Chapter 65: Swings that way

Sienna was surprised. They did not seem to be the least bit interested in the deal and they weren’t even willing to consider it.

"I have brought this offer with a sincere heart. I will understand if you don’t want it. But may I know the reason?"

The older man shook his head. "We’ve heard promises like that before. Another hotel came here, promised us years of business, then abandoned us without warning. Our fishermen and farmers were left with produce they couldn’t sell. Why should we trust you?"

"I understand your concerns, but if you’ll give me a chance to—"

"Grandpa!"

A little boy came running from the harbor, "The sky’s getting dark! Grandma says everyone’s coming home before the storm!"

The man glanced towards the horizon. Heavy clouds had swallowed the sunlight, and the wind was already whipping through the narrow streets.

Around them, the townspeople began packing up their stalls with practiced urgency, securing baskets and pulling boats towards safer ground.

"We should leave, Miss Qing," Flora urged, "We can return when the weather improves."

Sienna reluctantly agreed, and they hurried back to the car.

But the rain came down in relentless sheets before they could reach the main road, turning the narrow coastal route into a muddy stream. When Flora spotted a flooded stretch ahead, she slowed to a stop.

"I don’t think we can cross that safely. I’ll turn around."

She reversed carefully, but the tires sank into the soft mud before the car could complete the turn. Flora pressed the accelerator, only for the wheels to spin uselessly.

Through the deafening noise of the wind, one could hear a sharp ’crack’ piercing through.

Sienna looked up just as a massive tree, its roots torn loose by the wind, began toppling towards them.

"Flora, watch out!"

Sienna lunged for the steering wheel as Flora swerved. The tires skidded across the mud, and the car lurched sideways with a piercing screech.

...

Hawke Corporation.

In the boardroom, there was an eerie silence. Each pair of eyes lingered on the man who sat on the head chair, his fingers leisurely flipping through the pages of a file in his hand.

Nobody dared to breath too loud during the entire time. By the time the man reached the last page, every person in the room looked emotionally constipated.

Callahan closed the file, "Interesting."

That was the only word that he uttered and every eye turned to the person who had prepared the proposal.

The man knew his place so he instantly opened his mouth, "Vice President, I will redo the proposal right away."

Callahan smiled.

Everyone trembled in their seats.

Callahan leaned back into his seat and closed his eyes, his expressions were unreadable.

When the meeting was over, everybody nearly fled from the boardroom for their lives, "Lately, the Vice President has become more and more ruthless. Everytime he smiles, I feel like we are doomed."

"He doesn’t tolerate a single imperfection. I feel like he wants to waste no time in taking the Hawke Corporation to new heights."

"No wonder he is the Chairman’s chosen heir. Aye, Young Master Seth is too soft and lacks the business acumen."

"Shh, don’t say that..."

"What, did I lie? Look at our Vice President. He is not even the CEO yet but he holds ever string of this company in his hands. Meanwhile, Young Master Seth strayed from the Hawkes to prove himself but in all these years, he ended up leading that mediocre company... Tsk..."

"Word has it that the two brothers don’t get along well. With such a huge difference in competence, how could their be no ill feelings?"

"What are you talking about?" someone asked.

"We were just..." The people shut their mouths the moment they saw Leon.

"Tell me. I want to know too."

"Nonsense. Haha, just nonsense..." They fled.

Leon pushed open the door and walked over to Callahan. But his footsteps slowed when he saw Callahan facing the window in silence, an incomprehensible expression lingering in his eyes.

"What is it?" Callahan asked without turning back.

Leon looked down at his hand before he he said, "You left your phone in the office. Earlier, their was a text from Sienna."

The moment Leon uttered the last word of his sentence, all the gloom around Callahan seemed to have shattered line an illusion. He turned around and took the phone from Leon’s hand.

Leon felt a little speechless, "Then... let me check your schedule. I am sure we need to head over to the branch companies in a while. But I’m not sure if your grandfather pushed over some new responsibility onto your shoulders..."

Leon’s words trailed off when he realized that his words were colliding with the walls and dispersing in the empty air.

Callahan seemed to have all his attention directed to the phone in his hand as he typed away on it.

After a few minutes, the man placed the phone back on the table and reached inside his suit jacket. Callahan retrieved a small velvet box and opened it.

An elegant snowflake pendant sparkled around a delicate chain. Callahan leaned back on the table as he tilted the box under the sun, watching it sparkle as it caught the sunlight.

"How long are you going to keep that with you?" Leon’s voice came by Callahan’s shoulder.

Callahan’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he tilted his head and glanced at the guy who had placed his chin on his shoulder.

Unfazed by his death glare, Leon ogled at the snowflake pendant, "You nearly toppled the Amethyst City to get this for your wife’s birthday but you still have it with you. Why?"

Callahan flipped the box close.

That didn’t stop Leon, ’’Back then, you refused to settle for anything else and insisted on having this old design. I am still wondering... What’s so special about this, huh?"

’Click’

The door to the boardroom opened behind them, accompanied by a shaky voice.

"What... What... What are you two doing?"