Yafe's outburst sent a jolt through everyone there, especially Sherah, who was right next to him, gazing longingly at Xareny's diamond ring. She almost let it slip through her fingers."What the heck, Yafe? You nearly scared me to death!" Sherah snapped back to reality and gave the ecstatic Yafe a good thump on the back.Across the table, Kyros and Kaiden were giving Yafe the eye, clearly baffled."Yafe, got some good news?" Kyros asked, raising his glass for a sip and grinning, "Come on, share the joy with me here. Let's all get in on the celebration!"Xareny could not resist a playful jab, chuckling, "Hey, uncle, what's got you over the moon? Did that stock you were just talking about actually pay off? It's maxed out?"As Xareny's words hung in the air, Kaiden, Melaine, and Kyros could not contain their laughter. Kaiden, in particular, was in stitches, his eyes glistening with tears of mirth."Xareny, what are you even saying? Seriously, I've checked out that stock, and from wh
The room was stunned by his announcement—everyone except Liam, that is.The stocks had maxed out their value!?Liam's wild guess was spot on!?"150 thousand dollars? Show me! I want to see!"Sherah, snapping out of her daze, grabbed Yafe's phone with a look of sheer excitement. She might not have known the first thing about stocks, but she knew money when she saw it. The figures on the screen made her eyes pop.Yafe passed the phone to Sherah, his grin unwavering. That was his moment, especially after Kyros had been flaunting his luck in landing a great son-in-law. Yafe felt like he had evened the score.If Cheryl had not been tied up and absent, he would not have had to endure Kyros's mockery. Then, with the stocks through the roof, he was eager to see their reactions.Yafe mulled it over, then with a grin spreading across his face, he grabbed the glass before him and raised it to Liam. "Here's to us, Liam. Let's drink up!"Liam quirked an eyebrow, his expression a playful mix
Yafe, however, was not about to let Kaiden off the hook that easily. He feigned nonchalance, but his words were sharp as thorns. "Hey, no worries, it's common for the young guns to miss the mark now and then."However, Kyros, I had high hopes for your son-in-law. Turns out he's not infallible. Even Liam, who's known for mooching off his girlfriends, has a keener eye than him."Yafe raised his glass with a victorious chuckle, his eyes twinkling at Kyros and Kaiden. "Haha, I hit the jackpot today, so dinner's on me. Thanks for the good company!" With a hearty laugh, he polished off his wine and weaved his way to the cashier to pay the tab.Sherah, who had endured Melaine and her daughter's snide remarks all evening, finally had her moment. She stood tall, her smile wide and proud. "Melaine, it's been ages. I really enjoyed our meal, thanks for the treat. It's getting late, so we'll head out first." She hurried after Yafe, her grin so broad it was contagious.Once they were gone, Ce
"Kaiden, look at you go! Aren't you the hotshot securities analyst? You said you were the best, right? So what happened? You got totally overshadowed by Liam!"Happy now? You've made a complete fool of the Carsons in front of the Stones. I warned you, didn't I? Not to embarrass us. And now? You think my dad will still help you out? Fat chance! Just keep your fingers crossed for a miracle!"With that, Xareny, still fuming, gave him another sharp slap and grabbed her purse, clacking out of the room in her stilettos.Kaiden, cheeks stinging from the slaps, tried to get a word in, but Xareny was having none of it. He watched her sashay away, then slammed his fist onto the table, seething."That damn Liam! He's going to pay for this. Making me look bad, screwing up my plans—I'll make sure he regrets it!" Kaiden snarled, his face contorted with fury.Truth be told, Kaiden was far from the successful, up-and-coming hotshot he claimed to be. His tales of raking in millions were just hot a
Gary was so anxious that he could not string a sentence together. He could not tell Celena what was happening no matter how hard he tried. Seeing him in this state got Celena incredibly anxious, and she quickly comforted him, "Gary, calm down. Take your time. You have first to tell me what's going on, right?"After Gary led the workers to Celena, he sighed deeply while looking helpless. Refusing to accept the situation but knowing it could not be helped, Gary said, "You have no idea, Ms. Stone. All those workers have left. Other than a few team leaders like us and some seasoned workers, the rest of them left early this morning. I—This—What should we do?"Celena was stunned. Nervousness was written all over her face as she asked, "What? They've all left? Where have they gone?""Those people have quit, Ms. Stone. They didn't even want their last paychecks anymore and left early in the morning," a team leader said angrily.Gary sighed a couple of times and added, "That's right. They
Celena ran out the street outside the factory, and sure enough, she saw the recruiters Gary was talking about. They had a few simple tables set up by the street and a few vans parked. There were banners on the vans and also striking recruitment advertisements placed next to the tables.The few recruiters were recruiting without stopping, and the job seekers gathered in front of them as soon as they saw the 2000-dollar-a-month salary.Right at that moment, Celena saw a few of her workers who were recently hired. They were supposed to report to work that day. However, after they arrived at the gate of Nirvana Factory, they saw the advertisement across the street, and they immediately walked over without even looking back.Seeing that, Celena rushed up to them to stop them and said, "Hi, I'm Celena. I'm the manager for Nirvana Factory. The salary and benefits we offer are quite generous. We offer more than a thousand dollars a month and provide food and accommodation for our workers. T
After the worker handed the notice to Celena, the other worker quickly walked up to the notice board outside the factory and put another copy of the notice up.The notice was deliberately printed on pink paper, and the words "Closure Notice" were in bold. It was incredibly striking while it was on the noticeboard.Once the notice was put up, the two workers ignored Celena and the others and left in their car. Celena was stunned as she held the closure notice in her hands. She did not regain her senses even after the people from The Connoisseurs left for some time.Gary and the factory workers looked at the eye-catching notice on the board and felt anxious and infuriated. Feeling all worked up, Gary hit his thigh and called out, "Who the hell is targeting us? Th-they are trying to drive us to a dead end. Even if the Drunham City Connoisseurs are helping them!"It was quite a blow to the other workers, which was why their face was ashened, and they simply stared at the noticeboard
Gary understood what they meant, so he had no idea what to say as well. All he could do was look at Celena helplessly and ask, "Ms. Stone, what should we do now? We can't just sit around and wait."Celena held on to the notice tightly, took a deep breath, and said, "Gary, you wait at the factory for now. I'll head to The Connoisseurs to see what's going on."She looked at the few seasoned workers and comforted them, "Don't worry. I'll go to The Connoisseurs and check out the situation now. I know our factory is going through a troubled time. Don't worry. It'll be taken care of. If the factory is truly closed down one day, I'll compensate all of you. I won't make things hard for you."Celena hailed a cab by the roadside and headed toward the office building for Drunham City Connoisseurs.Those seasoned workers at the gate were all flushed in embarrassment after they heard what Celena said. They were worried that the factory would be closed down and they would not get paid. They did