CHAPTER SEVENTEENThe room was silent as everyone eagerly waited to see who Lily was going call.The call was answered quickly and Lily saw Ivy staring at her very intently and decided to put the call on speaker.Martha was close enough to see Blakely’s name on the screen and couldn’t hide her displeasure.She glanced at Kevin’s direction,“So it was Blakely who gave Lily the necklace.”Martha couldn’t imagine what would happen if Kevin should find out about this.She hoped that he and Lily wouldn’t argue over it especially here at the banquet.It would definitely be awkward for everyone.Blakely was sitting alone at a road-side café drinking a beer when his phone rang.Someone from the Williams family had recently told him to keep his distance from them because he had offended one of them.His finances were suddenly in jeopardy and the tech problem of the company was discovered.He lost everything, practically overnight.Up until now, Blakely hasn’t figured out who it was that he had
Lily was not comfortable going up to the stage so she just decided to stand by her seat, looking slightly uncomfortable.“Actually, it was nothing at all… when I went over that day, I didn’t get to see the president of Williams Media. It was his secretary who brought me the contract and asked me to sign it.”Everyone was astonished to hear this,“What!? They signed a contract right away?”Someone else said,“So just like Drake, she didn’t get to see the new CEO of Williams Media either.”Another one added,“I thought she was very capable. Painfully, she was just lucky cause she went there when the new CEO of Williams Media was in a good mood and that’s why she got the contract.”Drake who was sitting beside Grandma Jones couldn’t help but sneer when he heard the comments from the crowd.He turned his head to see Grandma Jones reaction but he was already coming up with an idea to get even with Lily for making him look badDrake spoke up loudly so that everyone in the room could hear,“
When Ivy saw Drake’s sapphire card, she couldn’t but look at him differently.Although she was the most prominent member of the Anderson family, she only had about two million in the bank.That’s why she has Deluxe bank gold card which was one grade lower than Drake’s.Although she had previously said that she could double the price to buy her own Dream Lover necklace, she was secretly going to ask her father to pay for it.Seeing Ivy gaze on him even made Drake more excitedHe went on and said,“You can do whatever you want! I’ll pay for everyone tonight. However, that table isn’t included.”The table Drake pointed at was the table Kevin was sitting. Because Kevin hadn’t fully been accepted by the Jones family, very few people were willing to sit at the same table as him.The people who chose to sit with him weren’t as wealthy or popular as the rest of the guest.Drake simply didn’t care if he offended them.He continued to push Kevin’s buttons,“Kevin! Do you have any money? Don’t t
CHAPTER TWENTYCold sweats were streaming down Drake’s face.He stepped forward and summoned every courage in him to respond,“We will not go back on our word. We will pay for it.”As he spoke he gave a pleading look towards his grandmother.There is no way he could find four hundred thousand dollars this evening so he unconsciously took a step towards grandma Jones like he little poor puppy.Grandma Jones forced a smile and said to Mr. Collins,“It was our fault tonight. Mr. Collins please don’t hold it against us and don’t worry, we’ll get you the money right away.”After saying that, she turned to the Jones family member who were in the banquet hall,“We can’t let Drake pay all the expenses tonight. Each of you should contribute five thousand dollars, the rest of the money will be paid by Drake and me.”Everyone nodded in agreement.They had no choice but they wanted to look like they were okay with it.However, two of them couldn’t hide their concerned and had very embarrassed exp
Collins remembered all the good things Kevin had done for him in the past and said,“It’s hard to change old habits, boss… ehrm, I mean Kevin”You could hear everyone’s heave sigh of relief.They didn’t understand why Collins would call Kevin bossStill, everyone wondered on how Kevin and Mr. Collins knew each other.Kevin asked his friend,“If you could just ask the waiter confirm the price of my table, I could give you my card to pay.”With a big smile, Collins shook his head replied,“Your money is no good here. Put your card away.”He was going to give Kevin his meal for free.Then he told the hotel manager that Kevin’s meal would be free even in the future.Kevin was stunned and he opened his mouth to speak but Collins immediately understood and quickly changed his offer.“How about I give you a discount? A fifty percent discount!”He turned to the hotel manager and said,“Please go ahead with Mr. Williams bill and bring it back to me.”The hotel manager quickly nodded,“Right aw
Kevin raised his eyebrows when he remembered Eliana WhitesWhat a nice surprise!He was very happy that she was doing well too.Kevin met Eliana when he lost his briefcase in a wine shop.She was working in the shop and noticed that he’d left it behind.When she went outside with the briefcase, Kevin had just gotten into his car and left.Eliana ran after him for three blocks and tried to catch up with him.When Kevin finally remembered that he forgot his briefcase, he made a U-turn and saw her standing there, out of breath holding his briefcase in her hands.Kevin found out that Eliana wanted to start her own business so he formed a partnership with her.He also gave her a hundred thousand dollars just like he gave Collins.He didn’t really expect Eliana to be so sharp at running a businessWhat he was sure of was that she was honest and hardworking.After all, she had chased him for three blocks to return his briefcase.In just a few short years, she actually built the West Veridoni
Simon was shocked to see his boss.“Mr. Collins, Miss. President… what a pleasant surprise”Simon dropped his hand and with a big smile on his face, he quickly went to greet the two of them.Collins glared at him and brushed his hand anyway,“Who the hell are you!? Do you want to take a swing at me too?”Simon was shaking,“No, no, no. It was this man who was looking for trouble and I was just trying to scare him. You see Mr. Collins, I just got promoted. My name is Simon Hunter and I’m the new manager of the entire region. Of course I wasn’t going to hurt him, I’ll get someone to take him out right now!”Simon knew that Collins had a very good relationship with the company’s president, Eliana.Plus, he knew how powerful the man was so he had to suck up to him“Regional manager, is it? Eliana, I think you know what to do.”Collins was too tired to waste any of time speaking with Simon.Eliana couldn’t believe that Kevin was almost beaten up in her company headquarters.She turned to S
All of them was indebted to Kevin and that was why they all came together to search for him.This was pretty much how they got to know each other.Antoine spoke first,“Kevin! We have been looking for you for years! If only we thought of looking for you right here in Veridonia.”He sat across Kevin and looked him in the eyeThe man looked like he was about to cry,Kevin chuckled,“It’s really been too long, Antoine. I can’t believe this is your bar. You have done well for yourself!”Antoine smiled broadly when he heard Kevin’s praise.He stroked his chin and laughed.Kevin smiled and shook his head when he saw this,“You’re still the same as before, Antoine. You’re a big man but deep down, you’re like a little boy. Are you starting to blush?”Everyone laughed.“So, Enoch what are you up to? Are you working together?”Kevin looked at the tall handsome friend who was wearing a black casual outfit.Eliana answered the question,“Enoch is doing very well… he runs a security company. His e