At seven in the morning, the dining room of Cloud Lake Villa was filled with the aroma of breakfast. When Emily entered, she found Carlos already seated there, and Mrs. Carter had finished her breakfast.
Emily’s gaze swept over the empty head seat; Evan Palr’s seat was vacant.
Maria Carter was also unusually not sleeping in; she stood hesitantly at the dining table,
"Mom, Dad was on the phone in the study all night last night."
"Maria, let the driver take you to school."
Mrs. Carter put down her knife and fork, her expression unchanged. Today she wore an iron-gray suit, a pair of lustrous pearl earrings on her ears, yet she seed like an unsheathed sword.
"Today’s board eting is very important," she smiled at Emily,
"Don’t worry, I’m here."
The lady finally glanced around the dining room, her gaze pausing briefly on the empty head seat, her lips pressed into a firm line,
"Let’s go."
In the Carter Clan Group’s eting room, when the long-absent Mrs. Carter appeared, there was an uproar in the room.
With just a look from Mrs. Carter, the entire room fell eerily silent.
"Since Vice-chairperson Evan is absent, we won’t wait for her."
Mrs. Carter surveyed everyone, her voice steady and powerful,
"I propose the removal of Evan Palr..."
The eting room doors were suddenly pushed open with a loud bang.
Everyone stood up in shock.
Old Lady Carter, supported by Evan Palr, entered slowly, leaning on a rosewood cane.
She was dressed in a dark green cheongsam, her silver hair ticulously styled, and her phoenix eyes, quite similar to Mrs. Carter’s, were sharp as a blade.
"Mom..."
Seeing Old Lady Carter, Mrs. Carter’s hand holding the dismissal docunt slipped onto the table, making a faint sound.
Carlos also stood up abruptly, his chair scraping the floor with a harsh noise,
"Grandmother? When did you return to the country?"
Emily glanced at Evan Palr, noting the fleetingly smug smile at his lips, cursing him under her breath as an old fox.
"What, do I, an old woman, need to report to you when I return?"
Old Lady Carter let out a cold laugh, her cane striking heavily on the marble floor, the crisp sound echoing in the eting room.
Mrs. Carter hurriedly stepped forward,
"Mother, you’re not in good health; you should be resting..."
"Resting?" Old Lady Carter shot a sharp glance at Emily, "If I don’t co back, you’ll hand the Carter group over to outsiders. This woman must be thrown out of the Carter Clan."
Emily t the old lady’s gaze; Old Lady Carter snorted.
"Grandmother!"
Carlos stepped forward, his voice suppressed with anger,
"Emily just made a significant contribution to the Carter Clan with the COCO project..."
"Silence!"
Old Lady Carter sternly interrupted, "You’ve been bewitched by this woman!"
She turned to the board mbers, taking a docunt from Evan Palr’s hand,
"This is the authorization letter from the old master. From today onwards, I will temporarily assu the position of chairperson."
The eting room was imdiately in an uproar.
"This is impossible!"
Mrs. Carter’s face turned pale,
"Father clearly transferred the shares to Emily and her unborn child before going abroad."
"Clearly what?"
Old Lady Carter sneered,
"Do you think the old master would stand by and watch your nonsense?"
Her sharp gaze swept towards Emily, "I hereby announce the imdiate dismissal of Emily from the position of General Manager."
"Grandmother!"
Carlos slamd the table, his voice filled with unprecedented anger,
"You can’t be unreasonable."
"Carlos!"
Emily suddenly spoke, her voice exceptionally calm. She slowly stood up, her back straight,
"Old Lady, may I ask what the reason is for my dismissal?"
Old Lady Carter squinted her eyes,
"Reason? A woman who climbs by getting pregnant dares to ask for a reason?"
There were a few gasps in the eting room.
Emily suddenly smiled, a smile that froze the smugness on Evan Palr’s face.
She calmly took a docunt from her briefcase,
"This is the exclusive cooperation agreent with the COCO Group for the next five years, requiring my signature. If there’s a change midway, the penalty is as high as three billion."
She gently placed the docunt on the table,
"If I resign now, this contract becos void imdiately."
Old Lady Carter’s expression changed slightly.
"Moreover,"
Emily’s voice was neither hurried nor slow,
"According to the Carter Clan’s regulations, major personnel changes require approval from two-thirds of the board."
She looked around at everyone, "How many of you here are willing to bear this loss?"
The conference room fell into a deathly silence. Several major shareholders exchanged glances, shaking their heads; who would willingly go against money?
Old Lady Carter thumped her cane heavily,
"Are you threatening ?"
"I wouldn’t dare,"
Emily bowed slightly,
"I’m rely stating facts. After all, you’ve been abroad for a long ti, perhaps you’re unfamiliar with local customs."
Just then, the conference room door was pushed open again.
"Sorry everyone, I’m late."
Everyone turned to see Cedric Shaw, dressed in a well-tailored suit, standing at the door holding a manila envelope.
"I must remind everyone,"
He adjusted his glasses,
"Terminating an executive without due procedure may constitute breach of contract."
Old Lady Carter’s face turned ashen,
"And who might you be?"
"Cedric Shaw, personal legal adviser to General Manager Emily."
Cedric Shaw walked calmly to stand behind Emily.
Carlos’s eyes flashed with a hint of surprise, but he quickly understood and stepped forward,
"Grandmother, even you can’t override the board’s decision."
"Enough!"
Old Lady Carter suddenly began to cough violently, and Mrs. Carter rushed forward to support her.
She shakily pointed a finger at Emily,
"Fine, very well! We’ll see what happens!"
With those words, she left the room angrily with Mrs. Carter’s help, the sound of her cane hitting the floor like muffled thunder.
The conference room was silent, everyone stunned by the sudden turn of events.
The board eting had to be suspended due to Old Lady Carter’s unexpected return.
Emily slowly sat down and realized her back was already soaked in sweat. She looked at Carlos, who gave her an almost imperceptible nod.
Carlos stood beside her, his warm hand suddenly covering her cold fingers. Emily looked up, eting his deep gaze filled with complex emotions—shock, doubt, and a hint of... pride?
As the two returned to Cloud Lake Villa, the shadows of trees flashed past the car window, the twilight casting its glow on Emily’s profile through the glass.
She looked down at her fingertips, still haunted by Old Lady Carter’s icy gaze.
"What are you thinking?"
Beside her, Carlos’s voice suddenly broke the silence.
Emily snapped out of her thoughts and turned to look at him.
He was watching her, his other hand casually resting by the window, his long fingers distinct with pale wrist bones exposed through his sleeve. His side profile was sharp, jawline tense, and eyes fathomless like ink, revealing no emotion.
"The old lady... really doesn’t like ."
Emily said softly, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing the seatbelt.
Upon hearing this, Carlos’s lips curved slightly, tinged with self-mockery,
"She doesn’t like either."
Emily was taken aback, raising her eyes to look at him,
"But you are her biological grandson."
"So what?"
Carlos’s tone was indifferent,
"She doesn’t like , just as she never liked Old Master."
Emily was stunned, not expecting him to suddenly ntion this.
Old Lady Carter ca from a prestigious background, a gem in the hands of forr Shanghai capitalists, forced to marry the mud-legged Old Master Carter after the family fell on hard tis.
Old Master Carter doted on her in every way possible, but Old Lady’s inherent pride never diminished; she looked down on Old Master and everything about the Carter family.
"She doesn’t like because I’m too much like Old Master—stubborn, obstinate, unreconciled to bowing down.
As for Evan Palr, she really likes him, reportedly because Evan Palr resembles her first love."
Carlos’s voice was low, tinged with coldness. He suddenly glanced sideways at her; his gaze was intense and direct,
"She doesn’t like you simply because—"
He paused briefly, his voice low yet clear,
"You are the one I like."
Emily’s breath caught, her heartbeat inexplicably accelerated, pupils slightly dilating, her whole body stiffened.
Had he just said... he likes her?
Her throat felt blocked, unable to utter a word for a mont.
Observing her reaction, a trace of amusent flashed in Carlos’s eyes but was soon restrained.
He retracted his gaze, looking ahead once more, his tone reverting to its usual coolness,
"So, don’t mind her attitude."
Emily pursed her lips, hesitating before speaking softly, "When... did you start liking ?"
Carlos didn’t answer, only his lips curved ever so slightly.
Sunlight spilled through the car window, falling between them, as if the air was filled with so hidden, ambiguous atmosphere.
Reviews
All reviews (0)