Chapter 1493: 1493. She took the right first step.
So, she didn’t want Elly Campbell to feel like she was approaching her too deliberately. Therefore, during the initial time after her arrival, she didn’t intentionally try to get close to her.
It wasn’t until the second landslide occurred, and Adam Jones came over in person…
She watched as Adam Jones helped the dirt-covered Elly Campbell off the helicopter with his own hands and directed his personnel to assist the firefighters with the rescue efforts.
The type of commanding presence he exuded, standing in a crowd and overshadowing everyone else, was not something a mere nouveau riche could possess.
This was an air of inherent nobility and refinement, coupled with decades of accumulated authority from being in a position of power.
On him, there was wealth, status, and an almost divine presence that people admired—what woman wouldn’t be moved by that?
She, too, had been attracted to Adam Jones before, but she was self-aware enough to know that a man as unattainable as Adam, who already belonged to Elly Campbell, was beyond her capabilities to take away.
Otherwise, her fate would surely mirror that of the sycophantic women who used to linger around Adam Jones.
Not only would she gain nothing, but she might even lose everything.
It was precisely because of this self-awareness that she never dared to have designs on Adam Jones.
In fact, as long as she earned Elly Campbell’s favor, getting Adam Jones to lend a helping hand wouldn’t be out of the question.
She had analyzed things so clearly that she ensured she never showed any intentions in front of Adam Jones, which did, indeed, leave Elly Campbell with a favorable impression of her.
She had taken the right first step.
Moving forward, when Elly Campbell came to the school to teach the children, their interactions increased. Her natural demeanor and her attitude of not deliberately currying favor with Elly Campbell or trying to get close to her had genuinely earned Elly’s goodwill.
So this time, when she cried in front of Elly Campbell and deliberately wiped away her tears, it was all part of her plan to make Elly notice and ask what had happened.
She wanted Elly Campbell to help her, but she didn’t want Elly to feel like she was being asked for help, which would make her appear subordinate.
In her mind, she and Elly Campbell were friends—not people who begged for favors or flattered others—and she considered herself on equal footing with Elly.
Thus, she didn’t say anything, instead waiting for Elly Campbell to take the initiative and ask, so she could then propose her request.
After she would politely decline a few times, with Elly Campbell’s personality, even if she refused the offer, Elly would surely insist on helping her.
In this way, even if people later found out that her teaching position had been secured by Elly’s assistance, she could always say that Elly had proactively helped her and that she had initially refused.
This would not only keep others from thinking she had begged Elly but also hint at her extraordinary relationship with Mrs. Jones.
She would then capitalize on the landslide incident and the impoverished conditions of the Atlanta Baker mountain region, which had been exposed to the entire nation through the internet.
With today’s advanced online connectivity, internet users could easily dig into whatever information they wanted.
She’d go to the children’s homes to tutor and frequently “accidentally” step into reporters’ camera shots.
Eventually, it would get reported.
A young city girl, who should have been living a life of comfort and privilege, going alone to a poor mountainous area to teach—just this moral high ground alone was enough to earn her considerable public admiration.
Add her connection with Elly Campbell into the mix, and she had already envisioned a very bright future for herself.
But who could have expected that Elly Campbell wouldn’t follow her script at all? When she said sand had gotten into her eyes, Elly actually believed her!
Sophia Taylor stood there dumbfounded, watching Elly Campbell walk farther and farther away, stomping her foot in frustration once more.
She stayed rooted in place, biting her lower lip in annoyance, pondering her next move.