03
This time, Ethan’s company was his biggest competitor.
The next afternoon, Asher came home early and left me in the hands of the makeup artist. He insisted the makeup artist perfect every detail.
By evening, I was like a well–crafted doll, carefully escorted out the door.
“You haven’t seen Ethan in a long time, so you should catch up. Our budget for this bid isn’t
high.”
I knew what he meant. He wanted me to get information out of Ethan. Or maybe even have
Ethan back down.
At the dinner, Ethan came over and greeted me first. Asher, picking up on the situation,
immediately walked away.
What had drawn me to him in the past was his honesty. He wasn’t competitive.
Only now did I realize he wasn’t avoiding competition at all!
He wanted it all.
Ethan, holding a wine glass, teased, “Your husband couldn’t handle it, so now you’re here?”
“If he couldn’t handle it, then I can’t either.”
The implication was clear. I didn’t want to let Asher win.
Ethan raised an eyebrow. Then we exchanged a smile.
The bidding began, and Asher kept raising the price.
Ethan was not backing down.
In the end, it was just the two of them raising paddles.
Ethan kept bidding, each time just a little higher than Asher.
Asher was on edge. He directly asked me, “What’s going on? Didn’t you talk to him?”
“We talked, but it’s business.”
The price kept climbing, exceeding our budget. Asher finally gave up.
Before we even reached the parking lot, Asher started losing his temper. “What did you come
here for? One man can’t get it done, so what use am I to you? Do you have any idea how much
I’m going to lose on this project?”
I scanned him from head to toe. “You’re a man, and you can’t even handle a project without
your wife stepping in. What use are you to me?”
He didn’t expect me to fight back. Over the past year, I had always gone along with his
business decisions.
“What do you know? Do you have any idea how important this project is to me? You should reflect on yourself!”
With that, he got in the car and sped off.
In the parking lot, I ran into Ethan. “What happened? Why the argument? He’s hopeless. E
a secretary assistant can rise to become a CEO.”
I nodded in agreement.
In the end, Ethan gave me a ride home.
20:09 Sun, 2 Mar SOO.
Asher didn’t come back that night.
It was obvious he was at Eleanor’s place.
༢.,36%–
The next morning, as soon as I walked into the office, a heavy atmosphere hit me. It had to be
because of Asher’s failure in the bid.
All the shareholders were watching Asher closely, and of course, they were questioning the
outcome.
At the shareholders‘ meeting, Asher explained the situation, focusing on my mistakes and
the final failure.
“Liliana, as a shareholder, should take full responsibility for this failure.”
He dared to say this because I was his wife.
My uncles weren’t so lenient with him.
“It was you who said this project was a sure thing. Now that we didn’t get the land, it’s Liliana’s
fault.”
“Exactly! The last project failed because of your personal issues, and it still hasn’t even
started.”
Many shareholders were unhappy with him. Some even questioned if he had the capability.
Asher didn’t say a word but kept signaling me to say something in his defense.
On the table, I held the largest share. My words carried some weight.
“This time, Asher was indeed at fault. Since some of the uncles question his capabilities…”
“I won’t cover for him. I agree with your decision.”
Asher was stunned, not expecting me to say this.
He quickly interrupted the meeting, walking over and whispering in my ear, “Liliana, what’s going on? Is now really the time for a temper tantrum? Hurry up and say you disagree.”
20:09 Sun, 2 Mar SOO
04
