My Bully Mocked Me in Front of the CEO So I Destroyed Her in Seven Languages Chapter 06

My Bully Mocked Me in Front of the CEO So I Destroyed Her in Seven Languages Chapter 06

The next afternoon, I showed up at East Ridge.

Besides Caleb and his crew, there were three clients in the conference room from some construction giant based in the

UAE.

The lead guy was in his fifties, decked out in a white thobe with a stone-cold expression.

His translator sat right next to him-a young Arab woman.

Caleb caught my eye and gave me a quick nod.

“You made it.”

“Yeah.”

“I might need you to run simultaneous translation between Arabic and English today.”

“Fine.”

If Wendy were here, she’d probably bark, “Where the hell did you learn Arabic?”

The answer was eighteen months in Cairo and six months spent rooming with an Egyptian diplomat’s daughter.

The meeting kicked off.

The UAE rep opened in Arabic, and his girl flipped it to English.

Caleb responded in English, and I started taking notes.

Standard procedure.

Until fifteen minutes in, things got interesting.

The UAE rep suddenly muttered something to his translator in Arabic-not a formal statement, just a low-voice aside.

He figured nobody else in the room spoke the language.

I caught every word.

He told her, “Their price is too damn high. We’re going to squeeze them for twenty percent. If they don’t cave, we walk and find someone else.”

The translator stayed silent. Technically, that wasn’t for our ears anyway.

But I’d heard him.

I kept my head down, fingers flying over the keys like I was just taking notes.

Then, I slightly angled my laptop so Caleb could see the screen.

I’d typed out a single line: “They’re planning to squeeze you for 20%. If you don’t cave, they’re ready to jump ship.”

Caleb’s eyes flickered over to the screen for a split second.

His face didn’t change a bit.

In the next round, he completely pivoted his strategy. He tossed out a tiered pricing plan that turned their 20% demand into performance-based milestones, all while locking them into a three-year exclusivity deal.

The UAE rep hesitated for a second but eventually signed off.

On paper, the numbers looked lower than his target, but the actual bottom line was higher than the original plan.

Once the meeting wrapped, the UAE delegation cleared out.

It was just Caleb, his assistant, and me in the room.

Caleb looked at me.

“You understand Arabic.”

It wasn’t a question.

“A little.”

“You’re more than ‘a little’ fluent. You heard exactly what he whispered to his girl and tipped me off.”

“I just figured the intel might come in handy.”

“Without that tip, I would’ve walked away eight million dollars short today.”

He stood up.

“Hazel, how many languages are you actually packing?”

I hesitated for a beat.

“Spanish, German, French, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Arabic-and English.”

His assistant’s eyes practically bugged out behind his glasses.

Caleb stayed perfectly cool.

“Eight.”

“Yeah.”

“And you’re making eighty grand a year at GTS.”

“Yeah.”

“Does that sound reasonable to you?”

“It was my choice.”

He watched me for five long seconds.

“Any interest in coming to work for East Ridge?”

I didn’t answer.

“I can start you at five hundred thousand. If you’re willing to head up International Biz, the sky’s the limit.”

My phone buzzed. Chloe.

I didn’t pick up.

“Mr. Sterling, I appreciate the offer. But I’m not looking to jump ship right now.”

“Right now?”

“For now.”

He pulled a business card from his pocket and handed it over.

“You can change your mind anytime.”

I took the card, gave him a small nod, and walked out.

In the elevator, I finally looked at it.

Solid black background, just one line: Caleb Sterling, followed by a cell number.

It didn’t even have “CEO” printed on it.

That’s the kind of card you only give to people who already know exactly who you are.

It was 7 PM by the time I got back to the office.

I figured everyone would be gone.

But the lights were still on.

Wendy was sitting at my desk.

My computer was on.