Chapter 381: The Two Mr. Lucases
Yonina was the vice CEO of Collins Group and had the power to bid.
He was just a small assistant who was long used to bearing the brunt of Michael’s temper.
His eyes closed, Mr. York turned around and stood stiffly in front of Michael. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves and asked, "Mr. Lucas, do you... do you have any other instructions?"
Michael was amused by Mr. York’s reaction and laughed. However, the amusement soon gave way to self-reflection. He realized that he had not been very nice to Mr.
York in the past.
Upon hearing Michael laugh, Mr. York was even more terrified and tensed up.
"I’m sorry..." Michael started, "I should have told both of you where I was going instead of leaving without informing you. I shouldn’t have let you worry."
"Ah?" Mr. York’s eyes widened in disbelief and surprise. "Mr. Lucas? What did you just say?" He thought he had heard wrongly.
"Do you need me to repeat that?" Michael frowned.
"No, no..." Mr. York gestured wildly with his hands. "I just could not believe my ears."
Since when had Michael Lucas, their company CEO ever apologized to him, a lowly employee?
Regardless of who was at fault, Mr. York would always be the one in the wrong.
"That’s all. You may go." Michael motioned for Mr. York to leave.
Mr. York immediately nodded and left, afraid that Michael might want to settle scores even though he had done absolutely nothing wrong.
He only sagged in relief after walking all the way out of Michael’s office and closing the door behind him.
Turning to glance at Michael’s door, Mr. York frowned and muttered to himself, "Did something life-changing happen to him in Rheinsville City?"
Regardless, the new Michael Lucas was much more pleasant then the one who used to throw tantrums at him.
...
The day of the bidding dawned.
Michael woke up bright and early. He specially selected a suit that was a gift from Wendy and put it on.
He had worn this suit a couple of times before. Under normal circumstances, with his status, he would not wear a suit that he had worn before.
However, when he wore this suit, he felt as if Wendy was by his side.
After screening, there were more than ten companies participating in the bidding.
Out of the ten, the two with the highest possibility of winning were Michael’s MC Enterprise and Christian’s DR Group.
Collins Group was originally screened out, but Michael had used his connections to ensure Collins Group was one of the final few companies selected in order to increase his own chances of winning.
The other ten companies included major players from the Lake City area, as well as companies from other cities.
The location for the bidding had been set at National Enterprise.
As this was a government backed job, any company who won the bid would definitely enjoy a boost to their reputation.
At around nine o’clock in the morning, Michael, Christian and Yonina bumped into each other at the main entrance to the building where the bidding was to be held.
Christian had arrived before Michael.
He saw Michael’s car behind him after he had already stopped and had purposely waited for Michael at the main entrance.
"Mr. Lucas, are you confident of winning?" Christian beamed confidently as he spoke to the man who was walking straight toward him.
Michael straightened his tie and shot a smile back at Christian. "What about you, Mr.
Lucas? Are you confident?"
"Stop calling each other Mr. Lucas. Anyone not in the know is going to get confused."
Yonina was dressed in a sharp suit and carried a limited edition bag on her arm.
Walking confidently, she arched her brow at the two men. Her overall image was one of a strong business woman.
...
"It’s enough if you understand." Michael’s smile widened.
He was confident and self assured.
Michael was completely different today compared to the day before.
Yonina had been worried that Michael would be ensnared in his own emotions regarding Wendy and would not be able to give his best at the bidding today.
She was afraid that he would make a mistake, and that Christian would see through it and take the opportunity to counterattack.
Seeing that he looked to be in good form, Yonina was relieved.
Levelling a pointed look at Christian, Michael enunciated each word slowly, "There isn’t anyone else here anyway."
"I’m glad to see the two of you are getting along so well," Christian commented. "I was worried that you wouldn’t be able to forget your ex-wife."
His eyes twinkling, Christian glanced at Yonina and continued, "If my brother treats you badly, let me know. After all, the two of you wouldn’t be together if not for me!"
Christian was aggravating Michael on purpose.
In the past, Michael would definitely have taken the bait. He would remember that he had lost his wife and children because of Christian’s plotting and fly into a rage.
And since Christian was the one responsible and was standing right in front of him, Michael would not have been able to control his temper and would have hit Christian.
However, Michael was no longer as immature as he had been in the past.
Instead, he reached out and put his arm around Yonina’s shoulder. His voice gentle, he said, "You shouldn’t have come since you are pregnant. It’s enough that I am here. But you wouldn’t listen to me, would you? Are you afraid that I might not be able to win the bid?"
Michael moved past Christian with Yonina, completely ignoring Christian.
"No, I just wanted to join in the fun," Yonina replied.
As Christian watched Michael and Yonina’s retreating backs, the smile on his face gradually disappeared.
His brother seemed to have matured quite a bit.
From what he could see, Michael had not really fallen in love with Yonina. He was just being nice to her in front of Christian just to provoke him.
Quietly following behind them, Christian whispered to the backs of their head from a distance, "I hope you’ll still be smiling later."
The conference room was soon filled with people.
The representative of the party inviting the bids was in the host’s seat. They had about eight or nine people in their group.
Every person participating in the bidding was allowed to bring one assistant. As such, there were about thirty people in the room in total.
At eleven o’clock sharp, the host started the presentation that was to precede the bidding. A PowerPoint slideshow of the bid details played on a large projector screen behind him.
The man in charge was a slightly balding middle-aged man in his forties. While not entirely unpleasant looking, he was not really attractive either.
He stood upon the stage and swept his gaze over the people who had gathered.
"Thank you for your interest in this project. I believe everyone who is here has already familiarized themselves with the details.
This is a five year development plan for second and third-tier cities. Because it is a state-supported project, we are being exceptionally cautious. Part of the reason we limited the number of attendees was to maximize confidentiality. I hope everyone understands.
All the companies that have been selected to take part in the bidding are well established and capable. The winner will be officially notified of the results in three days’ time. If you do not receive any notification from us, it means you have not been selected.
I know everyone’s time is precious, so without further preamble, let’s begin.
First, I would like to invite everyone to draw lots to decide the order in which you will be presenting your proposal."
...
Once the host, Mr. Zavier, finished speaking, the bidders started standing up.
He noticed that with the exception of Michael Lucas and Christian Lucas, everyone else was a little hesitant.
They all queued up behind the Lucas brothers, choosing to go after the brothers had drawn their lots.
Michael and Christian were standing side by side in front of Mr. Zavier, Michael on the left and Christian on the right. They both levelled a look at each other before stepping onto the stage On stage, Mr. Zavier held out the box containing the numbered lots to them. Turning his gaze upon them, he asked, "The two Mr. Lucases, which of you will go first?"
The two men looked at each other, their expressions challenging each other.
Michael spoke first. "You can go first. Anyway, we’re drawing lots, the first one to draw won’t necessarily get the better lot."
Christian had intended to go first, but after Michael’s words, he withdrew his hands which were already halfway to the box. He smiled, "You should go first. Regardless of our rivalry in business, you are still my older brother. I should give way to you."
Mr. Zavier smiled when he heard Christian mention the fact that Michael was his older brother. Jokingly, he said, "I almost forgot the two of you are brothers. Why don’t the two of you put in just one bid? It’ll be a waste of available slots otherwise."
No one found his joke funny.
However, Mr. Zavier reacted quickly. Noticing the tense atmosphere, he quickly added on, "Just joking."
"To make sure no one can look into the box as they are drawing lots, the hole is large enough only for one hand to go in at a time. Otherwise, both of you can draw at the same time."
Glancing at the box in his hands, Mr. Zavier said, "The older Mr. Lucas can go first."
It was obvious to the brothers that Mr. Zavier was referring to Michael.
Christian had wanted to go first. The first person to draw a number would be the one with the most probability of winning.
The only ones who could go first were Michael and Christian Lucas. The others wanted to go first too, but none of them dared go before the Lucas brothers.
Christian giving way to Michael earlier was just an act. The fact that Mr. Zavier had chosen Michael to go first was a sign of his support.
Of course, they would still have to see whose proposal was the best before deciding upon the winner.
Since the host had spoken, Michael did not reject the offer. Glancing at Christian with a smirk, he reached into the box.
Drawing lots depended on nothing but luck, so Michael took one at random before withdrawing his hand.
He had no intention of winning that day anyway. It was just part of the act.
Returning to his seat after he had gotten his lot, Michael watched as Christian drew one too.
The other company representatives took their turn after that.
"What number did you get?" leaning closer to Michael, Yonina whispered.
Her seat was just next to his and it was easy to talk to him. He showed Yonina his number. He was in last place. Frowning at Michael’s number, Yonina said, "I’m second."
She then looked up appraisingly at Christian. He noticed her looking and flashed her a smile.
He wasn’t giving away anything. Anyway, it didn’t matter what number Christian got.
Michal was last, meaning no matter what number Christian was, he would still get to present before Michael.
