Leaving the Infinix Group building, Veronica decided to leave right away. Along the way, wiping away her tears, she contemplated. She thought about what she should do to retaliate against all the things Darwin had done to her.
In her heart, Veronica solidified her determination. She couldn’t remain silent, let alone surrender, when her self-esteem was trampled upon like this.
That’s why, instead of immediately going to the Caribbean building, Veronica asked the driver to take her to meet her father. Fortunately, when she approached, Damian was still in his office. The middle-aged man appeared busy discussing work with his assistant.
“Dad, can I talk to you for a moment? There’s something important I want to ask and discuss.”
Damian looked up, clearly startled. He was probably wondering why his daughter had dropped by without giving any prior notice. Damian was convinced that there must be something significant that his beloved daughter wanted to discuss, considering she had come all this way.
“Sure,” Damian responded and then signaled to his assistant to leave the room. He wanted some privacy to have a one-on-one conversation with his daughter. “What does Veronica want to talk about with Papa?” he asked, waving his hand to motion for her to come closer and sit in front of him.
Veronica stepped forward, pulling a chair right in front of her father, and began to speak. She felt that she really needed her father’s role at this moment.
“Dad, first of all, Veronica wants to ask. Yesterday, when you helped Infinix Group, did you only provide them with fresh funds, or did you also buy their plummeting stocks?”
“I did both,” Damian replied firmly. “Because I knew that after providing the assistance, you were going to be married to Magnus’s son. So, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to buy their shares under your name as well. Besides, when Magnus retires, Darwin, your husband, will be the main heir, right?”
“Just a moment,” Veronica interrupted. “Does that mean I have a stake in Infinix Group?”
Damian nodded.
“Yes, you could say that. You own a certain percentage of shares there.”
“Can’t all of the shares I own be bought?”
Damian was taken aback by his daughter’s question. After a brief pause, he shook his head.
“No, it can’t, my dear. There’s a distribution process. 50% of it is held by a combination of other top executives. 30% belongs to Magnus himself, and the rest belongs to you.”
“But, can’t it be done, Dad? Could you buy all the shares owned by Uncle Magnus?”
“What for?” Damian asked, growing more puzzled. “Is your current company not enough? If you want to expand, you can take over one of my other subsidiaries.”
“Not like that,” Veronica shook her head. “I’m just interested in Infinix Group.”
“But if it’s owned entirely, can’t be done, my dear. Magnus definitely wouldn’t agree.”
“At least, Veronica wants to have more shares than Uncle Magnus. Or try negotiating the amount. For example, Veronica gets 40%, and the remaining 10% remains with Uncle Magnus. After all, the company will eventually belong to Darwin too.”
Damian pondered for a moment. He seemed to be weighing his daughter’s newly proposed request. Eventually, looking at Veronica’s face as she appeared to be pleading, Damian gave in, as he often did.
“Alright, I’ll try to talk to Magnus today. But what’s the purpose of all this?”
“Just for Veronica to own it, Dad. And there’s one more thing I’m asking you to grant.”
“What else, my dear?” he inquired.
“Veronica wants your permission to work temporarily at Infinix Group.”
Damian furrowed his brow. He was becoming increasingly puzzled by his daughter’s unusual requests.
“What’s going on? Why are you acting so strangely all of a sudden? Are you suddenly so excited about Infinix Group?”
Veronica sighed. She quickly had to come up with a reasonable answer to her father. She couldn’t possibly tell him that Darwin had been openly unfaithful, and now she was planning her own form of retaliation.
After a moment, Veronica had an idea. She finally found a suitable reason to explain.
“After looking into it, Infinix Group has been making a strong comeback since Darwin took over. From this, I got curious and also felt challenged to try developing a business in the mining sector, much like what Infinix Group has been doing. Who knows, in the future, I might start my own mining company. Instead of learning from others, I’d rather learn from my own husband. Plus, the company is already there. So, there’s no need to start from scratch and practice from the bottom.”
Damian listened attentively before analyzing the meaning behind his daughter’s request. Soon after, he nodded in agreement.
Upon reflection, what Veronica said did make sense. Besides, the mining sector was indeed promising. If it was for the betterment of his beloved daughter, Damian was likely to approve.
“So, when would you like to start working at Darwin’s office?”
“As soon as possible, Dad. Even tomorrow would be fine,” Veronica confidently responded.
“Alright. After this, I’ll immediately handle things with your father-in-law. But there’s a condition.”
Veronica sighed. She had initially been happy to hear her father’s approval.
However, upon hearing his father’s mention of a condition, suddenly her feelings turned uncomfortable. She started thinking about what requirements he might impose that could complicate things for her.
“Oh my, Dad, using conditions now.”
“It’s necessary, dear,” Damian quickly responded. “If you don’t agree, then you don’t have to move to Infinix Group.”
Veronica pouted. While sulking, she asked with resignation, “Alright, so what condition does Dad want to set?”
“You can move to Infinix Group with the condition that you bring Sean with you.”
Veronica nearly choked. Her suspicion was right; the condition her father was about to set would certainly complicate things for her.
“B-but, Dad, why should I bring Sean?”
“Because he’s your responsibility here. You were assigned to accompany him during his stay in Indonesia, right? If you leave Sean alone in the Caribbean, then who will take care of him? If you object, I won’t allow you to move to Infinix Group. Besides, let Sean learn there alongside you.”
Hearing the commanding condition laid out by Damian, Veronica could only nod resignedly. There was no other way for her to move promptly other than to comply with her father’s request.
“Okay, deal. Veronica agrees to bring Sean. But Veronica asks to be able to start working at Infinix Group starting tomorrow, no matter what.”
Damian nodded. It wasn’t difficult for him to fulfill what his daughter was asking for.
—
Darwin arrived at his residence at exactly 9 PM. As he entered, intending to head up the stairs, his eyes unintentionally caught an unusual sight in the dining room. Changing his course, Darwin decided to stop for a moment.
From his perspective, he saw a wide variety of food spread out on the table. There were several cakes and meticulously arranged fruits, as if preparing for a celebration.
Coincidentally, Renata was passing by at that moment. Darwin noticed his assistant and immediately called her over.
“Renata, what’s all this? Why is there so much food on the table?” he asked, genuinely unaware of what was happening.
“Sir, what’s the matter with you?” Renata sighed. “It’s your birthday today.”
“So what? Did you prepare and arrange all of this?”
“Of course,” Renata quickly replied. “I prepared and arranged everything. But I didn’t cook, though. It was Miss Veronica who ordered and bought everything. She initially planned to celebrate your birthday with all the staff in the house.”
“Veronica? Celebrate my birthday? How did she know? Did you tell her, Renata?”
Renata nodded, not denying anything.
“Yes, I told her. In fact, this morning, when Miss Veronica was preparing your packed lunch, she mentioned that she was planning to stop by your office and bring a birthday cake too. Didn’t you meet Miss Veronica at the office?”
Darwin carefully listened to Renata’s explanation. Instead of answering his assistant’s question, he threw a new one.
“So, where’s Veronica? Has she come back home yet? Why isn’t she eating the food already at this hour?”
“Mrs. Veronica is already in her room, Sir. She came back from work in the afternoon, and she hasn’t left her room since. I tried to remind her to eat, but she didn’t respond.”
Darwin didn’t want to be bothered. He thought Veronica was an adult, so why should he worry or be bothered about whether his wife had eaten or not.
“Fine, just leave it. Maybe she wants to rest. As for the food, just eat it. Call the others to eat together.”
“But what about you, Sir? Aren’t you going to eat?”
“I’m already full. I want to go to my room quickly. There’s a lot of work I need to finish.”
Darwin then continued on without a care. As he reached his room, he quickly freshened up. Just as he had mentioned, as soon as he exited the bathroom, he immediately started dealing with his paperwork. He was in a hurry to complete it so he could rest afterward.
On the following day, Darwin acted the same way. The man left early without having breakfast because he wanted to pick up Vivian at her apartment. She asked Darwin to take her back to the Infinix Group building so they could have breakfast together this morning.
Vivian spent a long time in Darwin’s room. They also discussed and shared many things with each other.
“If I come here to play every day, you wouldn’t be mad or bothered, right?” Vivian asked playfully. Both of them were now sitting together on the living room couch.
Darwin shook his head immediately. He couldn’t be angry with someone he loved so much.
“Why would I be mad? I’m actually happy to see you every day. It makes me more motivated to work. If needed, just accompany me every day from morning till evening.”
“Sounds nice!” teased Vivian. “But, aren’t you worried? If people see us being affectionate, it might turn into unpleasant gossip.”
Darwin smiled.
“Why worry? Until now, we’ve always been affectionate in private places. Not in public or open areas, right? Besides, when we’re outside, our behavior is just normal like friends. So, I’m sure nobody will gossip about us in any negative way.”
Vivian nodded. After getting married and deciding to resume their relationship, Darwin had asked her to show some restraint and act like normal friends when they were in public or open areas. This was all to avoid spreading any negative rumors. That’s why, when they wanted to be affectionate, Vivian always invited Darwin to her apartment first.
“But, it’s okay if we’re affectionate in your room like now, right?” Vivian teased.
The woman then moved closer, intentionally reducing the distance between her and Darwin. She wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck and leaned in to kiss him.
Everything felt intoxicating. Darwin and Vivian thoroughly enjoyed their incredibly intense kiss. So much so that they didn’t realize Veronica slowly entering Darwin’s office and standing so close, watching the scene of their affair unfold before her eyes.
“So, this is how you behave at the office?”
Startled, Darwin and Vivian immediately broke their lip lock. In that instant, both of them reflexively turned their heads. Darwin also shot an unsatisfied look as usual.
“What are you doing here?”
Veronica chuckled softly. Folding her arms in front of her chest, she responded with raised eyebrows.
“Me? What am I doing?” she asked, pointing to herself. Then, after a brief pause, she continued, “Of course, I’m just going around the office, greeting the staff before starting work here.”
Darwin’s eyebrows furrowed. He was sure he didn’t mishear what his wife had just said.
“Before starting work here? What do you mean?”
The corners of Veronica’s lips lifted high. She grinned and gracefully offered an explanation.
“Yes, because I’m the highest shareholder in Infinix Group, I’ve decided that in some time ahead, I’ll start working here. Whether you like it or not, you have to accept that fact.”
“That’s not possible,” Darwin shook his head in disbelief.
“That’s the reality. Feel free to confirm with your father about my position now. And you should also know, as one of the owners, I don’t tolerate any scandals or affairs within the company that I own. So, I’m asking politely, please ask this cheap woman to leave before I kick her out,” Veronica stated openly, pointing towards Vivian who stood not far from her.
Darwin stared defiantly. He was furious hearing every word that came out of Veronica’s mouth. Of course, he couldn’t accept any of his wife’s recent statements, especially Veronica’s belittlement of Vivian right in front of him.
“Don’t be ridiculous! Who do you think you are?”
“Me?” Veronica asked again. “I’m the owner of this company and also your legal wife.”