Love's Cunning Ruse novel Chapter 54

As soon as Porter walked into the office, he saw Julie sitting right at the entrance. He glanced at the circle of employees engaged in conversation, clapped his hands, and said, "Alright guys, chill out for a sec, I want to introduce y'all to our new colleague, Julie. She's a top-notch student from Pinnacle University, graduated as the cream of the crop."

The employees finally noticed Julie and started applauding.

Julie gave a slight smile. "Hi everyone, I'm Julie. Thanks for having me."

"Mr. Porter, you bring such a pretty new face to our firm. Aren't you afraid your folks at home will have a problem with that?" Grant joked, which made Julie feel comfortable with the company's atmosphere.

Porter shot Grant a look and said, "Julie's a brainiac. She wouldn't give me the time of day. We're all free birds at my place."

After saying that, Porter turned to Grant and said, "I'm leaving Julie in your hands. Since she graduated, she hasn't worked in the field, so she's still new to this. Make sure you show her the ropes."

Turning back to Julie, Porter said, "Grant is one of our top dogs here at the firm. Stick by his side, you'll learn a ton. If there's anything you don't get, just holler."

Grant walked over to Julie and joked, "I'm not really the best at our firm. Porter's just pulling your leg. He's the real deal."

"Quit fooling around!" Porter called out to everyone. "I want everyone in the conference room in five minutes."

Grant handed Julie a notebook and a pen, then led her into the office, following behind Porter. Porter was already sitting in the boss' chair, not paying too much attention to Julie, to avoid any unnecessary chit-chat.

He switched on his computer and asked everyone, "Did y'all catch the headlines today?"

Everyone promptly nodded and started sharing their opinions, "Creative Nexus Media is pretty much done for. I always thought Bertha was really Mr. Hernandez's fiancée, and they were about to tie the knot. Who would've thought it was all smoke and mirrors by Creative Nexus Media."

Listening to the first comment, Julie was a bit lost.

Grant, sitting next to her, also chimed in, "Mr. Hernandez is personally suing Creative Nexus Media for spreading false rumors and tarnishing his reputation. This is definitely going to court."

"Exactly!" Porter nodded, starting his analysis, "Simpo Co.'s law firm is Sterling & Associates. Unlike our Accolade Law Firm, they're big shots when it comes to business disputes. We, on the other hand, are pros at personal disputes. From what I've heard, Mr. Hernandez is currently looking for a lawyer for the Creative Nexus Media case. You catch my drift?"

Grant nodded. "You're saying… we should try to bag this case?"

Porter nodded at Grant. "You've handled cases for Simpo Co.'s PR department before, so you'll be leading the charge on this. If Mr. Hernandez has other plans, I won't hold you responsible. But if we can land this case, you'll be in for a big payday. All other attorneys will be backing you up."

Julie was still in a daze when Porter suddenly mentioned her. "Grant, take Julie with you. Let her get a taste of the job, learn a few things."

The meeting ended and Julie was still trying to figure out what had just happened. All she knew was she had to go all out to persuade Kieran to choose Accolade Law Firm.

Grant walked over to the dazed Julie, lightly patted her shoulder, and handed her two files. "This one's about Mr. Hernandez, and this one's about his secretary, Karl. Get to know them first, we gotta know our opponents to have the upper hand. Get ready, we're going to Simpo Co. this afternoon."

Julie took the files, and Grant reminded her, "Oh, and don't forget to check out the news related to this that was posted online this morning."

Julie went back to her seat with the files and started checking the news about Kieran on her phone. After going through a few of the most recent articles, she finally figured out what was going on.

The night Elliot proposed to her, Kieran had clarified that Bertha was not his fiancée. The next day, the news made the headlines. Although people were surprised, they didn't think much of it.

A few days later, Sterling & Associates law firm suddenly posted a statement on the Simpo Co. official website on behalf of Kieran, claiming that Creative Nexus Media had not verified the news of Kieran's engagement to Bertha. The audio and video files were edited, which had damaged Kieran's reputation.

Then, the official account posted a live broadcast of Kieran's interview, completely exposing Creative Nexus Media's lies. This caused a great stir, and Julie was probably the last to know.

After understanding the whole story, Julie knocked on Porter's office door. "Mr. Porter..."

Upon seeing Julie, Porter quickly stood up. "Don't call me Mr. Porter, it sounds too formal. What can I do for you?"

"I want to start from the basics..."