CHAPTER 555: CHAPTER 555: SUBMISSION

A few days before the wedding, Julian Hawthorne was preparing for the wedding affairs when he received a call from Simon Hawthorne.

Simon had arranged to discuss a collaboration with someone but couldn’t make it due to a sudden matter, so he asked Julian to go in his place.

Julian frowned, "You’re in charge of the company now, don’t bother me."

Simon said, "Big brother, please, I really have something urgent..."

"Then find someone else."

Simon felt bitter; in other wealthy families, siblings fought over inheritance like mad, but not in theirs. His big brother treated the company like a hot potato, and he didn’t want it either.

His big brother had schemed to hand the company over to him, and now he was afraid he’d hand it back, refusing to touch anything to do with it.

Simon felt like he was the most unfortunate younger brother in the world.

"Big brother, I can’t find anyone else now, just help me out, okay? At worst, I’ll help you lead the charge when you have a wedding crashers," Simon implored.

Julian, worn down by Simon’s persistence, finally agreed.

He arrived at the agreed location.

The representative sent by the other company was a woman named Maeve Yardley, a relative of the chairman of the other company.

Maeve was dressed neatly and sharply, and Julian thought she was all business.

Unexpectedly, after he sat down, she didn’t mention the collaboration at all and kept rambling.

One moment she asked about his favorite entertainment activities, the next whether he liked working out.

With an expressionless face, Julian watched as she continued rambling, losing patience.

He had to hurry back to make lunch for Paige Sterling; although if he didn’t do it, Paige could still have a robot make it, she wouldn’t starve.

But what a robot made and what he made were different. Julian liked the feeling of Paige enjoying something he personally made.

Julian showed his impatience on his face, but Maeve seemed oblivious, still radiating her damned allure, twirling her hair and blinking her eyes, as if they were having a great conversation.

In the end, she even asked Julian about his personal affairs.

"I heard President Hawthorne is having a wedding soon; is that true?"

She smiled and said, "President Hawthorne, being so young and accomplished, how could you marry so early? And in my opinion, few women can match President Hawthorne. Plus, the one you’re marrying is a researcher, and I’ve heard researchers are very rigid. Living with someone like that for life, don’t you find it boring?"

Julian’s face was cold, "What does it have to do with you?"

He didn’t bother being polite anymore, since it was clear her mind wasn’t on the collaboration.

Maeve’s smile froze, not expecting Julian to speak so rudely to a lady.

But she quickly adjusted her expression, shrugged helplessly, and said, "I thought President Hawthorne and I were friends, so out of concern, I asked a few more questions. Now it seems I’ve touched a sore spot for President Hawthorne and made him so angry."

She continued speaking to herself, "Since you don’t like it, why force yourself? With your conditions, you could find someone much better..."

The implication was obvious; she was the better one, wasn’t she?

Julian wasn’t biased against women in business; on the contrary, because of Paige, he respected independent and strong women.

But for those women who had chances to excel but didn’t cherish them and instead tried to enchant men with their looks, he had no good feelings at all.

Moreover, Julian didn’t understand why some women, having nothing to show for, were so mysteriously confident they were better than Paige.

It was laughable.

Is excellence something you just declare with your mouth?

Julian coldly asked, "Does your company have a sincere interest in this project?"

Maeve thought Julian was very eager for collaboration and that the initiative now lay with her. Twirling her hair with her fingers, she gazed at Julian with slightly closed eyes.

"Whether our two companies can collaborate depends on what President Hawthorne thinks."

As she spoke, she extended her foot under the table, attempting to flirt with Julian’s pant leg.

Julian sensed it and directly kicked out defensively.

Men are naturally stronger than women, and Julian wasn’t polite about it; he kicked Maeve, chair and all, to the floor.

Maeve was hurt by Julian’s kick; a large bruise formed on her calf, and she screamed from the pain when she fell.

When she recovered, she looked at Julian in disbelief, not expecting him to ignore such a beautiful and elegant woman, let alone raise his hand to a woman.

Is he even a man? How could he be so excessive?

Julian stood up, looking down at the woman.

Before, as the person in charge of the Hawthorne Group, his every word and action had implications for the company, so he never did anything harmful to his image.

Now, he had fewer concerns; his wife didn’t have time to ward off those trying to latch on, so he had to do it himself.

"Since there’s no sincere intent to collaborate, let’s end this here. I hope I won’t see you again."

After speaking, Julian prepared to leave the room.

Maeve, never having been treated this way by a man before, was unwilling and bit her lip hard.

"President Hawthorne! This collaboration concerns the future development of both companies. Aren’t you afraid of causing loss to the Hawthorne Group by offending me like this?"

Seeing Julian pause, she thought she’d successfully threatened him.

She gritted her teeth and stood up, still hurting from where Julian kicked her, and had to support herself on the table.

Being humiliated by Julian like this today, she was determined to regain her dignity.

She wanted Julian to beg her and use his body as compensation to appease her. She wasn’t going to let this go lightly!

"President Hawthorne, if you apologize to me and sincerely ask for my forgiveness, I can consider what happened just a youthful indiscretion and pretend it never happened. The collaboration can still be discussed in detail; otherwise..."

She chuckled, "I heard President Hawthorne was driven out of the power center of the Hawthorne Family by his own younger brother and is now finding it hard to return to the Hawthorne Group? Securing this collaboration might help you regain control. But if President Hawthorne causes both companies to fail in collaborating, leading to significant losses for the Hawthorne Group, you alone wouldn’t be able to bear the consequences."

Maeve evidently didn’t believe the Hawthorne brothers had passed the company out of mutual consideration.

All major families are like this; there is no family affection between siblings in wealthy families, only fights for power and schemes.

In their family, even siblings with the same mother fought viciously.

So, judging by herself, she naturally thought the Hawthorne Family was the same.

A proud man like Julian, who once stood at the pinnacle of power, how could he be content with mediocrity?

Given the opportunity, he would seize it tightly.

If Julian apologized to her and listened to her, she wouldn’t mind using her family’s influence to lend Julian a hand to achieve his goal.

After all, this man was easily capable of charming a woman’s heart.

And didn’t she have good conditions as well?

Apart from her family background, her abilities were exceptional; otherwise, how could she have entered the family business and held such an important position?

Being blessed with beauty and a privileged background, she had always been the target of men’s pursuit.

But she had no interest in those mediocre men; only a charming man like Julian could make her submit.

As for the fact that Julian was already married...