“Oh perfect! Our husbands are here!” Amanda called excitedly, waving them over.
The men walked toward us confidently.
“Honey,” Amanda said, grabbing her husband’s arm. “This is Emily—our poor classmate. No husband, no career. Maybe your company has a job opening for her? Even something simple like making coffee?”
Tiffany and Rachel laughed loudly.
Amanda’s husband, Michael, glanced at me casually at first.
Then our eyes met.
The color drained from his face instantly.
His mouth fell open.
Behind him, the other two men froze with the exact same expression.
They looked as if they had just seen a ghost.
Slowly, I stood up and straightened my blouse.
“M-Ma’am… Ms. Carter?!” Michael stammered.
Before anyone could react, he bent forward in a deep bow.
The other two men immediately did the same.
“Good evening, Madam Chairwoman,” they said nervously in unison.
The entire restaurant went silent.
Amanda blinked in confusion.
“Honey… why are you bowing to her?” she asked. “That’s just Emily! Our classmate!”
“Stop talking, Amanda!” Michael snapped, sweat forming on his forehead. “Do you even know who she is?!”
He pointed at me with trembling hands.
“That’s Emily Carter, the owner of Hamilton Global! She signs the checks that pay our salaries! She’s my boss’s boss’s boss!”
Amanda’s face turned ghost white.
Tiffany looked like she might faint.
Rachel covered her mouth in shock.
The woman they had just mocked for being “unsuccessful”… was the reason their husbands had their high-paying jobs.
I looked at the three men calmly.
“So,” I said evenly, “Michael… you’re the Head of Marketing who keeps submitting reports late?”
“I’m so sorry, Ma’am! It won’t happen again!” he said desperately.
Then I turned to Rachel’s husband.
“And you’re the Vice President whose department’s sales have been declining?”
“M-Ma’am, I apologize—”
I raised a hand, stopping him.
Finally I looked at Amanda.
“You said your husband was very close to the company’s owner,” I said with a small smile. “Funny… this is the first time we’ve met.”
She looked like a soaked kitten now.
I leaned slightly closer to her and spoke quietly.
“The truly wealthy never need to announce themselves.”
Then I whispered the last part.
“Only empty barrels make the loudest noise.”
I picked up my bag.
“Michael. Daniel. Thomas.”
“Yes, Ma’am!” the three men answered instantly.