“Why are you still lingering here? Why not go and comfort James properly? Your frequent disturbances will eventually wear out his patience.”
Emily remembered James’s troubled expression before he left and became worried. However, she had her ways of dealing with him. When it came to understanding James, Emily surpassed Isabella by far, which explained why she could easily win people over.
As for James, he responded more to gentleness than harshness. If Emily lowered herself, shed a few tears, and then embraced him tenderly in bed, she was sure to dissipate any of his anger.
Emily walked to the dressing table, touched up her makeup in front of the mirror, changed her clothes, and prepared to leave. “I won’t be coming back tonight, no need to keep the door for me.”
Staying overnight at the Brown family’s place wasn’t new to Emily; Charlotte had long grown accustomed to it. As a mother, Charlotte not only didn’t oppose her daughter’s cohabitation before marriage but also encouraged it. Charlotte always believed that to conquer a man’s heart, the first step was to satisfy him in bed.
Emily went to find James, who was still upset with her and hadn’t given her a friendly look.
However, Emily was quite adaptable. Crying and pleading like an octopus entangled around him, she simultaneously sobbed and began undressing him and herself.
At James’s age, when he was at his prime, Emily knew how to tease a man, touching here and there. They couldn’t wait and ended up entwined on the office sofa.
While James was relishing the attention of the beautiful woman, he was unaware that someone was investigating him.
…
None of Ryan’s men were fools; investigating someone like James for one night was enough.
Early in the morning, as Ryan entered the office, a thick stack of files was already placed on his big desk.
After skimming through a few, Ryan grew somewhat impatient. His subordinates were becoming increasingly incompetent. Was it necessary to dig through James’s entire family history for someone so insignificant?
“Do you think I have all the time in the world? Get to the point,” Ryan said sternly, glaring at the man in front of him.
“Mr. Ryan, we’ve obtained the video footage from the cafe yesterday. It’s only visual; no sound, so we don’t know what Isabella and James talked about. However, he seemed to grab her, and Isabella appeared irritated.”
Ryan furrowed his brow upon hearing this. James dared to touch Alpha’s woman? James was asking for trouble.
“Anything else?” Ryan inquired.
“Nothing particularly notable, except it seems there are financial issues in the Brown family’s company. Although it’s kept under wraps, James has been visiting almost every bank lately. The company’s financial chain seems broken, on the verge of bankruptcy…”
Ryan yawned, growing impatient. “Whether Brown family goes bankrupt or not is none of my concern.”
However, he quickly reconsidered. This could be beneficial. If James went bankrupt, what chance would he have to compete for women against Alpha?
“You, release this information. The bigger the fuss, the better,” Ryan instructed.
The Brown family had tightly concealed this information, fearing it would cause stock market turmoil. If the stock prices plummeted, it would only hasten the company’s bankruptcy. When that happened, James wouldn’t be too preoccupied to flirt with other men’s women.
“Not considering one’s own weight and daring to covet alpha’s woman,” Ryan murmured as he lifted a photo of James from the materials in front of him.
Soon after, the office door clicked, and the secretary entered, reminding him of a meeting in half an hour.
Ryan picked up his laptop from the desk and leisurely made his way to the meeting room.
The atmosphere at the weekly meetings always carried an underlying tension.
Ever since Andrew took over as the president of the Turner family consortium, the executives of various departments had been extremely cautious, treading carefully in their actions.
During Thomas’s tenure, those under his command would at most face a scolding for their mistakes. However, Andrew, a man of few words, exuded an oppressive air. His methods were fierce and decisive; he didn’t tolerate inefficiency or disobedience. Many of Thomas’s trusted aides were expelled from the company by Andrew.
The meeting lasted nearly two hours until Andrew casually announced its adjournment, finally relieving the anxiety lingering among the executives.
As people began leaving one by one, soon, only Andrew, Ryan, and the secretary remained in the office, organizing the meeting materials.
Andrew’s tall figure leaned back in the boss’s chair, and he tossed a file onto Ryan’s chest.
Ryan was displeased with the thick stack of documents landing on him, but he knew Andrew wouldn’t do it without reason. So, he bent down and earnestly flipped through the pages, noticing several statistical figures circled in black.
“Everyone makes mistakes. It happens,” Ryan smirked, showing a good attitude towards his errors.
Andrew lit a cigarette, the smoke slowly wafting from his long fingers. “Focus on the right things.”
“What did I do wrong again?” Ryan felt a bit aggrieved. He had been tirelessly working for Alpha Andrew, almost selling his soul to the company. With so many new projects recently, almost all needed his direct involvement. Even tigers nod off occasionally; a few mistakes in the data were understandable.
Andrew exhaled a puff of smoke, his deep eyes casting an indifferent gaze upon Ryan. “Wasn’t it you who ordered the news about Brown family’s bankruptcy to be leaked? Seems like you’ve had too much free time lately.”
Ryan touched his nose, feeling a bit wronged. “I did it for your own good. The identities of ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends are sensitive. If Isabella and James meet privately, what if old feelings reignite?”
Actually, Ryan was more worried about Isabella betraying Andrew. Scarlett Taylor from the past had an affair with someone else, causing Andrew severe embarrassment.
“You’re assuming they’ll reignite their old flame without knowing why they met?” Andrew flicked the ash off his fingertip.
“Do you know?” Ryan countered.
“Brown family is facing a crisis. Currently, James’s most promising project is a new real estate development, but the land is still in Isabella’s hands. It’s reasonable for him to approach her,” Andrew said calmly.
After hearing this, Ryan grinned and leaned closer. “Looks like I’ve been worrying for no reason. Turns out Alpha guards his woman so closely.”
What Ryan couldn’t find out, Andrew could. It indicated that Andrew had been closely monitoring Isabella’s every move.
Andrew extinguished the cigarette with his fingertip, his blue eyes gazing abstractedly into the distance outside the window. He didn’t deny it, which was equivalent to confirmation.
Ryan touched his nose, suddenly feeling that Alpha was really serious about that particular human called Isabella.