anwhile...
William Pierson hissed as he glared daggers at Jonathan, who was sitting right beside him in the backseat.
"Why did you agree?" he grumbled, clearly displeased with how the eting had gone down. "This isn’t part of our plan!"
Jonathan offered William a smile. "If I didn’t take it, Zoren Pierson would do everything to keep an outsider."
"As if he had a choice if I bring it up to everyone!"
"Exactly. But then again, if you’re the one who brings it up, it would be a bad start for and another hit to your reputation, Uncle."
"A bad reputation? ?" William scoffed. "If there’s anyone who has a bad reputation here, it’s that arrogant brat, Zoren."
"But he is Zoren."
"What?"
Jonathan stretched his mouth a little and chuckled. "Even with a bad reputation, no one would call him out about it because he is the one and only Zoren Pierson, the head of the great Pierson Family. His bad reputation has little to no value, and it has never affected his influence, has it?"
William’s face twisted into an ugly frown, but he couldn’t retort what Jonathan had said. No matter how irritable it was, Jonathan was right. Regardless of Zoren’s bad reputation, it had never affected him. If anything, his bad reputation only gave him an advantage.
People already feared Zoren even before they t him because of his notorious reputation. It wasn’t like everything was true, but who wanted to know the truth? Being the head of the Pierson Family gave credibility to whatever was said about him—be it good or evil.
"Besides, having him introduce himself is a good start!" Jonathan said happily. "It’s like getting a recomndation for a raise from your boss to join the managent. Zoren is credible, and although not many like him, they could never deny that he’s good at what he does. One word from him, and everyone would welco with open arms."
His mouth stretched into a grin, fully displaying his teeth. "Isn’t that the plan to begin with? The only thing that changed is the starting point."
"He’s bringing you along because he doesn’t want to talk about his fake marriage!" William spat out, thinking Jonathan had forgotten that fact. "Marriage has always been a constant topic of argunt at family gatherings, besides his health. But if he introduces you, then everyone’s attention will move away from it."
"But that won’t be the last ti people bring it up."
William shook his head and sighed. "You don’t understand. Well, why am I surprised? Even though you’ve managed to build a prosperous business all on your own, you have no idea how the Pierson Family works."
"In case you didn’t know, timing is everything in the Pierson Family," he continued in a matter-of-fact tone. "Jonathan, if we don’t create sothing tonight that will hurt Zoren’s standing in the family, then it will be over if he sits in the chair to replace the chairwoman."
"This is huge," he added. "I didn’t force that old hag to consider leaving her seat just for Zoren to take it."
William’s face darkened even more as he thought about what he had done to Old Mrs. Pierson. After all, she was old and pro-Zoren. She wasn’t helping anyone in the family except Zoren. Therefore, she should step down to make things fair for everyone.
anwhile, Jonathan just smiled while William continued to complain under his breath. Unlike what the latter was saying, Jonathan perfectly knew how the Pierson Family’s fickleness worked.
’Heh.’Jonathan slowly leaned to his side, propping his elbow on the window, eyes focused on the roadside. ’Zoren Pierson... what a nice thing to do for .’
But then again, Jonathan knew Zoren didn’t welco him without question out of the goodness of his heart. Zoren would never do that—especially not to soone who claid to be Enzo’s mistake. After all, Zoren had always seen his father as a role model—he looked up to him.
’Be it in this lifeti or the previous one, he always saw his father as so sort of idol,’ Jonathan thought, smirking, his eyes narrowing at the re thought of it. ’Surely, despite the two lifetis, he’s still the sa predictably unpredictable.’
Leaning back, Jonathan couldn’t help but think of the past and Zoren. ’For the first ti in this lifeti, I don’t know what’s coming for . How exciting!’
For soone who had always seen everything like a replay, not knowing what would happen next thrilled him. Even though Jonathan hadn’t appeared in the Pierson Family until now, he had always kept up to date with their affairs.
’Did he get reborn too?’Jonathan wondered to himself. ’Did he? Or did he not? Oh, dear. I can never read him.’
At one point, Jonathan didn’t mind if Zoren rembered their past life. It would surely make things exciting. However, there were so many details that told Jonathan the chances were unlikely. After all, if Zoren did rember what happened in the past, he wouldn’t have treated Atlas with such generosity.
Unless, of course, Zoren had other plans in store for the Bennets, and that would explain it.
"What are you doing?" Suddenly, William’s voice snapped Jonathan out of his thoughts. "This isn’t the ti for you to be smiling like a fool!"
"Uncle, what do you want to do?" Jonathan smiled helplessly. "It’s not like I can change anything now, since Zoren’s reaction is far from what we both expected."
"Tss. You have to keep thinking!" William stressed. "Entering the family isn’t the hardest part."
"Uncle, if you’re really worried about timing, I don’t think it’s too late!" Jonathan suggested. "You can always bring it up tonight, but wouldn’t it be better if you made look good instead?"
William frowned at Jonathan’s simplistic suggestion, but that only made Jonathan chuckle.
"Zoren Pierson has always been alone, and even with a genius like Dean Pierson, he still couldn’t overshadow him," Jonathan said. "It’s not because Zoren Pierson is simply outstanding, but because of his father and grandmother."
"What are you saying?"
Jonathan smiled. "Aren’t I also Enzo’s son now? And the chairwoman’s grandson? Once she announces her retirent, there’s a bigger chance people will look in my direction, which is also where you stand."
"You..." He pointed at William, then motioned it to himself. "You in the chair, and I in the CEO seat. From another person’s perspective, that image looks better in the long term."
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