From Squalor To Splendor

Chapter 9

Justin turned around to face Isabella, who quickly turned her gaze away from him in a different direction as she nervously played with a glass of juice in her hand.

"Diana," Justin said, "please step forward."

“Alright,” Diana muttered and quickly stood up from her seat.

She moved to where Justin was standing in the center of the living room.

Unexpectedly, Justin enquired, "Would you kindly extend your hand to me?"

"Okay," she said, nodding, and held out her hand for Justin to grasp.

With a smile on his face, Justin took her hand tenderly, akin to a groom preparing to place a wedding ring on his fiancée.

"Are you in a relationship?" he whispered as he leaned in closer.

"Um... no, what made you ask?" Diana answered in a low enough volume that only Justin, who was nearby, could hear her.

"It does not matter," Justin remarked, easing his distance from Diana. He said to everyone,“ I have no clue who this lady standing beside me is. But based on what I have seen so far, I am positive that she is a lovely woman. I want to formally declare to you that she has won my heart and that I am prepared to settle down and make her my wife because of this," he declared.

Everyone started clapping as soon as he said that.

What Ariana heard made her happy, and she could not hide it. She leaped to her feet and gave Diana a quick embrace as she struggled to process what Justin had just said.

Diana, on the other hand, thought there was nothing more to say because she had been secretly crushing on Justin since came into the mansion.

Though she did not express it, it seemed as though Justin knew she had a thing for him already.

To be on the safest side, Diana found herself inquiring.“ But sir, I thought you already had a girlfriend. Don't you?”

"Hmm... well, I used to have a girlfriend, but not now," he replied.

"What exactly do you mean, sir?" Diana was lost. "Did you end your relationship with her?"

“Not at all. She did. She broke up with me because I was considered a worthless, poor orphan. I caught her cheating on me, but when I complained, she broke up with me to settle with my boss.” he sadly explained.

“But that's not fair. Why should your boss take away your girlfriend just because you are poor?" Diana complained as if she did not want to date Justin, but she was only trying to sympathize with him.

"Well, one of the ladies here said we should not blame a lady who dumped her poor boyfriend for a rich guy. So I would rather not blame her for ending our relationship. I believe she is enjoying herself in a comfortable zone wherever she is now."

"Wait, do you mean the story you told earlier is a metaphor for what happened between you and your girlfriend?" Diana inquired, a sad expression on her face.

"Obviously," Justin said, nodding.

“Well, I believe that she will regret it soon after finding out that you're no longer the poor young orphan she knew before. Another person's food is another person's poison. Because you were a poor orphan, she saw you as a poison to her. You would not have said you loved me if she had not dumped you." Diana exclaimed joyfully.

Justin nodded without saying anything.

Isabella, on the other hand, was enraged as she watched Justin confess his love for Diana.

Justin confessed his love for Diana not only because she was a nice lady or because she once saved him from being bullied, but also to hurt Isabella because the two ladies were friends.

Liam's face turned pale as he grinned at her, realizing how sad Isabella had become, but she was not aware that Liam was staring at her.

Liam was taken aback when he realized the two of them were upset about the situation.

"We are just getting started, Isabella," Justin muttered, chuckling.

He then turned to his father and asked, "Dad, who is the overall secretary of the Transcorp Group of Conglomerates?"

As soon as Justin closed his mouth, a lady in a black suit stood up and said, "Here I am, sir."

"All right," he said, "come over here."

"What is your name?" he asked the lady who approached him and stood in front of him.

"Sir, my name is Charlotte John," she replied, slightly bowing.

"Great," he muttered before turning around and summoning Liam.

Liam stood up and approached him, his gaze fixed on the ground, attempting to avoid eye contact with Justin.

"Charlotte, do you know who this man is?" Justin asked calmly.

Charlotte raised her head, looked at Liam, and nodded."Yes, sir. I am familiar with him."

"Okay, who is he to you?" Justin inquired.

"Hmmm... he is one of the businessmen who collaborated with us to provide goods and services. They supply us with raw materials for manufacturing. He is the CEO of Grayson's hotel and two other businesses in this city, sir," Charlotte explained.

"Do you have the list of businesses that we partnered with here?"

“Yes, sir.”

"Then please get the list to me," asked Justin.

Swiftly, Charlotte made her way to her seat to retrieve the files containing the names of all the businesses that collaborated with them.

"This is it, sir," Charlotte said, holding out the office files for Justin to take.

"Go ahead and navigate to the page that lists every company name that has partnered with us. I am going to play a quick game with Liam Grayson," Justin told Charlotte.

In light of the woman's previous response to his question, he was attempting to avoid being overly critical of Liam.

Upon hearing that, Liam swallowed hard, as he could sense that he was about to get embarrassed in public. Not just in Brightday City, but globally as well, Justin was attempting to ruin his reputation.

Liam felt that at that moment before he was humiliated in front of everyone, he ought to apologize to Justin for what he had done to him.

However, pride didn't allow Liam to stoop so low to the point of begging someone he was older than.

Liam was pretty sure he was a few years older than Justin, even though he had no idea how old Justin was. So, he considered it offensive to beg Justin when he's not his mate.

Pride…!

Quite the contrary; Isabella was too busy praying that Justin would not call her out for public humiliation as well; she was not prepared for that.

Charlotte sighed after she had opened the file and saw the name of Liam Grayson's business.

"Sir, this is it," she chuckled and said.

After giving a nod, Justin drew closer to Liam. He beamed at Liam, whose eyes were fixed on the floor.

Raising his right hand, Justin rested it on Liam's shoulder. Liam felt it instantly, slowly raising his head to look at Justin.

Justin said to him,“ Liam Grayson, let's play a game. If you win, then you will continue to partner with us, but if you fail, then I'm sorry to tell you that your name will be canceled from our list. Additionally, the Transcorp Group of Conglomerates will no longer award you contracts. I hope my message is clear to you."

“But…” Liam wanted to say something, but Justin cut him off.

“There is no excuse, Liam. You may only use the statement that you are unable to play the game as an excuse; otherwise, your name will be removed from the list. We both know what you did to me in the wee hours of this morning. Given what you did to me today, I am not even supposed to be this kind to you. However, I chose to treat you gently because I thought you might have a chance to win the game. So, are you ready for the game or not?” Knowing full well that Liam would lose the game, Justin asked with a menacing smile on his face.

Liam was quiet for a while, worrying about whether or not to accept to play the game because he was afraid he would not do well.

However, since he does not know what kind of game Justin is referring to, he feels like he could win. It could be a game he was familiar with.

Who knows?

He gave it some thought before nodding his head and saying, "I agree. I will play the game.” he let out.