Chapter 6

“He's about to call his gang members”

“Give up already, you fool!”

“He’s such a loser”

Other customers made ugly comments, but Ethan still pleaded with the manager for his phone. The manager obliged.

Ethan brought out the card Leo gave him and dialled the number. He gave the phone back to the manager after the call.

Few minutes later, a convoy of exotic cars parked in front of the store and an elderly man came in with men in black suits.

“ What's happening here, young master?” Leo asked.

When they heard the words “young master”,everyone present was shocked. Young master? Who is this shabbily dressed young master?

Ethan explained everything to Leo, who took the card and swiped it again, this time it signalled a green light, indicating the transaction was successful. Everyone watching was totally shocked.

People took out their phones to video as things were becoming interesting, but the men in suits stepped in, videos and pictures of Ethan's back were taken.

The manager immediately became humble and apologised on behalf of the employee and the VIP customer, “ we're very sorry for all the inconveniences we have caused you, sir. I assure you this  employee will face disciplinary action”.

The young man was furious,why was the manager apologising to this loser? He raised his hand to hit Ethan, his hand was caught by one of the men in suit.

The manager looked at him, “ Your suit has been paid for,sir. What else do you want?”

Ethan was not satisfied with just an apology. He wanted the employee sacked for her unruly behaviour and the young man arrested, but he needs to know who he was.

The young man was still trying to worsen the situation, “Do you know who my father is? He is a director at Emerald Group”. He said, hoping to see Ethan bow and tremble before him.

Ethan just nodded his head and two men grabbed the young man's hands and pulled him outside the store. He was still shouting, “ I'll deal with all of you. You'll regret this”.

Leo moved closer to Ethan, “ This is under Emerald Group, young master”.

Ethan was surprised, “ can you handle things from here?”.

“ Yes, young master”.

When the female employee saw what just happened, she knelt down and begged for forgiveness. She suddenly felt bad for what she did.

“ Your services are no longer required here, please return the company's access card before you leave”. Leo said.

The young lady held Ethan's legs and begged him the more. She crept to the young lady “ please forgive me, I shouldn't have treated you the way I did, please beg him for me”.

Ethan simply ignored her and turned to face the young lady. He asked for her name. She said it was Lisa and that her boss had sent her to get a cup of coffee for him, on her way back he called her to get a phone and that's how she ended up in that mess.

He gave her money to replace the coffee and bought the phone her boss had sent her to buy with his money. He handed the phone to Lisa, “Be careful next time”.

Lisa was in tears as she collected the phone, no one has ever shown her such kindness, “thank you sir, I don't know how to repay you for your kindness” she said before heading out.

Ethan walked out of the store with Leo beside him, he was glad he could help but he was confused as to what would have happened if he hadn't called Leo. He headed straight to the house.

***

As Ethan got home, he could hear Ava's voice from a distance “ why don't you marry off your precious daughter to get the deal with Emerald Group? I love Ethan and I'm never leaving him”.

Ethan heaved a sigh of relief, he has enough money to take care of his wife now. She has always openly declared her love for him. 

The moment he entered the room, it became quiet as all eyes fell on him.

His sister-in-law snorted in disgust, “ speak of the devil”.

“ I thought you'd never come back, loser. And you're attending the meeting thirty minutes late” his mother-in-law added with disdain in her eyes.

Meeting? He wasn't aware of the meeting.

Oh,Ava must have called and texted him but he lost his phone last night.

Ethan sighed quietly in his heart, Ava's mother and siblings had always looked down on him, but what would they do if they found out he was the only one who could help them get a deal with Emerald Group.

What if they found out he was the chairman of Emerald Group, the surviving son of the Smith family? This was not the time to reveal his real identity to them. What if his enemy knew Ava's family? What if Ava's family were behind everything that happened in the past? He decided staying in the dark was the best option for now.

Ethan lowered his head and apologised, “ mother, I'm sorry for all the troubles I've caused this family”.

Agitated by everything, Susie shouted “ Troubles? What you've caused us, especially yesterday, damn! What you did yesterday is more than trouble, you almost ruined my engagement. You're simply useless to this family”.

“Ethan Smith, you're very shameless. You even attended the meeting late, we know you're jobless so you have no excuses”. 

James mocked disdainfully, “Wait, what are you even doing here?”

Ava interjected “ stop your nonsense, see who's talking. You're jobless and we're currently in this mess because of your gambling and other troubles you keep causing”. She wore an indifferent expression on her face.

“Mother called every member of the family to this meeting, Ethan is part of this family”.

James laughed sarcastically, “He's part of which family? Ours? Really? You must be a comedian. That man is just a glorified house help. He is nothing but a live-in son-in-law”.

“I didn't call this meeting for you to exchange words with each other, let's just sit down and focus on the purpose of this meeting”. Kate said as she was slightly agitated.

Ethan nudged Ava, “ let's just sit down”. Ava nodded and went back to sit down.

When everyone was seated, Kate started “ we're almost going bankrupt and the only way out is to get a mega project with Emerald group”.

She knew it was very impossible for them to even get access to Emerald group in previous years but now Lucas and Duke  have promised to help them out. She is very hopeful, Duke can help them, he's working at Emerald Group as a manager. 

Duke has secretly come to meet her, asking for Ava's hand in marriage and he also promised to help them whenever they want to get any contract with Emerald Group.

“If we can collaborate with Emerald Group leaving a good impression on the president, we will rise to become the most powerful and influential in Nova City. Our little fashion brand will go global after the collaboration”, Kate said with enthusiasm.

Everyone wore a smile except Ava, Susie was happy her fiancé has promised to help her family. This would help her to inherit the company in future.