THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS-Chapter 351: A Wake Up Call

Lauren saw this and sneered. She wondered why people will never learn. This was the same person they were busy sticking up their nose in a matter that did not concern them for, but now, she has abandoned them.

Well, she wasn’t through with them, so before they could recover from the bashing, Lauren released another bombshell.

"I might be a Rockie as you said, but for my team to scale through to the second stage in a competition of this nature which far more outweighs the previous two you partook in with a grand price of only half a million dollars, who do you think has achieved most between the three of us?"

"That’s true. I’m hearing about Empress Brew for the first time, yet they still made it to the second stage."

"How could they even compare themselves to such a promising team?"

"I think they should be more self-aware and know how to talk to their superior in the future. After all, Lauren and her team had qualified for the second stage her very first time in the competition, whereas some people never had.

"Just because you won today doesn’t mean you should act superior. At least Ms Peggy was polite enough to come over to congratulate you. The competition has just started," a leader from another team that did not qualify but also in support of Peggy, rebuked in a sharp tone.

Facing the person, Lauren said, "Being polite doesn’t mean faking kindness. If Ms. Carter was truly sincere, she wouldn’t need her cheerleaders to defend her."

"And just so you know," Lauren continued, "I’m confident, not superior. If you mistake confidence for arrogance, maybe that’s why you didn’t make it through this round."

The area fell silent. Lauren’s words left everyone speechless and unable to refute.

Peggy’s face tightened with barely concealed fury, but she managed to maintain her composure as she casually said to her supporters,

"Let’s forget it and move on. We are all here as coffee lovers and don’t need to say hurtful things to each other. Even if it is a competition, let’s still maintain the spirit of sportsmanship and work together and not read unnecessary meanings into our speeches."

To others, it appeared she was trying to make peace, but Lauren knew Peggy was trying to maintain her image while making others see her as the unreasonable one.

Since it was like that, there was no use wasting more time with fools. She had already said what was on her mind. It’s left for them to see Peggy for who she truly is.

Thus, she just hissed and walked away with Jamie. The others soon followed suit and before long it was just Peggy and her blind followers left at the spot.

As soon as she met with her other teammates, the welcome she received completely wiped off the anger she earlier felt.

After celebrating with them briefly, they headed back to the shop in their van.

Before leaving for home, Lauren gave one final instruction.

"We should all have a good rest so that we can be refreshed for a great start tomorrow. The real battle is just beginning, and we must be prepared to give it everything we have."

"Yes, boss," they all echoed and bade her goodbye. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

An hour later, she got a call from George, who started apologizing the moment she picked up the call. "Hello, Ren. I’m sorry I didn’t call since morning. I was tied up with work. How was day one?"

"It was fine, and no need to apologize, you wouldn’t have gotten through to me anyway as my phone was mostly off the entire day."

Part of the rules was for them not to have any contact with their phones during the quiz, so she had put it off and handed it over to her assistant.

"And here I was berating myself for not being a sweetheart," George joked.

"Whose sweetheart do you want to be because I already have one," Lauren retorted.

"Can’t you be a little kinder? Why do you always hit me below the belt?" George whined.

"It’s a wake-up call, duh. Besides, I need to remind you as your mom’s confidant."

"Don’t even go there, Ren. Other girls are choosing someone close to their age as confidants, why go for an old woman? What do you ever have in common to talk about?"

"You, of course," Lauren laughed. "And we both think it’s high time you settled down with a nice homely obedient and sweet girl."

"Yuck! That sucks. Why do I feel like you both want me to retire to the countryside?"

"You’re still so smart. At least that will keep the eyes of those vultures from you for good."

Hearing this, George was reminded of one particular vulture that had approached him some weeks back.

"Hope you didn’t find any challenges with the competition today?" he suddenly diverted from the topic, causing Lauren to raise her brow.

How did George know she had encountered any challenge at the venue or was it just a coincidence that he asked?

"Nothing we couldn’t handle," she finally said nonchalantly.

From Lauren’s tone, George could tell that Lauren didn’t want to talk about it.

She went on to tell him how about twenty teams were eliminated and how they scaled through to the second stage of the competition. In all, she was careful not to mention the confrontation with Peggy. She was as sure she could handle her perfectly well and put her in her place.

They talked about the events slated for tomorrow.

"You should try and get some rest, Ren. Tomorrow is going to be quite busy for you," George advised when he saw how late it was.

"Alright, George. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Ren."

After ending the call with Lauren, George dialed a number.

"Check into the events of the ongoing competition at the Expo Center and report to me what happened today."

"Yes, boss," the person on the other line said and in a few minutes, called back and reported everything to George.

After hearing what happened, George’s expression turned dark.

’How dare that bitch make things difficult for his Ren? Is she tired of living?

"Get someone to keep an eye on the rest of the event and report everything going on to me. Also, get someone to be on the standby to give Ms Holmes whatever help she might need."

"Yes, boss. Do you need us to take care of Ms Carter? From what I heard, she is planning something and her target is Ms Holmes."

"No, don’t do anything to her yet. At the right time, we’ll deal with her."

"Alright Boss. The chairman called earlier and asked to see you this weekend. But I told him you will contact him as long as you are done with your work."

"Did he say why he wanted to see me," George asked. It was unusual for the old man to suddenly ask him over when he was in the middle of something. Did something happen?

"No, Boss. But I guess it has to do with the young miss. I heard her voice in the background while talking to the chairman so I guess she’s back."

"Alright," George said. "Carry on with your task and if there’s any other instructions, I’ll let you know," he said to the man and hung up.