High School Again: The President's Secret Lady Boss

Things are going according to Winter's plan.

She predicted how Bianca would want to mess with her while she's in the headquarters. First on the list, there's the tremendous amount of workload that's been enslaving her for the past few days. She really didn't find this as troublesome as any other novice would since she already went through it all. Dealing with paperwork is a piece of cake for her. The same goes with learning commerce as a whole. 

Apart from the pile of tasks, there's also the pressure of having to be on good terms with everyone in the workplace and keeping up a good image. Apparently, reputation is of great significance to the Middleton family. So, before she can build good relationships with those of higher status, she has to practice it first with those who are under her.           

Cyrus believes that Winter has failed in this one, though. Bianca already ruined it. 

She made her people do all the work again. She had them spread rumors about her. 

'I didn't lie when I said I was being nice to the employees. To begin with, there's no reason for me to be mean to them. But I guess this is just how far it'll go…' she contemplated, keeping her posture steady and her gaze unwavering despite the building tension in the room. 

'Anyway, it's good that they took the bait I laid. Playing dumb is gonna be worth it.'

From the side, Bianca is staring at her in silent scorn and derision. From the front, Cyrus is regarding her with the same criticizing look she's seen on everyone earlier. 

"Come to think of it, you're wearing more jewelry than usual. Your clothes seem costlier than the last one I recall, and the brands of your bags keep changing every day…" Cyrus pointed out before sighing exasperatedly. 

"I'm not trying to say that you're not allowed to spend money on expensive things, but I'm concerned that you're going to develop such an obsessive habit. Do learn how to keep it down from now on."

"Why not cut off her allowance by half, Uncle? That way, she can learn how to control herself early on…" Bianca cut in, joining their conversation.

"This is for her own good. So, I'm sure she'll understand."   

"I thought you called me here to hear me out, Uncle…?" Winter muttered, already getting aggravated.

"Why are you deciding on my punishment without letting me explain first?"

"Oh, don't be so sensitive, Winter. You're misunderstanding it. Uncle didn't say anything about punishing you. Just consider it as part of your training."

"Getting my allowance cut off is part of the training? How so? Is that gonna help me manage the company?"

"Skills aren't enough in this kind of profession. You've got to learn discipline, too."

"Why do I need to be disciplined if I didn't even do anything wrong?"

"So, you're telling us that our employees are lying? All of them? They're saying that you're the one who said it yourself. From what I've heard, you bragged about having so much money that you couldn't help but spend them recklessly on luxuries."

Winter has a lot to say about this.

She knows she has.

In the first place, the Middleton family doesn't have to worry about being broke someday. Even if she buys a whole mall, there'll be no significant decrease in their funds. They're wealthy enough to buy anything they want. Yet they're still limiting her purchase and consumption for something so unreasonable.

They really think she's dumb. They're treating her like she's dumb.

"You're really going to believe the rumors, huh? Are the Middleton's that gullible?" Winter remarked with an innocent-looking enlightened look.

"Say what?" Bianca hissed, finding that comment rude. 

"I've got proof, you know. But it seems like you're already fine with those rumors. Go ahead, then. Discipline me all you want. I'll just tell the truth to those who'll willingly listen. But once I do that, I'm afraid that everyone will think you're so gullible that you'll believe in other people more than your own family member."

"What proof do you have?" Cyrus inquired demandingly.     

Like what she thought, he's not going to let this turn into a bigger issue that draws more attention. If she has proof, she can defend herself. Compared to rumors, concrete evidence will appeal more. If people come to believe that she's saying the truth all along, it'll appear like they've wronged her by lessening her allowance. 

"I'm handling the household's accounting records, am I not? You can take a look in it and see how much money I'm spending," she said before pulling out a folder from her bag.     

As Winter did that, Bianca snorted.

She already expected that she'd use the ledger as evidence. Still, there stood the possibility that she could've manipulated the records. That's not a strong proof at all. 

"Oh, just so you know, I've had Sir Victor sign it for validation…" Winter then added all of the sudden, taking Bianca aback. 

"Surely, you don't doubt the credibility of a lawyer, do you?" 

"Of course, I don't. Sir Victor has been working for us for a long time now…" Cyrus said with a nod.

"So, you've been asking him to sign the records all this time?"

"He's double-checking it, too. August taught me how to do it as well. He guides me from time to time. That being said, I've got those two as extra pieces of evidence."

"I see. So, you've got them to help you out. I feel bad for neglecting your training in household management. I thought for sure that Grace was more than enough."

"It's alright. Aunt Grace does teach me, too."

While that may be true, Grace doesn't really do it properly. 

She lets Winter study on her own most of the time. Because she never made a mistake that required some punishment, she eventually got tired of teaching her and decided to let her mess up by herself. In the end, she just asked Victor to check her works and had August guide her sometimes.

"Here it is, Uncle…" Winter muttered as she handed over the folder to Cyrus. 

"Have a look." 

She takes a glance at Bianca while he reads it. 

Her composure cracked, making her expression easier to read. She appears kind of troubled and unsettled. It shows more when she locks eye contact with her. They stare at each other without saying anything – a wordless battle that neither of whom didn't want to back out from. 

"With Sir Victor's signature on it, I can't possibly say that the records aren't authentic…" Cyrus eventually declared, breaking the silence.

"Winter hasn't been spending that much. Her allowance is far from reduced by half. There's actually nothing to be concerned about."

"But where did she get all those jewelry? The clothes and the bags, too?" Bianca cut in once more, not buying any of it.

"They're presents for me during my welcoming party. Even after that, some of our business partners and close acquaintances keep sending me gifts…" Winter explained nonchalantly. 

"I did buy a bit more, but that's not too much. I barely even touched my allowance."

Bianca can't argue no more. Cyrus is already giving her a warning look.

'That's right. You've got to back down. That's unless you want to go against a lawyer and insist on believing those rumors. You thought you could just reason out that I only manipulated the records and conducted some sort of embezzlement here, huh…?' Winter mused silently, pleased with Bianca's look of resignation. 

'Well, to begin with, you've got no chance of winning. It's true that I told some of your people that I'd been spending lots of money. But that didn't mean I was telling the truth.'

The thing is, Winter had told false stories to different departments before Bianca could come up with a rumor of her own to ruin her reputation.

For the operations management, she lied about getting plastic surgery in the past. For the marketing department, she lied about having lots of ex-boyfriends. For the human resources management, she lied about partying and drinking every night. Then, lastly, for the accounting and finance department, she lied about spending much too much money on luxury goods.

To test their loyalty and honesty, Winter asked every department to keep what she told them a secret. They all agreed without really knowing that those stories were false. Therefore, if any of those lies spread, she'd know which department betrayed her. 

'So, it's the accounting and finance department,' Winter realized.

Most of Bianca's supporters must be from there. 

Before pulling out the root of evil, she had to go all through this trouble. Still, as she thought, it's worth it. If another lie comes out, she has strong proofs to counter it, though she doubts that they'll still dare to spread more rumors once she finished dealing with the accounting and finance department.

"I'm sorry for accusing you without seeing the proof first, Winter…" Cyrus apologized, suddenly saving face. 

"I'll try to make it up to you. Just don't let anyone know about what we talked about. It'll be bothersome to make a big deal out of such a silly misunderstanding."

Of course, Winter won't let things end like this.