“How am I still alive?” The young man widened his smile and now looked much more mature than the unruly youth he used to be.He dressed up like a businessperson with a white slim-fit shirt, hair combed neatly, and a briefcase in his hand. If he had not called Lily by her name, she could never be sure of who he was.“Don’t say that.” Lily frowned. Although the young man was referring to himself, she did not feel comfortable hearing it. “It’s just that I’ve not seen you for a long time.”Jenny looked on curiously as Lily interacted with the handsome young man sitting at the nearby table.“I’ve been occupied with something.” He nodded with a slight smile. “Why don’t we grab a coffee since we’ve run into each other? My treat.”Since it was unusual for Lily to bump into him, she nodded since she had completed her tasks here. “Sure.”“You’re…” Jenny hesitated whether or not to interrupt their conversation.“He’s a friend of mine.” Lily smiled. “Jen, would you like to join us for coffe
After listening to Lily for a while, Benedict shook his head and sighed, “I thought many would have felt saddened by the news of my death. I guess I don’t have such an influence over people, do I?”Lily knew he was teasing her, but she did not laugh—instead, she asked seriously, “Is it part of your game plan?”Benedict’s gaze wavered as he looked at her. “What?”“If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s okay. Everyone has secrets, so I guess you must do what you need to do.” Lily did not like to pry into others’ affairs, so she did not mind if he did not want to talk about it.Benedict smiled. “It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it, but it’s not the time yet. Anyway, I never thought I’d bump into you here. Are you here on vacation?”“No, I came here to discuss a collaboration deal,” Lily answered frankly.Benedict raised his eyebrows and threw her a surprised look. “You used to busy yourself with conducting experiments and creating perfumes in the lab, and now you’re discus
“I used one of the pieces as an ingredient to make the essential oil, and the perfumes based on it became very popular.” Lily could not help but be proud of her creations.After some thought, Benedict asked, “Are you talking about the Four Seasons-themed series?”“You know about them?” Lily was surprised that he had heard about the perfumes.“Of course” He nodded with a smile. “I smelled the scent when I was with a team of models from Bryxton. I thought its scent was familiar, but I didn’t expect that it had something to do with those pieces of wood.”“That’s why I should thank you,” Lily chuckled, “Not just that. I’ve tried cultivating a few other pieces back at my farm, and they have begun germinating. Their shoots have an even more unique scent, and I’m thinking of observing them further.”“You have a cultivation farm too!” Seeing her spirited look, Benedict could not help but chuckle along.“Yes, I’ll bring you to visit it one day!”Lily remembered that he was still a “decea
Just as Nathaniel happily prepared to go to the meeting, his assistant hurried in, flustered. “Mr. Hall, bad news!”Thinking that she had jinxed him, Nathaniel grew stern. “What bad news? How could there be bad news with me around?” As the assistant ran over, she tried to catch her breath as she sputtered, “N-No, sir, it’s Mr. Tanner…he…”Nathaniel frowned. “Which Mr. Tanner are you talking about?”‘It doesn’t matter if there are too many Tanners here because I’ll get rid of them in a moment, and the company will soon have nothing to do with them.’“Mr. Tanner, the general manager!” She stomped her foot and gritted her teeth. “Joseph Tanner.”Nathaniel was unperturbed. ‘What could that old fool do?’He picked up his coffee cup from the desk and took a sip, saying slowly, “Oh, him! Didn’t I tell you he’s going to step down soon, and there’s no need to bother about him? What’s the matter?”“He…jumped off a building to kill himself!”…Nathaniel did not go to the hospital, as
Nathaniel saw Damian sitting there when he left the interrogation room. Damian bolted to his feet. “You swindled my family’s properties and made a fool out of me, you f*cker!”“Let me give you a piece of advice, you little pr*ck. Think twice before you spout nonsense. How did I make a fool of you? If I remember correctly, you were the one who reported your sister to the police.“Tsk, tsk, people like you would even stoop to press charges against your own kin, and now you’re targeting me with your slander! Please put this man under a thorough investigation, officers. Something might seriously be wrong with him!”Nathaniel was so pleased with himself that he could hardly hide his excitement.Although Joseph’s suicide attempt had slightly disrupted his plans, he did not mind it so much. ‘Even if he had jumped off a building and become paralyzed from the waist down, he still wouldn’t be able to convict me. I had everything taken care of long ago, and I wouldn’t have gotten what I wante
“There’s no need to worry about my wife. I can take good care of her.” Derrick smiled. “You should worry about yourself more.”He turned to the police officers. “I’d like to make a report.”Nobody had expected this turn of events. The supposedly dying Derrick was fine, and he also wanted to make a police report against Nathaniel with concrete evidence.The crisis that had befallen the Tanner family seemingly ended overnight.Things had returned to normal now that Derrick had returned. However, the top management of Tanner Corporation underwent radical changes as those who sided with Arianna and Nathaniel during the crisis got sacked.Only then did people realize everything was part of Derrick’s plan.Although Tanner Corporation seemed to be in its heyday, there had been many problems due to power struggles even among the management team, which ultimately hurt the company’s interest.Due to the conflicts between Arianna’s team, the old-timers, and those that Joseph had rallied in
“Let’s welcome our new chairman!” The door opened, and Benedict entered.Many gasped since they all had heard that he had died. Not only was Benedict still alive, but he also showed up as the new chairman of Tanner Corporation. The quick-witted ones caught quickly realized that Derrick had planned much of what had happened for this very day.Like a loving father, Derrick had gotten rid of all the obstacles so Benedict could safely replace him. Soon, everyone clapped to welcome him, knowing that they should at least show support for the new chairman.Benedict walked over and said solemnly, “It’s not the first time I’ve been here, and it’s not the first time I’ve joined the meeting either. However, this is my first time standing here as your chairman. From now on, I’ll be working hard with you all to make Tanner Corporation even greater.”“I believe Benedict needs no introduction, as you all know him. Let’s move on to the second agenda. Our company is going to launch a new project wh
Meanwhile, at the hospital, Joseph did not expect to meet his elder brother in this state and felt overwhelmed with emotions. He did not even know what to say, “Derrick, I…”Having discovered what had happened over the past two days, Joseph went from shock to acceptance to slowly understanding the truth.It was only a couple of months, but he felt like he had finally woken up from an endless nightmare. Joseph thought he had everything under control but now realized he was just a pawn in someone else’s plans.In the end, all he had gotten was this.Derrick pulled a chair over and sat in front of his younger brother, asking warmly, “How are you feeling now?”“How else would I be feeling? I’ll have to live like this for the rest of my life.” Joseph sighed, looking older than even Derrick.“Derrick, I only have a favor to ask. I know I’ve done you wrong, but I hope you can promise me something since we’re brothers, and I’ve ended up like this.”“Is it about your son?” Derrick though