Jessie sent her a barrage of messages, but Ashlyn didn’t reply.
The news that Devin went to Ashlyn’s home was taken down three hours after it had been posted, but many people had seen it already. They wondered if Devin and Ashlyn were in a relationship.
Of course, Gordon wasn’t left out of the picture.
After all, Gordon was connected to both Ashlyn and Devin. The former was his ex-wife, while the latter was his competitor in the business world.
“Amazing. Ashlyn divorced Gordon just a few months ago, right? Now, she’s Devin’s girlfriend. To be honest, I’m a little jealous!”
“Although I want to say that Devin’s nothing but a playboy, I’m a little jealous, too. I mean, he’s rich and gorgeous. What more could a woman ask for?”
The two well-dressed women gossiped excitedly in the corridor to the bathroom.
Gordon overheard them and couldn’t help but feel annoyed. He quickly finished off his cigarette and stormed off.
When he returned to their private room, Gordon picked up his coat and said briskly, “There’s something I have to deal with. Please excuse me.”
Although his words were apologetic, there wasn’t a trace of sorry on his face.
Everything had happened so suddenly that Lowell didn’t have the time to react. When he came to his senses, Gordon was already gone. Lowell scrambled to find an excuse and apologized to their partners. They waved their hands dismissively to indicate that they didn’t mind. Lowell left the private room in a hurry to catch up to Gordon.
In a matter of seconds, Gordon had reached the elevator.
Seeing the elevator doors slowly open, Gordon walked in without looking back. Lowell hurriedly called him. “Mr. Jones!”
Gordon glanced at Lowell with knotted eyebrows. As the elevator doors slid to a close, he impatiently pressed the “Open” button inside the elevator.
“Thanks, Mr. Jones,” Lowell said breathlessly as he rushed inside.
But the second the elevator doors closed, Lowell sensed that Gordon was in a bad mood, so he just stood quietly to the side, not daring to make a sound.
“Lowell.” Gordon broke the suffocating silence.
Lowell subconsciously straightened his posture. “Yes, Mr. Jones?”
“Have you ever been in love?” Gordon suddenly asked.
Lowell was completely stunned by his boss’s question. “Well, when I was in college, I had a girlfriend, but we broke up after graduation.”
“How long did it take for your ex-girlfriend to find a new boyfriend?”
At that moment, Lowell understood why Gordon was asking. Glancing at his boss’s cold side profile, he wondered whether he should tell the truth or not.
But thankfully, Gordon didn’t give him the chance to answer. “Ashlyn, the woman who claimed to love me, found herself a new boyfriend six months after our divorce.”
How ridiculous!
At 6 p.m., Talia knocked on the door to Ashlyn’s office. “Miss Ramos, the dinner is scheduled at half past six,” she reminded.
Hearing this, Ashlyn raised her hand and rubbed her aching temples. “Thanks, Talia.”
It would take roughly twenty minutes to get to the restaurant if the traffic was okay.
Ashlyn promptly shut off her computer, grabbed her things, and stood up to leave.
Talia was waiting for her by the door. “Will you need a driver?”
Ashlyn shook her head. “No need. I can take us there.”
If she ended up drinking, she could just have a designated driver.
“Okay.”
They two headed straight to the basement parking lot. Noticing that Talia was following her, Ashlyn stopped and said, “You can take your car.”
If she took her own car, Talia could drive home after dinner.
Talia paused. When she understood Ashlyn’s intentions, she nodded and walked to her own car.
On the drive to the restaurant, Talia briefed Ashlyn on the village’s representatives over the phone.
Doran Nixon, the East Village’s head, and Briar Nixon, the director of the village committee, were going to be at the dinner tonight.
According to Talia’s report, Doran had first agreed to sign the contract for compensation, but later on, he was also the first one who went back on his word and broke the contract. It was obvious that he was intelligent and able to make decisions based on different situations.
Smiling wryly, Ashlyn mused, “Doran’s a smart man.” And she liked to negotiate with smart people.
Talia nodded and then started talking about Briar. “It seems that Briar also signed the contract and then went back on his word, following the example of the others. But it was he who persuaded Doran to break the contract a month ago.”
Ashlyn clicked her tongue. “Interesting.”
It was a red light. Now that Ashlyn had a general idea of what was going on, she ended the call with Talia. “Okay. See you at the restaurant.”
“See you, Miss Ramos.”
“Drive safe.”
Because traffic was light at that time, they made it to the restaurant in twenty-five minutes.
By the time Ashlyn and Talia made it to their appointed private room, they still had two minutes to spare.
The waiter pushed the door open and let Ashlyn inside.
“Mr. Nixon, I’m Ashlyn Ramos, the manager of Fairway Group. Mr. Perkins had something else to deal with today, so he sent me in his stead. There was a traffic jam on the road, and I apologize for our tardiness. I hope you two don’t mind.”
Hearing what Ashlyn said, Doran and Briar had different reactions. Doran looked a little dissatisfied, while Briar seemed unfazed. The latter even invited Ashlyn to sit down.
After taking their seats, Doran and Briar exchanged glances. Doran adjusted his mood and said graciously, “Miss Ramos, thank you for coming. Our appointed time is half past six, so you’re not late.”
Ashlyn smiled. “Anyway, you two must be hungry. Let’s order first.”
Doran and Briar were about the same age, in their late forties or early fifties. Before coming here, Talia had already informed Ashlyn that both of them were fond of drinking.
Ashlyn asked the waiter to serve them their best liquor. “Allow me to show my sincerity by drinking this glass of wine.”
She held up her glass and downed its contents.
The liquor was a bit mellow in taste. Ashlyn was good at holding her alcohol, and she could drink several glasses without getting drunk.
Soon, the food was served. Throughout the meal, Ashlyn just listened to the two men talk without making comments and clinked glasses with them if necessary.
After a while, the meal was over. Seeing that Ashlyn didn’t bring up the topic of negotiation, Doran grew a little anxious. “Miss Ramos, let’s make this easy. Can Fairway Group satisfy our demands? If so, we can reach an agreement as soon as possible. Otherwise, prolonging the problem will do no good to your company.”
While Doran’s voice was smooth as honey, there was a threatening undertone. Ashlyn didn’t buy it. She smiled at Doran and replied, “I agree, but I have some material to share with you first.”
As Ashlyn spoke, she turned to look at Talia, who handed her the prepared blueprint.
Ashlyn laid out the blueprint on the table and pointed out, “East Village is indeed located right in the center of our layout. If you are unwilling to move, it’ll greatly impact the design of our amusement park. But after days of discussion, we’ve found another way to solve the problem. We understand that you don’t want to move, and we can’t bear to force you, so we came up with a new plan. If you refuse to move, we can just carry out the second plan.”
Doran’s and Briar’s expressions fell instantly. Doran, who was a bit drunk, pounded his fists on the table and stood up abruptly. “Are you threatening me?”
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.
Leave a Reply