CHAPTER 7 PROPOSAL

The reception hall suddenly became alive with a flutter of murmurs and activity as Lady Houston arrived into the reception hall. 

She was nearly seventy, but in spite of her advanced age and bent stature, she had a powerful aura. There was determination, strictness and dignity on her wrinkled face, and her presence was enough to command the respect of everyone present there. 

However, at this moment, she was nearly invisible behind the wall of tall and strong bodyguards that surrounded her, shielding her from everyone's eyes. 

Max Delacroix, seeing the matriarch approach, eagerly rushed forward to greet her and make a good impression. After all, he was always ready to take advantage of a good opportunity. 

Pushing through the people around her, Max began.

"A very good afternoon, Lady Houston. What a blessing to be able to meet you out here—" 

But Lady Houston completely ignored him, her gaze fixed ahead, like she hadn't even heard him. 

One of the bodyguards shoved Max aside, clearing a path for Lady Houston and causing Max to stumble slightly. However, it was not enough to deter him. 

Meanwhile, Lady Houston moved forward, and her gaze fell on Matthew, who was standing in front of her, in pain and clearly not in a good state because of his injuries. 

Her expression darkened with concern and anger. 

“What is the meaning of this? Who dares to hurt—” she stopped abruptly, closing her eyes and letting out a deep breath to control her anger. 

She then spoke in a controlled voice, which carried a sharp authority. 

"Guards, come with me. Take him to the manor house immediately, he needs medical attention from our doctors at the earliest—”

Before she could even finish her sentence, Max Delacroix stepped forward again, undeterred and overexcited. He spoke, trying to catch her attention.

"Lady Houston, I must insist. If you would kindly allow me, please, I just need five minutes of your time. I have a proposal for collaboration that will definitely benefit both our companies greatly. It is important that we sit down and discuss this—"

"Really, Mr. Delacroix! You have shown your true colors now, despite your earlier arrogance and fake pride.”

A stern voice interrupted, which belonged to none other than Victor Donovan. 

Everyone turned to see Mr. Donovan, Lady Houston's lawyer, stepped forward. 

"How shameless can you be, didn't you feel even a little hesitation before talking about your profits, after you have just insulted the Young Master of the Houston family?"

Max’s mouth opened and closed, searching for a response, but words failed him. Earlier, he had thought that these two bums were just bluffing, and telling him silly stories to seem superior.

But he had actually mentioned this in front of Lady Houston?! Did this mean that it was actually the truth? No, no it couldn't be… 

“What… what are you saying? When did I ever–”

He tried to cover for his lies, but Victor was in no mood to let him get away with it.

"Oh, really? Didn't you just ask the guards to throw out the Young Master, calling him names that I can't even repeat!" 

Victor's voice thundered, and Max paled, shaking like someone who had just seen a ghost.

“I… I could-”

"Enough!”

The strict voice belonged to none other than Lady Houston, who was glaring at Matthew, making him cower in fear. 

Lady Houston's eyes flashed with fury. 

“How dare you even think about someone even remotely connected to my family, let alone my only grandson?”

Her voice wasn't high in decibel, but her tone was icy and her words were menacing enough. And the next words she spoke made Max feel like the ground was trembling under his feet.

"I will not take this insult lightly, you will have to pay for it. I will never do business with your family ever again."

Max's heart pounded in his chest as he tried to process what he had just heard. But before he could say anything, Lady Houston turned to a man standing by her side, whispering something in his ear. The man nodded, took out his phone, and began dialing a number.

"Lady Houston, please, there has been a huge misunderstanding," Max pleaded, his voice shaky. "I can explain everything, please have some mercy—"

The lady looked at him with irritation, like he was nothing more than a fly buzzing in her ear. Her attention quickly shifted back to Matthew, her expression softening as she approached him.

“Good- good afternoon, Lady Houston. I…”

He tried to speak, but she shook her hand. 

"We will have time for these formalities later. Come inside first. We will have the in -house doctors take a look at you, before consulting the hospital."

Matthew nodded, grateful for her kindness. Lady Houston motioned for the bodyguards to support Matthew, who was too weak because of all the blood loss, to even walk on his own. 

She herself guided him away from the crowd. She turned her back on Max, not sparing him another glance, even as he was shouting desperately;

“Please, at least listen to me! Please, I didn't mean any disrespect… It was just a mistake…”

His words faded as he saw them turning around to leave the hall as he stood there, stunned and horrified. 

His phone buzzed in his pocket, breaking the silence. He glanced at the screen and saw his father's name. With a sinking feeling, he answered the call. "Hello?"

"Max! What the hell have you done?" 

Lucas Delacroix's voice roared through the phone.

“I sent you there to fix things, not make them worse! But I should have known, it's my fault for trusting a useless son like you, you only know how to mess things up even more!" 

"Dad, what–”

"The Houstons and many of our important business partners have refused from doing business with us! You know our company is already struggling… then What is the point of sending you there, if this is all you were going to do? At least I had some hope before, but now, you have closed all the doors for me!”

"Dad…" 

“What? Don't you know one simple thing, that we can't afford to have so many broken contracts and unfinished projects when we are already on the verge of bankruptcy!"