Gerald's outburst silenced everyone for at least a moment. All eyes turned on him—some surprised, some irritated, some indifferent. Grace looked at him with gritted teeth, wishing he'd stop this tomfoolery, but Gerald refused to back down.“I’m not here to see you, Liu,” Gerald pointed at him. “I’m here to see your father, Mr. Chen. I treated him years ago, so he should know me. I have something important to discuss with him.”“My father?” Liu raised an eyebrow in contempt. “You think you can just walk in here and demand to see him because you claim to know him? Preposterous! Do you take me for a fool?”“It’s the truth,” Gerald stepped forward. “I treated him once and we had a good relationship, if you could just…”“Enough!” Grace interrupted with a pained look on her face. “Gerald, stop this at once.You’re making things worse.”“You have to trust me.” Gerald turned to her in desperation. “I didn’t know his son would be here. But I do kno

Mr. Chen led Gerald inside the grand mansion, guiding him to the lavishly decorated sitting room where the rich scent of fresh tea greeted them.“Please, make yourself comfortable,” Mr. Chen said warmly, gesturing to a seat across from him as he took a seat himself. He reached out for a small bell and rang it. Moments later, a servant appeared with a tray of piping hot tea and assorted snacks, which made Gerald’s eyes shine and his stomach growl. They sat in silence, enjoying the refreshments, before Mr. Chen cleared his throat, breaking the quiet.“So, Gerald, I saw you had quite the encounter with my security team outside,” Mr. Chen said, an amused smile playing on his lips. “I’m not going to marvel at your impressive combat skills. I mean, half of them are still groaning on the ground. But what exactly happened out there?”Gerald chuckled lightly, setting his teacup down. “Well, Mr. Chen, I didn’t come here intending to start a fight, believe me. I came with only peace in mind, but

Zhang and Chang were getting impatient as the wait stretched on for hours. Their confidence overrode their patience, and they began to mutter to each other.“This is a waste of time,” Zhang said, rolling his eyes and checking the time on his watch. “Mr. Liu is probably too busy with his meetings to entertain anyone today.”“You’re probably right,” Chang agreed with a nod. “We’ve already secured the support of Mr. Chen. There’s nothing left to worry about.”“Exactly. We’ve got everything we need. Grace over there”—he gestured toward her with his chin—“has no chance. Even if, and it’s a big ‘even if,’ she gets a meeting, I doubt Mr. Liu would back someone as desperate as her.”They laughed out loud, and Grace almost lost her temper as she wondered how much more of this she could take.“It’s over for you, Grace. You’ve already lost your position. Everyone knows it. Just save yourself the embarrassment and go home,” they jeered at her as they walked away from the manor, climbing into thei