Chapter 178 Jasmine and Ethan's Tacit Cooperation
Leaning against the car door, Erin watched the scene unfold with a smirk. "Quite the spectacle."
Richard's face darkened. This man was causing a scene at the kindergarten gate, obviously looking for trouble.
"What are you shouting about?" Richard walked over and grabbed the man from behind by the collar.
The man glanced at Richard, looking ready to explode, but he was no match for Richard's stature and recoiled. "I'm Justin's dad. Where's Jasmine? She's my woman. She was my girlfriend up until she went to prison. Now that she's out, she's avoiding me?"
The man's voice was booming, drawing all the onlookers. Parents who were there to pick up their kids started to whip out their phones to record videos, posting to class groups, social circles, and sharing on social media.
Suddenly, Jasmine was once again at the center of controversy.
"What are you yelling about?" Richard was getting angry and wanted to shut the man up, but with so many cameras pointed at them, he couldn't just resort to violence.
"Are you going to hit me? I'm Jasmine's man. Before she went to prison, I was the one supporting her, and Justin is my son. Now, look at that, she's climbed up to Ethan and is planning to dump me!" The man pushed Richard away, howling his protests.
"Where's Jasmine? Let her come out! If Jasmine doesn't come to see me today, I'm not leaving, and no one else will either."
The man came prepared, even bringing a banner that accused Jasmine of abandoning her husband and child.
Erin watched the show with interest—the ruffian making a scene, and then she glanced at Richard, his face darkened with anger, yet helpless against the bully.
True enough, bullies often target those who were too honest.
...
Back at Stellar Enterprise, Liam was Branson's letter of resignation as soon as he returned to the office.
He was shocked, his jaw almost dropping. "Mr. Ethan... How did Jasmine manage this? Incredible, truly incredible."
"Look at these." Ethan opened his emails, and to his astonishment, the entire project department had submitted their resignations.
This was meant to be an act of defiance against Ethan.
"Has the project department gone insane?" Liam was upset. "Mr. Ethan, what do we do? If we really let Branson go, won't the loss to the department be too great?"
"Stellar Enterprises isn't a place they can just come and go as they please." Ethan leaned back in his chair. "Did you get everything ready that Jasmine asked for?"
"Yeah, we've found the weak spots of the ring leaders." Liam nodded.
"Reach out to them privately. If they don't withdraw their resignations by tomorrow, they're all fired."
Ethan's voice was deep.
"Mr. Ethan... How on earth did Jasmine do it?" Liam was genuinely amazed by Jasmine's prowess.
"Kill by flattering. When someone's status doesn't match their virtue and they still crave more, they think I need to curry favor with them, that the company can't run without them. So, he believes he can coerce me, using resignation as leverage to force me to agree to all his unreasonable demands," Ethan said with a scoff.
Men either die from their greed or over a woman.
Branson happened to indulge in both.
Jasmine knew people inside and out.
She would agree to any favor Branson asked for, no matter how unreasonable, except for using the mistress he kept. That was her way to rattle him.
Being humiliated in front of his woman would certainly upset his little sweetheart, and the more she stirred things up, the more Branson would want to prove himself.
He thought that by threatening to resign, Ethan would surely back down.
"Volunteering to resign saves a lot of trouble," Ethan mentioned casually, with a slight smile on his lips.
This way, even if Howard threw a fit, it would be useless.
It was Branson who suggested resigning. There was nothing Ethan could do.
Liam, somewhat stunned, gave Ethan a thumbs-up. "Mr. Ethan, Jasmine has made a great contribution recently. If she hadn’t noticed someone hacked your computer, we would’ve suffered a huge loss. We need to reward her properly."
Ethan raised an eyebrow. He didn't need to bet old that.
"Mr. Ethan, give her a bonus!" Liam advocated persistently for Jasmine’s reward, struggling to read Ethan's expression.
"Do you have nothing better to do?" Ethan didn’t want to engage in conversation with Liam.
"Mr. Ethan, you can't be that stingy. Jasmine really did a great job here." Liam kept on rambling. When Jasmine returned, he was still trying to prove his worth. "Mr. Ethan, I think we should celebrate this. If you’re busy, I can take Jasmine out for a meal after work, treat her to something nice."
Jasmine overheard Liam's offer as she returned from HR. "There's… there's no need for that, right?"
She still had to go home and cook dinner for Mr. Ethan.
"Why not? You’ve fought a good fight, I must take you out for a proper meal. Don’t worry about it; if Mr. Ethan is stingy, I’ll take it out of my salary as your bonus," Liam whispered to Jasmine, patting her shoulder as he stepped closer.
Jasmine, nervous, glanced at Ethan and took a step back to keep her distance from Liam.
"Jasmine, what would you like to eat?" Liam boasted.
"No... It's fine," she replied cautiously, noticing Ethan's expression growing increasingly dark.
"Why not? Let's go eat!" Liam was already pulling out his phone to make a reservation. "I know a great Japanese place; I'll take you there after work."
"Unfortunately, you won't be able to leave work today." Ethan tapped on the desk. "You're staying late."
"Why... why?" Liam asked.
"Because I just approved Branson's resignation, which means you'll be working overtime tonight to rally the project team," said Ethan, his tone light and breezy.
Liam's mouth twitched, feeling like Ethan was the devil incarnate.
"All right... we'll celebrate another day." Liam didn't forget to soothe Jasmine's feelings.
Jasmine took a deep breath of cool air and whispered, "Mr. Ethan, tomorrow morning, can we throw Branson a farewell party? Make it as grand as possible."
Liam looked at Jasmine in shock, giving her a silent thumbs-up. "Clever, really clever..."
Ethan smiled. "Hmm, that's a very good idea."
Throwing a grand farewell party for Branson was also a way of sending a message to Daniel and Clara, a substantial gift they hoped would be well received.
While some rejoiced, Liam, who had to work overtime, left with a dark cloud over his head.
"Mr. Ethan..." Jasmine sounded slightly afraid. "Won't Daniel and Clara become desperate and reckless?"
"Mad dogs only become a threat when they leap over the wall. Putting them down would be self-defense," Ethan said with a deep meaning.
Jasmine took another deep breath and nodded. "The next target is Vittoria."
Ethan regarded Jasmine with meaning. She was taking firm, calculated steps.
He found himself liking her more and more.
"Let's go pick up Justin." Ethan shut down his computer and took Jasmine's hand to leave work.
"But... my brother is picking up Justin today," Jasmine paused.
"Aren't we celebrating? Let's take Justin out for dinner and then drop him off at Richard's." Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Celebrating our perfect teamwork, seamless cooperation?"
Jasmine's ears turned a shade of red as she nodded. "Okay..."
Though celebrating now might seem premature since the crisis wasn't over but had intensified instead.
However, Jasmine was greedy—greedy for some alone time with Justin and Ethan.
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