"Dad, since Rey is going to take charge of the branch company, don't you think it would be more
appropriate for him to select the staff?"
Aron couldn't endure it anymore. He decided to fight for the rights of his son, Rey Gu. The
shareholders who had come to a consensus seemed to agree with Aron. They felt that it was beneficial
for the company.
"Do you doubt my judgment or your son's capability? Or are you scared that I'll make things difficult for
him?"
Aron was perplexed by Jonas's questions. He wanted to say that he was afraid that he would deceive
him but swallowed his words.
"No, that's not what I mean..."
"Good. Don't worry, I trust his ability. I will supervise the company to get him back on track."
Jonas cut Aron off before he could finish his words. In the end, it was Jonas who managed the
recruitment of the staff. He wasn't ready to give up the power and responsibility that Nelson had given
him.
After the meeting, Nelson asked the staffs from all the important departments to stay back. He
instructed them to follow Jonas's decisions, irrespective of how big or small they were.
"Work hard. Don't let me down."
Nelson patted Jonas's shoulder and smiled. Jonas could see that his grandfather was getting old and
became weaker with every passing day. He couldn't see him like this.
Jonas was busy with the recruitment process and development plans. He hardly had time for himself.
He gave the employee list to Rey Gu and informed him about the people who would be joining the
company. When Jonas left the meeting room, he got a call from Emily.
They hadn't talked with each other for a long time. Jonas was busy with work and almost forgot her.
"I'm back from filming. Do you want to have lunch with me?"
Emily asked hopefully. She had been patient and tried hard suppressing the urge to call him. Now that
she was back, she felt that it would be a reasonable excuse to contact him.
Emily knew that Jonas would get busy and would soon forget her. She had to keep in touch with him to
remind him of her presence.
"I owe you a treat anyway. How about meeting today for lunch? I will send the time and venue later."
"Sounds good to me. I'm going to unpack my stuff now. See you later."
Emily smiled and hung up the phone. Jonas asked William to arrange everything. William immediately
made a reservation at a restaurant. "Boss, you have a meeting this afternoon regarding the branch," he
said hesitantly.
"Got it."
The affairs of the new branch were more important to him. This was a test given by Nelson and he
needed to prove his proficiency.
William managed to squeeze an hour and a half in Jonas's schedule to have lunch with Emily. Lunch
would be served at noon and he had specifically booked a restaurant that served the dishes swiftly.
Lunch was ready by the time Jonas and Emily entered the restaurant. Emily sat down and swept her
tongue across her lips. "Wow, what a feast! I cannot wait to finish them all."
"Really?" Jonas asked with amusement.
"Yeah. I'm tired of eating the same boring lunch every day. The crew members prepared lunch for me
but I fell sick every time I ate. The food was bad but acting was fun," she said, taking a bite of the
shrimp ball.
Emily closed her eyes and moaned with satisfaction. She began to describe the taste and flavors of the
dishes as if she were in a cookery show. Jonas broke into a fit of laughter.
"I think I should be a food blogger," she said, pursing her lips.
"Of course," Jonas said, smiling.
Jonas tasted one dish after the other and enjoyed the medley of flavors in his mouth. All the dishes
were delicious.
Both of them ate in silence as they enjoyed the meal. Emily massaged her belly and leaned against the
chair.
Emily was herself when she was around Jonas. She always wanted to reveal her true feelings to him.
"I managed to lose a lot of weight during shooting. I'm sure I'll put on weight if I start having meals with
you." She pouted.
Jonas poked the fruit with his fork and took a bite of it. He shook his head and smiled.
"Well, I don't regret eating a heavy lunch today but I shouldn't have them often. Otherwise, I'll turn into
a pumpkin." She chuckled. "You know there's a child actor in our team. He's incredibly cute.
One day..."
Emily went on and on about all the interesting events that happened in film sets. Jonas smiled when he
saw her talk passionately about her love for acting.
He felt relaxed, which was a rare thing. Work was consuming him and he hardly got the chance to
unwind.
Jonas was frustrated that he only got half an hour to rest, which seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.
The heavy meal made Emily drowsy. She decided to go home and take a long nap.
Melinda isolated herself from the outside world. It had almost been a month since she stepped out of
the mansion. She became a recluse and preferred staying at home. Melinda communicated with
everyone only through e-mail. She collaborated with Kent on his new book. After an intense discussion,
their editors believed that they could manage the book on their own.
They finally came to an agreement where Kent and Melinda could supervise each other. They needed
to constantly check their work and give their feedback. Kent and Melinda were already great friends
and their trust and friendship intensified in the process of writing the book.
Yulia sometimes spent time with Melinda. Momo had developed a strong dislike for Yulia. It would snarl
at her and run away every time she came to the small villa.
Melinda couldn't understand why Momo hated Yulia. She felt embarrassed to see the cat run away
from Yulia.
"Melinda, I'm going to try making an almond cake today. Would you like to have afternoon tea with
me?"
Yulia asked. She had developed a fondness for baking and tried new recipes every day. Looking at all
the ingredients and tools at the kitchen, Melinda felt the urge to cook.
"Okay, I'll make some flower tea for you." She smiled.
Melinda and Yulia had been getting along well. Yulia tried getting close with Melinda and didn't seem to
mind her cold face. Although Melinda didn't particularly like Yulia, she couldn't refuse.
Yulia blindly followed Emily's words and managed to create chaos between Melinda and Jonas.
There was a lot of disagreement between Jonas and Rey Gu as they worked together in developing the
new branch. Being an important member of the company, Rey Gu took impulsive decisions. He couldn't
implement plans that were beneficial for the company.
"I will deal with the affairs of the branch company. Don't forget that you're just a manager here,"
Jonas said as he couldn't deal with Rey Gu's inefficiency. Rey Gu's face turned pale with
embarrassment.
He was also Nelson's grandson and couldn't bear the humiliation. Moreover, Nelson had a special
liking for Jonas and always ignored Rey Gu.
Rey Gu sometimes couldn't help but wonder how great his life would be if he had married Melinda
instead of Jonas. He would be the one managing Soaring Group.
"Grandpa wants to see visible improvement. We cannot achieve good results if we go according to your
plan. You are deliberately trying to suppress me, Jonas,"
Rey Gu grumbled.
"I'm trying to suppress you? Are you kidding me? You are not worth all that," Jonas mocked.
Rey Gu wasn't a threat to Jonas. Aron was the one Jonas was worried about. It was Aron who always
came up with sinister plans to defeat him.
"Jonas, you..." Rey Gu's face darkened with anger.
"All right, the meeting is over. I've got a lot of things to do. Soaring Group has more than one branch
and we have to pay equal attention to all the branches,"
Jonas answered coldly.
Rey Gu was frustrated, but Jonas knew that there wasn't much he could do. The interesting
conversation he had with Emily made him ask her out for dinner.
Emily was sleeping when Jonas called her. All traces of sleep vanished from her face when she heard
him say that he was going to pick her up for dinner.
Everything was working according to her plan.
It was seven in the evening when Jonas finished work. When he called Emily, he found that she was
waiting for him. She joked that he was late and dinner was almost over.
Emily had chosen the restaurant. She usually liked romantic, French restaurants. But Emily was a
popular star now and all her fans would swarm around her. She ended up choosing a small private
room in the restaurant as she didn't want anyone to recognize her.
Dinner was served as soon as Jonas walked into the restaurant. Emily had taken special care to order
all his favorite dishes.
She was also aware of the brand and age of wine that Jonas preferred. Therefore, she had ordered a
bottle of his favorite wine.
Jonas was touched by Emily's thoughtfulness. He was comfortable around her.
"Why is it you guys always have fun? This bottle of wine belongs to me today."
Emily smiled and raised her glass before clinking it with Jonas's. She closed her eyes and took a sip of
the wine, relishing its taste.
She took another sip and swished it with her tongue as the flavor exploded in her mouth. The exotic
flavor of wine made her taste buds tingle. Emily scrunched her nose and looked at Jonas.
"You may not like it in the beginning, but you will eventually fall in love with it," Jonas said.
Emily was slowly getting addicted to the taste but she told him that she couldn't taste anything. She
began to ramble about how Jonas had lied that wine tasted good just to have a drink with her.
"I think you need to stop drinking. You've had enough already." Jonas frowned.
Emily giggled like a maniac and poured herself another glass. "Why are you stopping me from drinking
this tasty wine? This is an elixir and I want to drink more," she slurred.
Emily's face was flustered and she looked completely drunk. Considering that they had finished dinner,
Jonas paid the bill and ushered Emily into the car to drop her home.
Although the restaurant wasn't far from Emily's house, it took a lot of effort for him to drive her home.
Emily was constantly giggling and pestering him and Jonas couldn't keep his eyes on the road.
The car finally halted in front of Emily's house. Jonas opened the door and helped her come out. Emily
staggered and leaned heavily against Jonas's chest. She suddenly stopped and wrapped her arms
around Jonas's neck.
"Jonas, I like you." She pecked on his cheek and ran into the house, giggling like a little girl.
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