When he saw Darius standing before him and looking down at him, Bennett burst into derisive laughter. "Darius Reid, you look like an upstanding man, but the truth couldn't be any further. Everyone saw and heard how you harassed my daughter in public!"Darius raised an eyebrow, his gaze turning contemptuous. He stepped forward and crossed his arms, then looked at Bennett thoughtfully. Though he didn't say anything, it made Bennett nervous. Then, Darius smiled. "So, you're still grossly misinformed, huh? Did your daughter or your adopted child tell you that?"Bennett's eyes widened in shock. He knew Darius would only say these things if he knew them to be true. His breathing sped up as his gaze turned incredulous. Before this, he thought he'd grasped the whole truth, but Darius had easily made him doubt himself. Though Darius hadn't elaborated, Bennett sensed he could easily provide the evidence to back himself up. The look on Darius' face and how he carried himself told Bennett that e
"You may not realize this, but you look like a man pining for his lover. You've been waiting here for so long—isn't it obvious that Mr. Reid doesn't have any time to see you?"Bennett turned to see an icy, beautiful woman standing beside him. His heart sank as he looked at Bridget in surprise; this wasn't something he'd ever imagined happening. He was a trained martial artist and powerful enough that it was rare to find someone who could beat him, aside from professional bodyguards. Everyone he'd met told him the same, which gave him the impression that he was invincible. Now, however, a woman had appeared beside him, and he hadn't noticed her presence at all. This meant she was much stronger than him, which wasn't something he wanted to think about. His breathing sped up as he asked, "Who are you? When did you get here?" Bennett's gaze was wary as he sized Bridget up. Then, he looked into her eyes to see that he couldn't detect any traces of emotion in them—at least, he didn't have
Bennett parted his lips to speak, but Bridget beat him to it. She pointed at the door and said, "I wasn't around when you showed up here, but if I had been, I never would've allowed you to step in here. Anyway, I'm here now. You've already taken up enough of Mr. Reid's time, so I think it's high time you left. It's the best thing you can do now."Bennett stared at her incredulously, not expecting that he wouldn't even be given a chance to apologize. He exhaled loudly and trembled in fear, suddenly realizing how inconsequential he was in their eyes. The Evans family had a long history in Ashweir City and had accumulated generations of wealth, so everyone treated its members with respect. It went without saying that he, as its patriarch, received the most respect. However, after what he'd just experienced, he realized that there was a chance someone would think he wasn't worth their time.Bridget had a polite smile on her face as she continued pointing at the door. For the longest time
"You can go out now." Darius' mind started whirring after that. He was sure he had plenty to do—for instance, he had to deal with Hansley, his father's friend. Hansley had been waiting at the hotel for far too long. Firstly, he wanted to be reunited with his son. Secondly, he was here about Darius' father. Darius shut his eyes and sighed. There were so many things to attend to that he didn't know where to start. Each matter seemed more complex than the other; at the same time, they all seemed extremely simple.As he pondered this, he heard Bridget chirping in the corridor, "You can go ahead and call Mr. Reid now. I told him about having a mountain of work to handle, but he didn't react much. I suppose he isn't too bothered by that." She chatted with the person on the other end of the line for a while longer before hanging up.Darius' lips twitched at this. He was about to call Bridget back into the room when his phone rang. He grabbed it and glanced at the screen. Sure enough, it was
Erin lowered her head, looking guilty. Darius couldn't see this, but he could sense from her tone that she obviously felt bad. He frowned, wondering what she could've done wrong. He couldn't imagine it, but Erin's tone and actions told him something had gone astray. Darius sighed, shook his head, and said comfortingly, "Don't be too harsh on yourself. You don't have to feel guilty or that you've done anything wrong because, unlike me, you're not privy to a lot of information. It's normal that you couldn't deduce something was wrong with the sudden influx of business at West Atlantics Int'l."His gentle tone eased Erin's anxiety. "Understood, sir. Thank you." She shut her eyes, breathed deeply, and quickly composed herself. Then, she opened her eyes and said, "Now that I've gotten a grip on myself, I'll look into these prospective business partners. I won't allow them to do any harm to West Atlantics Int'l!"Darius smiled and nodded. "That would be for the best."On the other end of t
It was perfectly normal for Darius to be able to discover something like that because of how sharp and bright he was. This employee's appearance, however, told Erin that she was wrong to think of things that way. He was only an intern, yet he had thought of things she hadn't. To Erin, this meant her work capabilities had deteriorated, and by a whole lot! Even someone who didn't know as much as she did could detect such a considerable risk, yet she had been utterly blind to it.Erin shut her eyes and sighed. The employee waited and waited for her to say something but was only greeted by silence. As the seconds ticked, he felt the atmosphere grow increasingly tense. He shuddered, looking fearful. He wanted to ask Erin what had happened to make her display such emotions, but he knew it wasn't his place to do so. Then, he parted his lips and said almost inaudibly, "Miss Erin, can I leave now? I still have some work to do, so I can't keep standing here." His eyes darted around as he spok
"I apologize for the nasty attitude; none of this is your fault. I'm the one with the problem." Erin waved a hand. "Alright, you can go now. As compensation, I'll pay you a sum from my personal account—it's equivalent to two months of your salary. You can speak to the HR department about that if you genuinely want to leave. Of course, if you're willing to stay, know that you're welcome." She shut her eyes. When she didn't hear anyone leave even, she said, "I know I should probably see you off or say something else, but I'm really not in the right state of mind to do that. My mind is messed up now—how could I have been obtuse enough to miss something that was right before me? I had to rely on others for something so simple. It makes me feel like such a failure."The employee faltered, then sighed and walked toward Erin. "Alright, stop looking so gloomy. I still admire and respect you—you discovered this early enough to prevent the company from making losses, so the rest of the employe
The employee couldn't help feeling like the world was full of surprises. His eyes widened, and his breathing sped up; he wanted to ask Erin more, but she obviously didn't want to linger on the subject. She turned away from him and sat behind her desk, resting her fingers on the keyboard. Then, she started typing and pulling up the names of all their existing and prospective business partners. As she did this, she asked the employee, "I want to know how you concluded that West Atlantics Int'l's rapid expansion had plateaued and arrived at a stable stage."The employee didn't know whether his answer would upset Erin. After all, his words earlier had already made her fly into a rage, and she still didn't look too happy now. They'd already gotten into an argument earlier, and he didn't want it to happen again. Keeping things peaceful was the best thing to do. So, he gulped and said in a small voice, "I don't know whether what I'm about to say will be to your liking, but it's the truth.