It had been barely 30 minutes since Tessa had signed a deal with Stephen when Everbright Law Group received a major investment.


    Fiona Lowell from the finance department nearly fainted when she counted all the zeroes. She immediately ran to Tessa''s office and hollered, "Ms. Yates, thew firm has received a total of 80 million dors of funds!"


    Fiona was so astounded by their luck that her eyes were as wide as saucers. Finally, she muttered disbelievingly, "What''s going on? Am I dreaming?"


    "I''ve just signed a major deal with Jacobson Corporation. This is the deposit. We''ll be paid in full once all the cases are closed," Tessa said calmly.


    "What? D-Did you just say that this is just the deposit? There''s more? You''re not pulling my leg?" Fiona looked utterly bbergasted.


    "That''s right." Tessa grinned, her eyes shining with joy. "Dinner this Friday is on me."


    "Yes!" Fiona skipped away to her office happily.


    Fiona had just left when Lester came knocking.


    "I heard the firm just sealed a massive deal? And it''s one with Jacobson Corporation?" Lester asked.


    Tessa replied, "Yes. I''ll assign a few cases to your team in a bit."


    Lester looked a little uneasy at their sudden fortune. "Mr. Jacobson truly is a generous man. Since the deposit is 80 million dors... What''s the total?"


    "This much." Tessa wriggled two fingers in the air. Lester would''ve assumed it was a peace sign if he didn''t know any better.


    However, what it really meant was the total thew firm would be receiving in the end-200 million dors.


    Lester clicked his tongue before saying in jest, "I guess we could all retire once we close their cases."


    "Where''s your ambition, Mr. Cooper?" Tessa shot him an amused look before continuing, "My goal is to make Everbright Law Group into Rivertown''s bestw firm.


    "Even Shelton Law Firm couldn''t make 200 million a year in legal fees," Lester said with augh. Then, he added, "We''ve already surpassed them by a mile in terms of ie. The only thing holding us back now is our numbers and the fact that we''re new to the business."


    "Don''t worry. People will know who we are once weplete Jacobson Corporation''s cases. We can do it!" Tessa patted Lester''s shoulder and encouraged him, saying, "I believe in you, partner."


    Lester huffed in amusement beforementing, "We''ll have to expand the firm."


    Tessa replied confidently, "Of course. I''ve already asked HR to speed up the hiring process concerningwyers and assistants. We''ll also have to fine tune some of our internal policies to keep up with the firm''s development."


    Tessa then assigned several Jacobson Corporation cases to the legal teams working in her firm. She also tagged everyone in the group chat, announcing that she''d be treating the entire firm to dinner on Friday.


    Finally, she encouraged her employees to work hard, promising a hefty amount of bonuses once Jacobson Corporation''s cases were all settled.


    Everyone was overjoyed and returned to their work with renewed vigor, eager to see this through.


    The entire firm was buzzing with joy and excitement.


    Several food delivery men came in waves to thew firm at around 4:00 pm.


    They hade bearing all sorts of goodies, including milkshakes,


    cakes, and fruits. Some had


    even


    arrived with arms loaded with fried chicken and burgers.


    Stephanie could only gawk at the parade of food, wholly awestruck.


    When she finally regained her senses, she dashed to Tessa''s office and asked, "Ms. Yates, did you order


    snacks for the firm today? Didn''t you treat us to afternoon teast


    Tuesday?"


    Tessa had given Stephanie the task of handling all affairs regarding afternoon tea.


    So, she was 100% certain that there was no afternoon tea today.


    Tessa looked up from her paperwork and stared at Stephanie in bafflement. "Afternoon tea? What are you talking about?"


    "Huh? You didn''t? That''s odd." Stephanie frowned in confusion.


    Tessa followed Stephanie to the hall and soon noticed a mountain of food on the table. She couldn''t help but regard the bags curiously.


    "Could it be Mr. Lancaster? Or perhaps they''ve sent it to the wrongw firm?" Stephanie suggested.


    The person she was referring to was Yves, who was incidentally one of Tessa''sw firm partners.


    It was possible since they''d


    managed to get their hands on a huge business deal, receiving a whopping amount of 80 million. dors in a single deposit. Perhaps one of the partners wanted to celebrate by treating the entire firm to afternoon tea.


    So, Tessa snapped a photo of the food and sent it to the group chat. She even captioned the photo with a query, asking just who the generous buyer was.


    Yelena responded, "Woah! Is that today''s afternoon tea? I''m in court right now. You guys had better save some for me."


    Terrence texted, "It wasn''t me. I have to go to court in a bit as well."


    Lester replied, "I''ve just treated all of you to coffee, so it wasn''t me either."


    Yves answered sinctly, "Not it."


    Yelena wrote back, "Wow. Then, who''s the kind brownie who has graced us with their presence?"


    Tessa found the entire thing bizarre when a familiar face popped up in her mind''s eye.


    It couldn''t be him, could it?


    Tessa was still weighing the likelihood of him being the culprit when she received a call.


    Her mind went silent when she saw the familiar string of numbers.


    Although she had deleted Stephen from her contacts, his number might as well be etched in her brain.


    Tessa hesitated for a couple of seconds before biting the bullet and picking up the call.