Eric’s father brandished his walking stick forcefully. “Are you giving me parenting advice? Eric, you shouldn’t bring your disreputable friends into the company. You won’t be able to manage it that way. I’ve made my decision. I’ll give you a week to hand Glide Designs over to your second brother!”Eric balled his hands into fists. “On what grounds?”“Because I am your father! Whatever I say, goes. Do as I say. If you’re not happy, you can leave the Nathaniel family home!” Mr. Nathaniel was extremely enraged, his wizened face was completely red from anger.Arianne was suddenly reminded of Helen. While Helen was not openly hostile, she had chosen Jean and Aery and abandoned her. Aery enjoyed everything that she did not have. She hated parents like these. Her heart burned with rage as she said, “Mr. Nathaniel, are you saying that my husband, Mark Tremont, is a disreputable friend? The Nathaniel family certainly has high standards. Us Tremonts are certainly unworthy of you. Even your ow
Eric suddenly laughed. “Alright. From now on, I have nothing to do with the Nathaniels. I’ve heard that my oldest brother has been trying to convince Mark to work with him. Do you know that Mark hasn’t agreed to it? Since Mark’s wife is here today, let me make this clear to you; you can all forget about establishing a relationship with Mark Tremont. As long as I am around, it’ll never happen! Profits may be important to Mark, but it’s not as important as friendship. If you don’t believe me, give it a try!”Mr. Nathaniel stared at Eric before shifting his gaze to Arianne. No one could tell what he was thinking. In the end, he stayed silent and left. Arianne heaved a sigh of relief. She was really afraid. She was afraid that not only would Mr. Nathaniel beat Eric, but he would beat her as well. That was why she had mentioned Mark in the beginning. It seemed like Mark’s name was very effective. Moreover, Mr. Nathaniel seemed to be unaware that Eric was such good friends with Mark. In a
The Nathaniel family home.Mr. Nathaniel called for a family meeting when he arrived home. Naturally, Eric was not invited.All those who wanted to benefit from Mr. Nathaniel, naturally, had to pander to him before he took his last breath.His eldest and second sons had arrived. The two brothers had dragged their family members along as well. Only his daughter who had been married off did not attend the meeting.“Why did you call us here so urgently, dad?” His second son was slightly upset because the meeting had interrupted his fun. However, he did not show his displeasure.Mr. Nathaniel replied grimly, “I didn’t expect Eric to be affiliated with Mark Tremont. Moreover, they’re good friends. Mark’s wife is a designer in the company as well. I’ve miscalculated this time. I don’t know if he’s trying to trick us, but if it’s true, we can forget about establishing a connection with Mark.”Mr. Nathaniel’s second son was not bothered at all. When things got rough, he would push his re
No one understood what she meant. The eldest son’s wife could not stand her sister-in-law’s despicable methods and said disdainfully, “Don’t drag your unsightly affairs into this. Lest we end up penny-wise and pound-foolish.”The second son’s wife glared at her, “What are you saying? What unsightly affairs? I’m suggesting we convince Mark’s wife to betray Eric. At that time, Eric would definitely sever ties with Mark. If Eric has a problem with Mark’s wife, Mark will certainly have a problem with him. At that time, we can take advantage of it to smooth things over and lure Mark to our side. I’m sure Mark won’t mind working with us to seek revenge from Eric!”The eldest son’s eyes lit up. “Dad, I don’t think that’s a bad idea. Lily is still in Glide. I’ll have a talk with her so we can start our plan from there. Mark’s wife might not betray Eric, but Lily can do it on her behalf. What do you think?”Mr. Nathaniel nodded heavily after some thought. “That’s the only way now. I’ll leave
At this very moment, it hit her that Mark had grown important to her like a family member. Whenever he was around, the Tremont mansion would come alive. She did not like coming home to a lifeless house. This made her already tiring day even more exhausting.Rice Ball mewled and pounced into her arms. She smiled and carried it upstairs. “I’m going upstairs to shower and sleep. I’ve been really busy lately. I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to take care of you.”Rice Ball responded to her, seemingly sympathetically, and whimpered pitifully.By the time she came out from the shower, Rice Ball had already fallen asleep on the blanket at the corner of the bed. She could not bear waking it up so she let it be. She gently slipped into the blanket and fell asleep.After some time had passed, she awoke from her dreams to Rice Ball’s sudden yelp. She turned on the lights in a panic. Both Mark and Rice Ball were clearly surprised by this.Rice Ball shrunk into the foot of the bed, widening
Arianne rushed back to her desk to find the documents in her hands, but despite her best efforts, she could not find them at all! She returned to Eric’s office with a pale face. “No… The document I have has gone missing. How can the client be so contradictory? The contract has clearly been signed. This is too much!”Eric lowered his voice as he said, “Due to my current situation, setting aside my broken ties with the Nathaniel family, Glide is only a mid-sized company so I can’t give them too much profits. We can’t let our competitors find out about this. If news of this gets out, my competitors will swoop down and give our clients higher profits. At that time, contract cancellations like this would be normal. It’s not that I can’t afford it, it’s just not necessary for me to fork out that kind of money. Understand?”Arianne felt mildly vexed. “I really don’t know what happened. I’m the designer, I shouldn’t have accepted such an important role. Now that something has happened, I don
Arianne took a deep breath. “Thank you, I understand. I didn’t lose my personal belongings. I lost something confidential from the company.”Her neighbor sighed. A fearful expression could be seen on her face as she said, “It has nothing to do with me!”Arianne did not reply. She did not want to suspect Lily, but the time was too coincidental. Eric believed he had managed to get Lily to work for him, he would be very disappointed if he found out Lily was behind this.Arianne rose to her feet and called Lily to the pantry.Lily said impatiently, “What is it? It’s working hours. If you have something to say, do it when we’re off the clock.”Arianne went straight to the point. “I know the document was stolen by you. You used to work for the Nathaniels so I can understand if you gave it to them. Why did you do it?”Lily’s expression sank. “It’s your mistake. Why are you pushing this on me? I’m not going to take the blame for someone else’s mistake. This has nothing to do with me.”A
Lily glanced at Arianne. No one knew what was going through her mind at this moment. “You managed to discover the truth so easily because I didn’t do a clean job.” She looked at Eric, “I didn’t want to do it either, but your eldest brother made me do it. I asked him why, but he didn’t give me a reason. It wasn’t easy for me to find a footing in the capital. The Nathaniels gave me a lot of opportunities. My family isn’t doing too well, and I don’t want to lose my job. My mother would kill me if we lose our financial resources. Your eldest brother only needs to say the word, and I’d have to leave. I have no choice…”The disappointment in Eric’s eyes was clear. “Did you think that I’ve become a stray dog, unable to fend for himself, and that I won’t be able to take care of you? Do you think I’m unreliable? Fine. That’s fine. I had intended to take you with me when I start my own company after leaving Glide. However, it seems like our objectives are not aligned. Let’s just hope my brother