilia was focused almost entirely on Samantha. She thought her 'sister' looked awfully serious today when compared to her usual self, and even seemed to be in a bad mood. Emilia couldn't help but be a little concerned. "Is something the matter, Sam?"
Samantha squirmed, feeling a little uncomfortable under Emilia's inquisitive gaze. Should she really mention such things in front of a stranger? But she couldn't lie to her little sister, could she?
Helpless, she could only shrug and admit it. "I-I don't feel so good today. A lot of bad news came in, um, I've been trying my best to deal with it, but it's a little overwhelming."
Emilia frowned. "What bad news?"
Her older sister briefly flicked her eyes towards the confused-looking younger blonde girl next to Emilia before clearing her throat. Even if Emilia trusted Crystal, Samantha didn't feel that it was okay to discuss matters involving Black Tiger Corporation so loosely. But the other matters should be fine. "Mom wanted to withdraw Noelle from under me and replace her with some schmuck named Jeoffery Porter. And there's also a rather big deal I'm taking care of that worries me, but I can discuss that in detail with you later."
Emilia blinked. "Jeoffery Porter, huh… why does it sound familiar?"
Samantha slammed her fist on the desk. "You know him?!"
Her little sister quickly shook her head, making the older girl calm down.
Although Crystal felt embarrassed, she couldn't help but speak up. "U-Um, I think it might be because he has the same last name as the guy Michelle told us about earlier, Emilia."
At first, they thought it was just a coincidence, but at that moment Noelle finally walked in with a few files they had been waiting for, and they realized it was no coincidence at all.
Samantha held her head in her hands, wondering just what the hell was going on. "I-I don't understand, how could a bastard like this get in here, and even mom recommended him to me?!"
Emilia shook her head. "You can't blame her, before knowing the full truth of the matter. I'll talk to her and we can discuss it. Anyway, don't worry Sam, I'll never let this Porter guy replace Noelle."
Noelle didn't know whether she was glad to hear it or disappointed that she wouldn't be 'free' soon, and maybe her expression gave away some of her thoughts, because she soon found both Emilia and Samantha glaring at her.
"I just remember I was in the middle of making coffee, please excuse me."
Noelle was quite lucky that both Emilia and Samantha had their hands full at the moment, or she would never have been able to escape so easily without some form of 'punishment'.
Of course, unlike Samantha, Emilia was a girl who could hold her grudges for a long time, and decided to add one more point to her task list for when she finally got around to Noelle's 'dinner date'. But that was for later.
Samantha also knew what the two of them were there for, and nodded. "So what's your plan?"
Emilia smiled. "Actually, Crystal was the one who helped me come up with this, so I think it's best if she's the one who explains it!"
And so the task of explaining how they planned to 'frame' George and his backer using Michelle's fake death fell on the poor, innocent heroine. Crystal didn't know why, but she almost felt like she was the one being framed.
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~ To be continued ~
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DustyDream:
Bonus chapter for 1000 powerstones! :>
Thank you for all your support!
