My Bully Mocked Me in Front of the CEO So I Destroyed Her in Seven Languages Chapter 04

My Bully Mocked Me in Front of the CEO So I Destroyed Her in Seven Languages Chapter 04

The room was silent for five seconds.

Caleb’s legal counsel gave a slight shake of the head.

The message was clear: this deal was dead.

Wendy’s hands were shaking.

“Mr. Sterling, I am so sorry-”

Caleb had already closed his folder.

“If Global Trade Solutions is this level of quality, I’ll be looking for another partner.”

He started to stand up.

My hands hovered over the keyboard.

Two voices were fighting in my head.

One said: “None of your business. You’re just here to serve coffee.”

The other said: “This is the company’s biggest deal of the year. If it fails, there will be layoffs, and low-level translators

like you will be the first to go.”

Caleb was already buttoning his blazer.

Wendy looked like she was about to burst into tears.

I spoke up.

In German.

“Mr. Sterling, please give us five more minutes.”

Everyone in the room snapped their heads toward me.

Wendy’s eyes went wide.

Caleb stopped moving.

He looked at me.

My Puller!

“And you are?”

“Hazel Levis. Translation department at Global Trade Solutions. Entry-level.”

“Entry-level?”

“Yes. Grunt work. Serving coffee and such.”

He didn’t smile.

But he sat back down.

“Five minutes.”

I closed my laptop and spoke directly. “Regarding the 2024 EU-Middle East tariff revision you mentioned-clause three expands the Rules of Origin from a six-digit HS code to an eight-digit one, and clause seven raises the environmental surtax from 2.3 percent to 3.1 percent. Combined, these actually shrink our margin by approximately twelve percent,

not fifteen.”

Caleb’s eyebrow twitched.

“Twelve percent? Walk me through your math.”

“Because our company has a bonded warehouse in the UAE that qualifies for Free Trade Zone exemptions. That offsets about three percent of the cost increase from the HS code expansion. The net impact is twelve percent.”

Silence for three seconds.

Caleb’s legal counsel put his head down to check the files, likely verifying my numbers.

“Where did you learn your German?”

“I lived in Berlin for a while.”

“Your honorifics are perfect.”

“Thank you.”

“And you said you’re entry-level?”

“Yes.”

Caleb glanced at Wendy, then looked back at me.

“Your five minutes are up. But I’ll give you ten more. On one condition: from here on out, ‘you’ lead the negotiation.”

Wendy whipped her head around to stare at me.

She looked even more miserable than when Caleb was tearing her apart.

“She can’t-”

“I said, she leads.”

Caleb’s tone left absolutely no room for debate.

“Or you can both leave right now.”

Wendy bit her lip.

I looked at her.

“Ms. Miller, should I?”

She said nothing.

I turned back to face Caleb.

“Then let’s start again from the first section of the proposal.”

For the next forty minutes, I ran the entire negotiation in German.

Tariff structures, supply chain nodes, logistics, risk-sharing-I nailed every single point.

It wasn’t because I’d prepped for this.

It was because I’d memorized every damn word of that fifty-page background file I’d put together for Wendy.

Growing up in a diplomat’s house, the basics of global trade were basically in my blood.

Caleb threw three curveballs at me.

The first was about cultural nuances in the Middle East. I answered with a formal Arabic business proverb.

His eyebrow twitched again.

“You speak Arabic, too?”

“A little.”

The second was a price comparison for Japanese suppliers. I rattled off the original quote reference numbers from memory.

Wendy sat there for forty minutes and didn’t utter a single word.

When we wrapped up, Caleb stood up.

“The framework works. I’ll have my legal team hash out the details with your people.”

He reached out his hand.

Not to Wendy.

But to me.

I took it.

His grip was dry and firm. Perfect.

“Hazel Levis, right?”

“Yes.”

“You’re wasted in an entry-level spot.”

I gave him a thin smile and let it slide.

Once we hit the parking garage, Wendy stopped dead in her tracks.

“You lied to everyone.”

I turned around.

“You said you only knew French.”

“I said I ‘primarily’ work in French.”

“And what happened in there just now looked like ‘primarily French’ to you? Your German puts mine to shame! And

where the hell did the Arabic come from? It’s not even on your resume!”

“Ms. Miller, the deal is safe. Isn’t that what matters?”

“You did this on purpose! You played dumb just so you could wait for a moment like this to show off!”

I didn’t say a word.

“You think impressing Caleb is going to change anything? Back at the office, you’re still just a nobody on a grunt salary!”

She clutched her bag and marched away.

Her four-inch heels hammered out a sharp, angry rhythm on the concrete.

I stood there, suddenly feeling bone-tired.