NOVEL NEXT Chapter 284: De-escalation
The boardroom door slammed open, and Darren Steele's voice cut through the chaos like a blade. "Enough!"
Silence crashed down. Rachel froze, fist half-raised. Sandy jerked back slightly, face flushed. Ileana squirmed, trying to vanish behind her files. Kara slowly lowered her phone, the recording light still blinking.
The investors swiveled their heads to the door where Darren stood, his face iron and angry, his coat falling over his shoulders like a warlord from the medieval times.
Except this was an office. A meeting. And Darren was angry that it had been ruined by childlike squabble.
He strode to the head of the table, radiating authority as his footsteps were the only noise in the now silent room. "Rachel, Sandy, Ileana— sit down."
The women hesitated. Only Ileana was cautiously moving.
"Now!" Darren demanded, his voice thunderous and cold. Like the CEO that he was, not the man who'd fumbled dinner at Castle Cottage.
Immediately, Rachel dropped into her chair with a huff, Sandy followed stiffly, and Ileana practically collapsed into hers, clutching her file like a shield.
Darren drifted his gaze through the table, looking at the heads and faces of his investors, at Amelia, who had a 'this has nothing to do with me face' and Kara who was hiding her phone while the camera was still rolling.
"What are you doing, Kara?" Darren asked with a tired sigh. "Stop live streaming. And take the rest of it down."
Kara pursed her lips, her fingers pausing on her phone. "It's for the sake of memories, Boss."
"I said take it down, Kara." His stare pinned her, and she sighed, making a show of tapping her phone's buttons.
"Okay, sir." She smirked and the livestream cut off, the screen going dark.
Darren faced the investors, his jaw tight. "This meeting's postponed. We'll reconvene after my assistant reschedules. For now, clear the room."
A gray-haired investor turned around on his chair to get a look at Darren, his face showing complete distaste for the situation. "What is this now, Mr. Steele? This is completely unacceptable. We flew in for this. You can't just—"
"I said it's postponed, Caldwell." Darren's tone was final, his eyes making it clear that his mind was made up. "You'll get your presentation. And you'll of course be compensated for the expenses of your travel. Now, please leave."
The investors exchanged glances, muttering as they gathered their briefcases. Then they filed out of the room, muttering to themselves. Caldwell stood, adjusting his tie, and leaned close as he passed Darren. "Get your women in line, Steele," he hissed. "This isn't a soap opera. It's business."
Darren held his tongue and his expression as he watched the investors file out.
Soon, the room was empty, save for the women he always worked with.
Darren stood quiet for a while, looking at all of them studiously, critically and angrily. The system wanted him to de-escalate the situation. Darren was going to do it the only way he knew.
His CEO persona locked in place. His voice stayed hard, interrogative.
"What the hell was that?" he asked anyone who was willing to answer, his voice like cold smoke.
Rachel released her folded arms. No matter how annoyed she was, she couldn't deny that she blew it. Acting like that and ruining a meeting wasn't professional. And even worse, it wasn't like her.
"I'm sorry," she was the first to speak. "We let our emotions get to us and we ruined the meeting."
Darren narrowed his eyes. Though he was surprised that Rachel was apologizing, he wasn't going to let her off that easily. "Was that what happened? Ileana didn't seem to let her emotions get to her."
Rachel's gaze lifted to him. "You're defending her already?"
"Defending her?" Darren's face sharpened. "She didn't do anything wrong, did she?"
"But you're so quick to defend her."
"Because she didn't do anything wrong."
Rachel's gaze fell again, like she was in disbelief.
"She didn't know what she was doing," Sandy spoke up. "She couldn't give a presentation."
Darren looked at her. "And so you let her get insulted by the investors? Is that who you are now... Miss Meyers?"
Sandy's face flushed with disbelief, eyes widening.
Ileana tried to speak. "I was only trying my best to be d—"
"Ileana, stay quiet," Darren told her. "Rachel and Sandy are the culprits of this situation."
Rachel shook her head, face low. "It's a waste of time..."
Darren looked in her direction. "What did you say?"
She snapped up. "I said it's a waste of time! I'm trying to do my job, but I just can't. Not with..." she fought against pointing at Ileana, "...this!"
"What are you angry about exactly?" Darren asked her. "That Ileana is here or that she couldn't present her report properly "
Rachel shrugged, lost for words in her anger. "Pick your poison."
He pivoted sharply at Ileana "Why didn't you control your data presentation, Ileana? Did you provoke this?"
Ileana gasped, shaking her head. "I... I didn't... I just showed the slides... they started speaking about how bad I was..."
"So you froze?" Darren pressed, his tone implying failure. "You let it escalate?"
Sandy's eyes softened, feeling guilty already. "Stop it, Darren."
Darren looked at her. "Stop it? This is what you wanted, wasn't it?" He looked at Rachel. "Both of you. You wanted me to scold her so that's what I'm doing."
Rachel and Sandy shared a guilty, frustrated glance.
"It's not—" Rachel tried speaking.
"It's not what? You turned my meeting into a catfight! Unprofessional chaos! Is this how my senior team behaves?"
They all lowered their heads in shame. "We're sorry," Rachel whispered. "I'm sorry."
Darren looked at Sandy. "I'm sorry too. I really should have stood up for her."
Darren's gaze rested on Ileana. She nodded her head. "I'm really sorry, Mister Steele. I'll work on my presentation."
Darren let out an exhale of satisfaction before scolding Kara and Amelia for making zero attempts to deescalate the situation.
But when the system's notification came, it wasn't at all what Darren expected.
Ding!
┏Quest Failed: Resolve Situation Briskly┛
'What?' he frowned. 'Quest failed???'
┏Penalty: -2 Charisma, -5 Loyalty (Rachel, Sandy), -2 Loyalty (Ileana)┛
┏Rachel: 40% → 35% (Critical: Trust further eroded)┛
┏Sandy: 35% → 30% (Critical: Resentment deepening)┛
┏Ileana: 60% → 58% (Unstable: Feeling blamed)┛
The numbers stung, especially because of how surprising they were. It seemed like Darren's commanding approach had backfired, his boss routine alienating the women instead of uniting them. He'd swung too hard, too cold.
Sandy stood abruptly, her chair scraping. "I have to finish with my finance report on Delvarate's earnings last month" she said, her voice low, cracked with hurt. She grabbed her notes and walked out, not sparing Darren a glance. The door clicked shut behind her.
Darren's chest tightened. 'I have to get this under control before I'm left with 0 charisma and no affection from these women. My company would implode without my workers' trust."
He forced his focus. "Rachel," he said, his voice still sharp with authority. "Let's talk in my office."
Rachel's exposed eye narrowed.
As he was about to turn, Darren caught Kara's gaze. He frowned thoughtfully, then looked at Ileana, who looked ready to bolt. "Kara, take Ileana back to IT. Get her settled. And start helping her with her presentations."
Kara stood up. "Aye, aye, Captain." She nudged Ileana, who flinched but followed, her eyes darting nervously to Darren. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's get you out of the warzone."
Once Darren walked out of the room, Rachel followed after an exasperated sigh of worry.
She was tired of not being herself.