Earlier that morning, Gordon saw something intriguing on his Facebook newsfeed: photos of Devin driving her home last night. Some people even claimed that she had gotten into Devin’s car again later, and the two chatted for more than ten minutes before she got out.
It was Aiken who had sent him the incriminating screenshots that morning.
Now, looking at the faint smile on Ashlyn’s face, Gordon felt the urge to roll his eyes.
Couldn’t she do without men?
He had warned her that Devin was up to no good, but she didn’t care.
Such a stupid woman didn’t deserve his sympathy!
With a cold snort, Gordon turned his face away and looked at the endless line of cars ahead.
Unable to suppress his impatience, he lowered his head and lit a cigarette.
As soon as he took a drag, Ashlyn looked over.
Ashlyn sensed that someone was staring at her and turned to look, only to find that Gordon’s car was next to hers.
How unlucky!
She raised her eyebrows and quickly looked away.
Minutes ticked by but the traffic was unrelenting. At nine o’clock, Talia called. “Miss Ramos, will you attend the meeting later?”
“Yes. Please tell Mr. Perkins that I’m stuck in traffic and will be there in around ten minutes.”
“Okay, will do.”
Fortunately, as soon as she got off the phone with Talia, the road ahead cleared up.
Ashlyn hurried to Fairway Group. The meeting was to be held at nine o’clock, and she was running late. By the time she arrived, the conference room was already full of people.
Ashlyn pushed the door open and walked in. Elvin looked up at her and said with displeasure, “Miss Ramos is finally here. Let’s start.”
Ashlyn didn’t take it to heart. She knew she was in the wrong.
Today’s meeting was mainly about the compensation for the villagers of the East Village. This was the project Ashlyn had taken over the previous night, and the final result could be imagined. The two representatives of the village left with long faces.
As expected, Elvin made things difficult for her in the meeting.
Ashlyn wasn’t a doormat. As soon as Elvin finished scolding her, she said, “Mr. Perkins, you’re wrong. I’ve read the demolition plan. Although it’s not the best idea to avoid the East Village entirely, the headquarters have already asked the designers to come up with a backup plan earlier this year. What I said to the villagers last night were not empty words. This is just business. Aren’t both parties supposed to cooperate? If the other party refuses to budge, then we have to adjust. Since we have a backup plan, there’s no need to bend over backward to accommodate the demands of the other party.”
Ashlyn’s words made perfect sense, but it was unheard of for a new manager to scold a CEO like this. For a moment, the air in the meeting room was very tense.
Elvin had held a high position in Fairway Group for so many years and enjoyed a certain level of prestige. However, Ashlyn was new here, and people with insight knew that she was a woman with a powerful background.
All the people present weren’t stupid, so they just kept silent, lest they offend anyone.
More than ten seconds had passed since Ashlyn finished speaking, but nobody said a word.
Ashlyn had expected this. She smiled and looked at Myron Barrett, the vice president. “Mr. Barrett, what do you think?”
Ashlyn knew Myron and Elvin were at odds with each other in private. When she turned to him, Myron spoke up enthusiastically. “Miss Ramos surely is young, but I agree with her. The East Village has been trying to take advantage of us because they knew that we wanted their land. But now that headquarters has come up with a backup plan, why not make use of it?”
The department manager, who was sitting next to Myron, nodded in agreement.
Elvin’s expression darkened. He was so mad that his face turned a little purple. He shot Ashlyn a glance and said, “Since everyone agrees with Miss Ramos, I’ll wait for the good news.”
Elvin said the last few words through gritted teeth.
Ashlyn looked back at him calmly and smiled. “I won’t let you down.”
This was the second time that Ashlyn had bested Elvin.
Elvin looked livid when he left the meeting room. Ashlyn exchanged a few pleasantries with Myron before leaving the conference room.
“Miss Ramos?”
As soon as Ashlyn returned to her office, Talia knocked on the door and came in.
“What’s up?” Ashlyn asked.
“Your father said he’s coming here on Thursday. Do you think…?”
Stevie was coming to inspect how things were going in Fairway Group. Ashlyn thought for a while and then said, “Tell me what time he’ll arrive. I’ll pick him up.”
After all, Stevie was her father.
As a filial daughter, it was only right that she picked him up from the airport.
Stevie’s trip to Bluepond wasn’t a secret. The plane he was on set off at three o’clock in the afternoon and would arrive at Bluepond at about six o’clock. As soon as Ashlyn arrived at the airport, Stevie’s flight landed.
Elvin had planned to send someone to pick up Stevie from the airport, but the latter had asked his secretary to refuse.
Stevie had come to Bluepond not only to inspect the situation of Fairway Group, but also to see how Ashlyn was doing after divorcing Gordon.
The days in February didn’t last very long. It was only six o’clock in the evening when the sun dipped in the horizon.
Although Ashlyn saw Stevie from a distance, she didn’t call him for fear of being photographed by the paparazzi. She waited patiently until he and his secretary came to her. “Dad,” she greeted softly.
Stevie looked her up and down and then nodded in satisfaction. “You look good.”
Ashlyn smiled. “Jessie has made us a reservation at a restaurant. Let’s go there now.”
Jessie and Ashlyn had practically grown up together. The two went to the same kindergarten, primary school, high school, and even university. When Ashlyn announced that she was going to marry Gordon, Stevie said he would cut ties with her. During Ashlyn’s three-year marriage, he only managed to keep up with her situation from Jessie.
The two families were familiar with each other, and Stevie treated Jessie as his daughter. “How is Jessie? Is her studio still open?”
“Not anymore. She closed it down a while back, but she plans to reopen it in a few months.”
Jessie had also come from a wealthy family. She had a brother and several cousins who ran the family business. There was no need for her to do anything to support her family, so she had grown up to be a rather happy and carefree woman.
Hearing this, Stevie smiled. “See, Ashlyn? You could learn a thing or two from her.”
“But I like making money.” Ashlyn rolled her eyes with a snort.
And she wasn’t lying. There was something about making money that made Ashlyn feel fulfilled.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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