Chapter 5
Mariana knew if the Mueller Group’s deals crashed tonight, she would be the one to blame.
Recently, Sandra’s dad, Waylon Mueller, had joined forces with the board to pressure Mariana’s mom, Natasha Mueller, to step down as chairwoman. It seemed the photos were part of Sandra and Waylon’s scheme.
If they succeeded, Mariana would feel terrible for Natasha, who was still working hard overseas for the Mueller Group.
Just then, Karlee rushed into the banquet hall, panting as she reached Mariana’s side. “Marie, I’ve sent people to take control of their backstage. Once my people arrive, they’ll cut off the feed.”
“Don’t bother.” Mariana looked up, her clear eyes fixed on the screen, showing no sign of panic.
Karlee looked worried. “Are you sure?“\
Mariana nodded. She calmly opened her phone, quickly logged into her private email, and pulled up some data. She sent it to Karlee. “Tell your people to put this on the screen and loop it with the previous photos.”
Seeing Mariana’s confidence again, Karlee felt relieved. She pushed through the crowd and left with the data from Mariana.
“Mariana,” Sandra called out.
Her eyes were cold and calculating. She wasn’t about to let Mariana off
easy. She sneered, “You’re just doing this for yourself. You don’t give a damn about the Mueller Group. My dad said the deal the senior
directors are discussing today is crucial for us.”
“Just because of a few photos, do you think tonight’s deal is gonna fall apart?” Leaning on her crutch, Mariana adjusted her stance and said with confidence, “How about we make a bet? What if I can seal the deal?”
Sandra thought she was hearing a huge joke and couldn’t help but want to laugh, “Mariana, it’s not too late for you to take that back.”
“Cut the crap. Do you dare to bet?” Mariana wouldn’t back down an inch.
“Fine.” Sandra was actually afraid that Mariana would change her mind. She quickly blurted out a vicious bet. “If you lose, you have to go on stage and do a pole dance in front of everyone.”
“No problem,” Mariana readily agreed. “But if I do it, you have to go on stage and sing a song.”
Sandra’s eyes flickered with panic for a second.
The people around were gossiping. Mariana and Sandra were indeed very different in personality.
Sandra looked innocent, but she was actually really mean. Making Mariana, a cripple, dance on stage was clearly meant to embarrass her. But no one expected Mariana to be so kind. For Sandra, singing
seemed like a piece of cake.
Only Sandra knew she was seriously tone–deaf. All her songs had been fixed by sound engineers. Singing in public would ruin her future.
But with everyone around pushing her, Sandra had no choice. She
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glanced at the potential business partners, who looked livid and weren’t listening to the Mueller Group’s senior directors. She felt more
confident.
She thought, “Mariana is just talking big. What do I have to be afraid of?”
“Okay, it’s a deal!” Sandra agreed.
Mariana lowered her eyes, hiding a flash of cold determination.
After a while, someone exclaimed in surprise, “Hey! Look! What’s that?”
The big screen switched from photos to documents. As they zoomed in, people saw they were backup copies of major business contracts from Ralph’s company. These contracts were shown alongside photos of Mariana with big shots. Soon, someone in the crowd got it.
“These contracts almost match the people in the photos. Look. Ms. Mueller’s name is on all the contracts. She personally negotiated these deals with several big shots.
Suddenly, the public opinion at the scene took a turn.
“So, Ms. Mueller really has great business skills! Mr. McKinney’s company got those famous big deals all thanks to her negotiations!”
“I never thought Ms. Mueller was both beautiful and capable! Mr. McKinney is lucky to marry her!”
The guests started to see Mariana in a new light. The screen showed her business skills, and she handled the gossip gracefully. She really did come from a prestigious family.
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