Chapter 174: Blushing
Ryle also levelled the man with a cold stare. To him, any man around Daisy was an equal threat, young or old. And especially when the man in front of him seemed so ’vixenishly’ handsome, his gaze even turned colder. People should start looking their age, he thought while making a mental note to make Daisy aware about facial prosthetics and tell her it was all plastic.
He snapped out of his reverie when Daisy spoke up, ’’Ryle, this is Uncle Caleb, my father’s close friend and also the COO,’’ she paused for a moment before continued, ’’This is Ryle, my boyfriend.’’
Ryle froze.
His entire existence froze in that split-second.
He almost doubted if he heard her right.
When Daisy turned to look at him, the man’s ears had turned pink and his eyes were glowing while he looked at her.
Daisy was confused. Why was he surprised by the obvious? She thought she made her stand clear?
If Ryle was glowering at Caleb earlier, this time when he looked at the man, his expression was completely flowery.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Caleb and Daisy left together while Ryle stood there in his spot, calmly watching her retreating back.
When she was out of his sight, his lips twitched into a smile. He covered the half of his face with a palm.
’Boyfriend’
’Boyfriend’
’Boyfriend’
His hair fell on his forehead, covering his face in shadows but one could see the tint of pink spread across his face.
’Ding’
Ryle pulled out his phone and removed his hand from his face almost instantly when he saw that it was a text from Daisy.
’You are blushing.’
Ryle stiffened and looked at the tall building in front of him.
’No I am not,’ he replied with a straight face and walked to the other side of the car before getting in the driver’s seat.
’Do it more often. Looks good on you,’ Daisy texted again and somehow he could imagine her saying that with her aloof gaze and emotionless tone.
Ryle pressed his forehead on the steering wheel, his lips curving up in a small arch.
The man remained in that position for some time before he leaned back on the seat.
After some thought, he took out his phone and dialled a number. When the call got connected, he spoke up, ’’Look into something for me...’’ he looked at the grand building of Chen Corporations and his face darkened a bit when he saw a familiar figure disappearing in the shadows.
...
Inside the meeting room.
’’Is this the right hour to call for a meeting?" the shareholders were all grumpy and disheveled. They had not even gotten a wink of sleep after a long and exhausting day of work. But the moment they got a wink of sleep, they were summoned for an emergency meeting.
Some of the people in the meeting room however were sitting quietly, observing everything. One of them was the Vice President, Chen Lina.
’’It should be something urgent,’’ someone said.
"It has to be. Although she is a little girl, but she doesn’t strike me as a person who would call for a meeting at this hour without rhyme or reason,’’ one of the older directors said in order to calm the situation in the meeting.
’’In fact, on my way, I have heard some rumours about the company...’’
’’What rumours?"
’’One of us has been having some dealings outside and some of the shares of the company have been compromised.’’
Followed by the words of the person, the room sunk in silence and everybody looked unsettled. The company was already in chaos and if the shares were compromised, or they ended up in wrong hands then it could become a very risky thing to deal with.
’’It seems like nobody is clueless about the cause of this emergency meeting.’’
Secretary Han who was standing quietly near the head chair and observing the people in the meeting room immediately looked up at the door from where Daisy walked in, followed by the COO.
’’President,’’ he pulled the chair for her while the rest of the people stood up.
’’I won’t bother with the formalities,’’ Daisy’s gaze roamed on the few people present in the room, pausing on a few specific people who seemed calm and unperturbed by the events.
’’Director Yu, Vice President Chen,’’ Daisy addressed two people in the room in a straightforward manner. This Director Yu seemed to be a man in his early 40s and he was sitting right next to Chen Lina, ’’I have heard words of your friendship and I am moved to know that you can manage to remain friends for over decades while being in the corporate world.’’
Daisy’s words caused a stir in the company and everyone turned to look at both the people who were addressed.
One of the men who was close to Director Yu spoke up, ’’But President, Director Yu took over his position in the company not more than five years ago. Even before that, he was part of a branch company but still he has not been a part of Chen Corporations for over 9 years, let alone a decade.’’
’’Is it?" Daisy paused and seemed to frown a bit.
The rest of the people fell speechless at the sight of her confused expressions. They almost thought that she had discovered something.
Chen Lina looked at Daisy with narrowed eyes, ’’You can’t harm my reputation like this just because you don’t like me...’’
As Daisy turned her neck, she instinctively covered her skin that was revealed by her business suit with her palm. Her entire neck was covered in a certain someone’s artworks.
Realizing that the man was still sitting in the car and waiting for her, she suddenly did not have the patience to waste time in dealing with these people anymore.
She sighed, ’’You are speaking as if I implied that you both have an affair going on,’’ Chen Lina’s face turned green but Daisy did not bother looking at her again, ’’Secretary Han...’’
’’President, I have acquired a few pieces of evidence from my investigation about this matter,’’ Secretary Han turned on the projector behind them with expertise and there popped up a picture of a young woman and a young man in an intimate position. The two people were hugging each other with their faces pressed together. But one thing that everyone noticed upon a longer look at the picture was that the young woman was obviously Chen Lina and the man was Director Yu.
Even though they were young and they almost seemed like university students but their features were recognizable. Many such pictures appeared on the display followed by an acknowledge certificate that revealed that both the people had gone to the same university.
’’While Director Yu might have gotten the job in one of the branch companies of Chen Corporations with his own capabilities, Vice President had a hand in his promotion to the prestigious position of a director in the company along with his capabilities,’’ Secretary Han spoke.
’’This is my private matter...’’ Chen Lina said, with her fingers clenched into fists.
The people in the room had long gone silent. Although this matter did not involve them in anyway, but if Director Yu was not a Director in Chen Corporations then they would not have bothered with the Vice President’s private matters. However, now it turned out that two of the higher ups of the company were involved in private and what’s worse, they kept everyone in dark for so long. One would be bound to question what kind of ulterior motives they had behind such actions. And to think that they would have stayed in dark had Daisy not brought up this matter today made everyone’s expressions change even further.
’’Vice President Chen, your involvement with Director Yu is you private matter but Director Yu’s constant meetings with our rival companies concerns me.’’
Her words sent the room in an uproar.
’’What do you mean, President?" The older director who had calmed the situation on Daisy’s behalf earlier spoke up.
’’Director Yu has been involved with rival companies in dark and it seems like he has been negotiating about selling his shares to them,’’ Secretary Han revealed.
Everyone looked at the man in disbelief.
’’You are defaming me,’’ the man in question finally opened his mouth to speak up, ’’If you have evidences regarding the same, show it in front of everyone,’’ the man looked at Daisy challengingly.
’’I don’t have evidences,’’ Daisy calmly said but this time, not many people looked at her accusingly. Instead, they were patient, ’’But your dealings with rival companies raised my suspicions. And since this is a delicate time for Chen Corporations, I don’t want to take any risks. Sell you shares to me or sign a contract right now.’’
