Chapter 160 Moral Support?
In the heart of the city, there was a florist's shop, its dim yellow light visible through the fine rain.
The somewhat plump shopkeeper leaned on the counter, looking bored, apparently waiting for someone.
She glanced at the time.
It was nearly eleven, surely the major client wouldn't come now?
Just as she considered closing up for the night, the chime of the doorbell sounded.
The shopkeeper straightened up immediately.
At the entrance stood a man in a black suit, tall, with a dampness about him, walking in.
"Mr. Solomon, I thought you weren't coming!" The shopkeeper greeted him with a cheerful smile.
"I got held up on a business trip." Darwin spoke casually, "The flowers?"
"I've kept them for you!" The shopkeeper quickly brought out the flowers. "I still suggest that I deliver them to your place regularly, to save you the trouble."
"No need." he refused as always and then left.
After he departed, the shopkeeper belatedly realized that the gentleman hadn't carried an umbrella.
She hesitated, contemplating whether to offer one.
Her husband, yawning, came out from the back, "Did the customer take the flowers?"
"Yes, such a good man. He buys flowers for his wife every week." she said, envious. Looking back at her husband, whose underpants were twisted oddly and sandals barely two months old looked nearly worn out, her face suddenly fell.
Darwin returned to his apartment, opening the door to complete darkness.
Holding the flowers, he stood in the doorway for a moment, as if waiting for someone to come running towards him with a bright, happy smile.
But, as always, what awaited him was nothing but endless silence and darkness.
Darwin turned on the light. He had been living in this apartment for just over ten years, since Fiona moved in.
Everything here bore the marks of time.
Darwin shed his coat and meticulously cleaned out the vase, removing the not-so-fresh flowers, imitating Fiona's past care.
Then he arranged the freshly bought flowers into the vase.
After finishing, it was almost midnight.
Darwin took a hot shower and, as he reached for clothes in the wardrobe, he lingered by the women's garments for a while.
Five years had passed, and gradually her presence had faded from this home.
Changing into pajamas, Darwin didn't head to the bedroom to rest but instead lay on the couch with a blanket over him.
He turned on the TV, flipped to a random channel, and muted the volume.
Then, Darwin opened a drawer, took out a bottle of pills, swallowed a few, and fell into sleep.
Another night haunted by nightmares.
At seven-thirty the next morning, Darwin dressed in his suit, tied his tie, and drove to the office.
Since it was the beginning of the month, Solomon had the routine morning meeting.
By the time Darwin reached the conference room, everyone had already arrived.
Lilian looked at him with a smiling gaze.
Yet, Darwin still appeared emotionless and desireless as he took his seat. "Let's begin."
The main topic at today's meeting was still the Solomon's acquisition case.
In fact, there were board members at Solomon who opposed the acquisition.
But in recent years, Darwin, like a tyrant, left the board only two choices in matters he pursued: to agree willingly or to be forcefully subdued into agreement.
Hence, no one dared to voice opposition at the meeting.
After the report on the Solomon's acquisition was complete, Darwin was about to adjourn the meeting.
That's when someone suddenly spoke up, "Mr. Solomon, regarding Miss Robbins' intent to compete with Monsoon Investment for the RH Company project, we'd like to hear Miss Robbins' thoughts!"
There was a clear sense of dissatisfaction in the speaker's tone.
Monsoon Investment was a venture capital firm under the Rhoads family, managed directly by Chelsea Rhoads, the family's heir. RH Company had long-established contacts with them. Solomon's sudden interference wasn't about offending the Rhoads family, but rather that the scale of the project didn't justify such a move for RH Company.
Lilian was momentarily taken aback. She hadn't intended for Darwin to find out about her project.
"It's a project that is not too big nor too small, and not worth wasting the board's time in this meeting. If you have doubts, feel free to email me, and I will make sure to respond." In reality, Lilian was very aware of how many established businesses were in a rush to transform, and RH Company was just such a case.
Next, she planned to have opportunities with even more competitive and formidable businesses.
Such endeavors promised not only money but also old-money networking resources.
"Mr. Solomon, I don't think Solomon should offend the Rhoads family over a project of this size." the person dismissed Lilian and turned directly to Darwin.
"Monsoon Investment belongs to the Rhoads family?" Darwin asked coolly.
In recent years, as Solomon's commercial empire had grown larger and its scope of business had expanded, he had publicly seen Janna Rhoads a few times.
However, perhaps because of Fiona, Janna had always been rather cold towards him, ignoring him when possible.
She even rejected his proposal to collaborate with Solomon twice.
Lilian appeared to have something to say.
But she was interrupted by another, "While Monsoon Investment may not hang directly under the Rhoads family banner, its founder, Chelsea, is the only child of Janna's youngest son and is rumored to be the Rhoads family heir that Janna has been grooming for years."
Darwin has never taken an interest in the secrets of the wealthy elite.
Now more estranged from Wyatt, he's even less likely to hear such gossip.
"We compete on a level playing field. What does it matter who owns Monsoon Investment?" Lilian's tone took on an uncharacteristic edge.
Miss Robbins has always been gentle, reminiscent of the former Secretary Woods.
The debate over whether or not the project was worth pursuing was about to ignite.
After listening to several exchanges, Darwin was becoming irritated and tapped lightly on the table.
The conference room fell silent instantly.
Everyone's attention snapped to Darwin.
"Has Solomon secured this project?" Darwin lifted his eyelids slightly to ask.
"Not yet." Lilian replied.
"Then what are you arguing about?" Darwin asked coolly, "Do you think Solomon is so powerful that any project you want, you can just take?"
The meeting room was dead silent.
"If I remember correctly, last year our company's project success rate was under fifty percent." Darwin surveyed the room, "Miss Robbins has already started working on this project, so pursue it vigorously. If Monsoon Investment isn't capable and loses to Solomon, then there's no need to fear this heir. But if Solomon loses to Monsoon Investment, then you all don't have to worry about making enemies of Solomon and the Rhoads family."
Lilian couldn't be prouder.
In her view, Darwin was backing her up.
The meeting concluded.
Darwin left the conference room first, with Lilian closely behind.
As if she wanted to signal to the entire company's shareholders that her relationship with Darwin was not ordinary.
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