Chapter 22: Her Request

Avery paused, “A deal?” The man in his 40s nodded. She looked at him and noticed that he was wearing the same brand of suit as yesterday. Ji placed his hands on his chin with a smile on his face. This movement exposed his newly-bought watch. She was sure that it was brand new as there was still plastic on it.

But what she noticed the most was his facial expression. It was showing how pleased he was that he got her attention.

“I’ll give you a quick backstory. Before my dear friend John attacked you, I gave him a visit his good old house. I told him I knew you and he went crazy telling me I should give you back your dog or you would continue to haunt him forever.”

Avery was surprised. She never thought John would tell anyone about what happened. Now she understood how John knew about her new target. Ji was the one who told him. Ji smirked upon seeing her expression. “You must be thinking why John would spill the beans? I grew up with that man and seeing him crushed like that made me interested in you even more.”

“So are you going to tell people what happened? Further ruin your good friend’s image?”

He laughed and shaked his head, “Of course not. I am not going to ruin anyone’s life. I just want to make sure that Carson won’t be the next CEO.” Avery frowned upon hearing his plan. She now understood why there was tension between the two of them. “Oh, Carson already knew that so there would be no need for you to inform him.”

“So what is this deal?”

Ji turned to the waiter who was about to approach them. “Just usual please.” The waiter turned to Avery who didn’t say anything. When the waiter left, Avery spoke, “Do you think I would stay here and listen to you?”
“No. I just wanted you to try the food here. I won’t stay. After I tell you the deal, I would leave and pay for the meal. The meat mountain stack here is great so I wanted you try it.”

When she didn’t respond, he cleared his throat and continued. “I can help you get Carson and live your fabulous life. I will make sure he wouldn’t be interested in anybody. He would be yours for life.”

“How can you do that?”

“I am a man of power, Avery. Carson’s dad and I knew each other. We both know he would listen to his father. If I recommend you to him, he would listen to me.”

She raised an eyebrow, “What’s the catch?”

He smiled. He was about to say something when the waiter arrived with the food. Avery’s mouth watered as the perfectly-cooked meat. But she couldn’t be distracted right now because of that so she turned her attention back to Ji.

“I want you to convince Carson that he shouldn’t be the CEO. He would continue his role as the Vice President. He won’t basically lose anything.”

“Except his dad’s respect”

“You’ve been with Carson for a few weeks or maybe a month. You probably know that he was forced into this. Have you ever asked him what he wanted?”

Avery didn’t say anything. But Ji had a point, Carson did mention that he was no choice but to take over. She tried to look at Carson again who was still smiling. The situation would benefit her but it won’t be for Carson. But why would Carson’s happiness matter right now? Should she just aim for her goal?

Ji moved his seat and stood. “I will give you 2 days to think about this. We can meet here when you made your decision.” She was about to say something but he already walked away. She looked at the meat mountain and decided to taste it.

As expected, it was golden. It was not like all the meat mountain she ate before. But even if the food was heavenly-like, Avery’s attention was on Carson. What would be the best decision?

She couldn’t hear their conversation but one would say something and the other would laugh. It felt like Avery was watching a romance movie. Allison was a beautiful woman but Avery knew she could compete with that. What she couldn’t do was be as rich as Allison. There was no way she could get rich and powerful that fast.

Avery finished her meal and the waiter told her that it was already paid. Carson went ahead first and it seemed like he would be taking her to the event. She felt something weird and uneasy just thinking about it.

When she reached the office again, Carson was busy with his work. He was signing some papers. He looked up when he saw her enter. “You’re late” he commented as he looked at her.

She didn’t respond and head to her seat. Carson continued to look at her as he found it weird that she wasn’t saying anything. He stood up and walked to her.

“Don’t tell me you were mad at me? For not picking the first candidate?"

She paused and looked at him. “Who’s the first candidate?”

Carson was surprised by her response as he expected that she would show her disappointment about not being picked. He purposely made her feel like he didn’t pick her to see if she would react, but it was a failure.

“uh.. Just someone” He held his nape as he looked away. She then stood up, making him turn to her. “I did my part of the deal. You should do yours.”

He then remembered that she wanted him to stop treating her as a friend. “So I should treat you as my employee now, right?” Avery smiled. She didn’t know why but the idea of him smiling and laughing in front of Allison haunted her mind.

“I want you to treat me more than that.”