"Call your manager out. I want to see her!" ordered Ethan, looking at the three employees in front of him casually.
"You won't be able to see her for a long time. So please leave here immediately, Mr. Ethan," said the employee who had spoken earlier. Her lightly made-up face looked patient and friendly.
However, it was different from the friend next to her, who looked fierce with her eyes squinting sarcastically. "You're not deaf, right? My friends have been saying it since before. You can't and shouldn't enter this shop. If you still insist, I'll call security for you!"
Suddenly, the first friend immediately nudged her, warning her not to speak carelessly. But the woman with the little barrette on the right didn't care and said deliberately. "What? You have nothing to fear. He's just a poor man discarded by his wife's family, has no influence, and means nothing."
Ethan's smile was etched without anyone noticing.
He glanced at the name tags on the front of their left chests one by one.
Everything related to Celeste's family should be cleaned up immediately.
"So, if I don't have any influence, you can talk all you want?" Ethan opened his voice again, but this time with a piercing tone. It was clear that he was angered by what the woman had said. "Do hearts and feelings only belong to people with influence? While the poor are just a piece of dirt that deserves to be trampled on at will?"
"You and I are the same. Aren't you just an employee under someone's feet?"
"No! We are different! At least we're not unemployed people who can't make a dime! We work in a nice place that's a dream of many people. Whereas you... are just a poor guy who really can't do anything!" exclaimed the Employee, glaring fiercely, sending the friend beside her into a panic. Her reaction was inversely proportional to the other two friends, who looked calm as if enjoying what they were witnessing.
"Can't do anything huh?" Ethan muttered while nodding his head many times.
Then he smiled sweetly, mesmerizing them to the point that they couldn't move. Even the employee who was about to continue her words fell silent. "I hope you don't feel the way I do. I don't care, but I'm afraid you won't be able to take it and will go crazy."
After saying that threatening sentence, Ethan turned around, about to walk away.
But just then, a man with round glasses and a briefcase came in front of Ethan. "Sir."
Ethan looked at him without saying anything.
"I am Benedict, envoy of Grand Master Grant."
Just like that, Ethan understood immediately, he nodded slowly and invited Benedict to leave. This place was not a suitable place to talk about something important.
But, not far away, Ariana came from the front in a hurry. Ethan, who was too lazy to deal with her, hurriedly turned around, intending to avoid her. Aurora, who had been hiding and monitoring what Ethan was doing, immediately confronted him.
"Ethan!"
Ethan suddenly chuckled softly when he heard her loud voice.
What was this crazy ghost up to? Why was she always showing up everywhere?
"What are you doing here?" asked Ariana directly.
Ethan stared at her with his scary face. "Is it important to you?"
"Of course! Why are you here? What do you want to do? Why did you come to my mother's shop?" Ariana asked in rapid succession. Her emotions were slowly being provoked.
For some reason, since the incident that night, every time she was confronted with Ethan, she became more easily provoked, whereas before, she was very calm in dealing with him.
"This is a public place, anyone can come, including me," Ethan replied matter-of-factly.
Ariana was silent for a moment, feeling silenced by Ethan's answer. But then she growled angrily. "I told you to stop playing around, Ethan! After Zenith Corp, you now come to Pasaraya. What's your purpose? I emphasize again if you embarrass my family, I'll put you back in jail! An ex-convict like you doesn't belong here!"
Ariana's face, which had been so arrogant, suddenly became frightened and slowly turned deathly pale as Ethan quickly grabbed her neck, almost choking her to the point of not breathing.
No one expected this. Even Aurora, standing in front of Ariana, was now out of the way with her shocked face.
The Velvet Vault employees were no less shocked and screamed in distress.
But Ethan didn't seem to care about his surroundings. He brought his face closer to Ariana and said cruelly. "A person can be called a prisoner when the court has decided in accordance with the applicable law. As for me, I'm just a victim of your family's selfishness and cunning. Instead of me, I think you're the one who doesn't deserve to be out in public. Hypocritical and deceitful... Ariana, do you think your deeds will forever be covered up? Watch what you say if you don't want to be the subject of ridicule by the whole world!"
Ethan removed his hand roughly, causing Ariana to be pushed back slightly. Then he walked away without looking back at the people watching him, followed by Benedict, who had been silent.
The two stopped at a restaurant and sat opposite each other at a table at the back end.
After ordering food, Benedict began to open his voice. "Mr. Ethan, from now on, I am your assistant. Grand Master Grant wanted you to start things off comfortably, so he withdrew some of his people who worked here, replacing them with new ones. But you can rest easy, they are all people he trusts."
"What about the manager at the Velvet Vault?" asked Ethan seriously.
"All those there are people brought in by Madam Celeste."
"Can you take care of it?"
Benedict's face grew serious. "Do you mean you want to change the manager?"
Ethan nodded firmly. "Everything in there, I want to replace. Give Mrs. Celeste a new contract, with higher profits going to us. If she doesn't want it, return all the products and terminate the partnership. I want them to have no power here, as I am the only master."
"I will arrange it immediately." Benedict obeyed and started fiddling with his iPad. "Then what about Miss Alvina's products?"
As soon as the question was asked, Ethan, who had been serious, immediately fell silent with a faint frown. He thought for a long time until, finally, he shook his head softly. "Let it go first. There's no need to care too much about it. But don't let your guard down, though. Let's just say she's not so dangerous that it doesn't require any quick action.""But, Ben...." Ethan hung his words. He slowly moved forward with his arms crossed on the table, staring intently at Benedict, who was now staring at him tensely. "You are now my assistant, which means my person. From the moment you introduced yourself to me, you have no connection with Grand Master Grant or his family, Madam Celeste. You are starting a new life with a new name and boss. Everything from the past is gone, like a dream."Benedict swallowed hard. The aura his Master gave off was piercing, making him feel intimidated."Before taking care of what I said, there is one thing you must do first. That is the signing of the con
After arriving at the hospital grounds, an old black car pulled up in front of Alvina, making her rush into the back seat before the four-wheeled vehicle sped away from the hospital area and joined the other vehicles.Not long after, the car stopped in front of a five-star restaurant. Alvina got out while smoothing her outerwear and stepped inside quietly. A waiter approached her and led her to the second floor, where a row of VVIP rooms were located.Alvina nodded briefly as she stood in front of the room at the end. The waiter left, leaving her alone. Then the girl opened the door and entered.A large round table surrounded by chairs was immediately visible to her. When she turned to the right, two single sofas were beside the window, with a small table as a buffer. On one of them, there was someone already occupying it.Alvina instantly straightened up and approached, standing by the table and bowing. "Thank you for saving me."The person staring at the scene outside the window chuc
"Sir, this is the new manager I told you about yesterday." Benedict introduced a young man who looked boyish. His hair was neatly styled with a slight tuft at the front.Ethan's gaze went straight to him. However, all his expectations of a manager who was older or at least like Benedict were instantly shattered.He glanced at Benedict with a doubtful look.Realizing that the Velvet Vault's new manager immediately bowed. "Hello, Mr. Ethan. My name is Bevanka Joshua. Mr. Benedict has my complete data. I will do all the tasks you give me well."Even his voice sounded crisp, typical of a teenager.Ethan hesitated even more."Sir, this is Joshua's file," Benedict said, handing Ethan a thick folder.The man wearing a white shirt today immediately took it and read it carefully. However, some of the words there managed to shock him into wide-eyed surprise. He stared at Joshua intently, not hiding his surprise at all. "This is your real data?""Yes, Mr. Ethan," Joshua replied quickly."How long
Ethan walked through the crowded Pasaraya at a leisurely pace. The oval-shaped glasses already on his face added an addictive sweetness.He stopped in front of the branded watch shop right in front of the Velvet Vault and told Benedict to choose two couple watches. Meanwhile, he stood by the storefront, staring straight at the Velvet Vault just to watch how the fun happened.Both corners of his lips lifted, forming a faint smile as he saw how calm and mature Joshua was in handling the matter.Everything still looked normal until the hurried arrival of Madame Bernita, followed by Alvina, caught his attention."Esme! Esme, come out!" shouted Madame Bernita as soon as her foot entered the Velvet Vault area. Her eyes, adorned with luscious lashes, stared at the employees, who looked surprised by her arrival. "Where is your manager?""Madam." However, they were so shocked that their voices were stammering.That, of course, added to Madam Bernita's annoyance. She clucked and gyrated her wais
"What is the meaning of this?""Why are we suddenly fired?""Is it possible that what he's talking about is true? He's the new manager here.""We're dead if it's true.""Huss! No way. This is Mrs. Bernita's territory, how could it suddenly change hands? It's just foreigners playing tricks on us.""Yes, that's right. We must not be swayed. This is just a meaningless bluff."Instantly, the employees were abuzz with panic. But they still tried to deny and disbelieve what had happened. Nothing could shake their faith in Madame Bernita.Overestimating someone to the point of forgetting themselves made them even more unable to guard their actions and words. They forgot that trusting someone too much would only cause deep wounds."Madam, this... what happened? Why is there a dismissal letter all of a sudden?" Manager Esme looked at Mrs. Bernita with reddened eyes. Her voice became shaky. "What should we do, madam? I don't want to be fired. Please... this is my only job.""Shut up! Can't you
Benedict was a little surprised to hear his words, but he remained silent, carrying out his profession professionally.The security guard nodded in understanding and then ran into the house. It didn't take long for him to come back out with a smiling face as he opened the door wide. "Grand Master is waiting for you inside, please come in!""Thank you," said Ethan, who began to take steps with Benedict faithfully following him.The first thing they saw when they crossed the threshold was a hallway whose right side was filled with paintings, while the left side had two stacked shelves filled with unique items and women's handbags."Sir?" Benedict shouldn't have been surprised because the Waverly lord was a designer, so surely these were his creations. But still, seeing them lined up like this amazed him."You can ask whatever you want to ask later. Come on!" In contrast to Ethan, who only glanced at the items and stared straight ahead.A maid came and directed them to the parlor. Grand M
After leaving the Waverly residence, Ethan did not head straight to Zenith Corp but instead stopped by a cafe to enjoy lunch. Of course, with Benedict and the driver.This rare event succeeded in scaring the driver. The skinny man tried to refuse Ethan's invitation, but unfortunately, it didn't work."Why are you just staring at the food? It's not going to walk into your mouth by itself. Eat it!" Ethan, who was about to feed his food, instantly stopped his movement when he saw his driver, Andre, just standing there with his eyes straight on the plates in front of him.When his gaze shifted to Benedict, the man did the same—making Ethan lower his hand and chuckle softly. "What are you guys doing? Are you not eating rice?""Ah, no, sir. It's not like that," Benedict replied quickly. He glanced at Andre and lowered his gaze again. "It seems inappropriate for us to eat at the same table with you.""Why is it inappropriate?" Finally, Ethan put down his spoon and looked at the two people si
Ethan climbed the hundreds of steps at a leisurely pace. Occasionally, he would even hum some lyrics from different songs. The man seemed to really enjoy his journey despite how tiring it was.Once he reached a certain floor, Ethan stopped and took off his round glasses, put them in his coat pocket, and continued his steps. And on the next floor, he again stopped, only to remove one button of his shirt to expose his chest. From then on, on every floor, Ethan would stop just to do something.Finally, by the time he reached the floor of his room, the man who had been so neat with his refreshing appearance had turned into a shapeless mess.If he didn't remember where he was, Ethan might have taken off his shoes and chosen to go barefoot because it was too hot."Sir?" Hazel, who was waiting in front of his room, was very surprised.She hurriedly approached Ethan and asked anxiously. "Are you okay?"Ethan couldn't answer and could only nod with bated breath.Hazel grimaced softly. "Come, s