Zac said in a low voice, "You are not suitable for the CEO's office."
His words poured cold water over her. Cherry shivered and thought, 'Did he mean to have me
transferred from the CEO's office?'
"I've just arrived, so I'm afraid I am not aware of what happened. If I did something wrong, then I'll do
my best to rectify it. Please don't transfer me to another department."
Cold as ice, Zac turned his eyes back to his computer screen like he didn't hear anything that she said.
Amy knew exactly what that meant and immediately pulled Cherry out of the office.
"Your internship is over. Starting tomorrow, you don't have to come to the office," Amy said in a cold
voice.
Cherry's face turned pale. She said, "Are you firing me? I thought the boss just wanted to have me
transferred to another office."
"Only regular employees can be reshuffled to other offices. You are an intern who haven't signed a
formal internship contract. Once you make a mistake, it is our prerogative to ask you to leave," Amy
said sternly.
"Was it wrong for me to send a document?" Cherry asked defensively.
"Although you are an intern, you received the employee code of conduct two days ago. You were
expected to have studied the document and kept its contents in mind. It is clearly stated there that only
the top executives are qualified to enter the CEO's office, unless the CEO has summoned others in.
Non-executive rank employees can only send work reports or express their thoughts and opinions by
email. Another thing: there is one absolute taboo in the CEO's office: never approach the CEO with any
ulterior motive. In other words, if you dare express improper desire toward the CEO, you will be fired."
With that parting shot, Amy turned her back to the other woman and returned to her desk.
Upset, Cherry called Mary as soon as she got out of the Emperor headquarters.
The news that she was fired surprised Mary. She immediately rushed over to meet up with Cherry.
"What's wrong with you? How could you irritate Zac the moment you came in?" she admonished the
younger woman, disappointment written plainly on her face. She deliberately arranged for Cherry to be
assigned to the office of Emperor's CEO. Her assignment was to get close to Zac and seduce him
away from Essie.
If Valery couldn't win his heart, then she had to find someone else. Essie dared to be so presumptuous
because her son was fascinated by her. That vile woman could only be displaced if Zac would fall in
love with another woman and transfer his feelings for her.
"I was too eager for him to notice me that I ended up accidentally violating the company policies. I think
I made a good impression on him. He didn't intend to fire me, only to transfer me to another office. It
was his subordinate who made that decision without his permission." Cherry ranted to Mary in a voice
full of agitation and righteous indignation.
"Forget it. I'll officially introduce you to each other this afternoon, but..." Something strange flashed
through her eyes as a thought occurred to her. She leaned over and whispered something to Cherry.
Zac was preparing to leave the office when he received a call from his mother, who asked him to meet
her for afternoon tea.
As soon as Zac entered the most high-end afternoon tea room on the West Street, Mary immediately
introduced the person seated next to her. "Zac, darling, do you still remember Aunt Tracy in the United
States? This is her daughter Cherry. She had just graduated from Columbia University and come to
Dragon City for her career development."
"Auntie, we have already met." Cherry lowered her eyes, a picture of demure gentility, but it was to hide
the frustration in her eyes. Then, she looked up with a gracious smile on her face and said, "He is the
CEO of the company I am interning in."
"What a coincidence!" Mary exclaimed in feigned surprise. She told Cherry to pretend that she didn't
know Mary's relationship with Zac. That way, he wouldn't suspect Cherry of deliberately entering the
company with a hidden agenda.
Zac looked at her with his deep eyes and said nothing.
Still looking at Cherry, Mary took a sip of tea and asked, "Which department are you in?"
"The CEO's office, but I've been recently dismissed." Cherry fluttered her thick eyelashes, and tears
began to form at the corners of her eyes.
"Dismissed? You mean fired? Why?" Mary covered her mouth in shock. Her son was a very shrewd
person, so she had to take care not to overdo her acting so that he wouldn't notice.
"I went beyond authority to send a document," Cherry replied, voice injected with hesitation.
"It's not a very serious matter, then," Mary said in a decisive tone. She looked at Zac and said, "Son,
please give Cherry another chance. She is one of Columbia's top marketing students in her batch, and
I'm sure she wants to develop her practical knowledge in marketing. She will definitely be of big help to
you if she continues to work in the company."
Zac again turned his unreadable glance on Cherry. "You are learning marketing, so why did you apply
for a position in the CEO's office?" he asked slowly.
"When I came to the Emperor to look for a job, I heard that the CEO has six special assistants in his
staff. I have also learned that these people are extremely powerful in their own right. I hope to become
one of them, so I applied for a job in the CEO's office," Cherry explained with conviction. After all, her
goal was to get close to him. The CEO's office was the department directly under him, so obviously it
was her first choice.
"The available vacancy in the CEO's office was only a secretarial position, which is different from the
special assistant position. It seems like you have yet to figure out what you want to do." The corners of
his mouth lifted into a mocking smile.
She blinked her eyes guiltily and said quickly, "I'd like to be a secretary, too."
Zac sneered. His eyes looked very sharp, as if he had already seen through her tricks.
Seeing his lack of response, Mary again spoke on Cherry's behalf, "Zac, can you give her one more
chance? She should at least finish her internship. If she does not perform well, then you don't have to
officially hire her."
Zac cast a glance at his mother. He picked up his teacup, sipped at the tea, and said slowly, "If you
must insist, I'll have her assigned to the marketing department."
Hearing the finality in his voice, Mary couldn't say much else. She could only go and figure out a way to
salvage the situation to her advantage.
She looked at her watch and decided to leave first so as to give them a chance to spend time together
with just the two of them.
"I have an appointment to play mahjong with my friends, so I'm leaving now. You have a good chat with
Cherry. Do me a favor and send her home later," she said to Zac before standing up.
To her surprise, Zac also rose to his feet. He wanted to redeem his image in his wife's eyes and so had
made up his mind never to spend time with another woman except within a business capacity.
"Mommy, I have to go back to the office to deal with some unfinished business. Please ask the driver to
take her home." Without waiting for Mary's response, Zac left the tea room.
Mary's face turned pale. How did she give birth to such a strange son?
He had never been interested in women before, and he was indifferent to all women except for Leila.
Now, he was so addicted to a harlot whom he treated like a priceless treasure. He was blind to other
women who were actually suitable for him.
Cherry lowered her head, frustrated and disappointed. She murmured, "Auntie, it seems like Zac
doesn't like me at all."
"He's the slow-to-heat type. You need to be patient with him." Mary patted her hands to comfort her, but
her eyes took on a hint of darkness. If Cherry didn't meet her son's ideal type, she could look for
another woman who would. There were so many women in the world that it was surely impossible for
him to love just one woman. She could always find someone to replace Essie.
As for her eldest son, she had definite plans for him. She was organizing a high society ball, to which
she would invite all the unmarried daughters of rich, influential powerful families in Dragon City. Then,
she would have him pick a wife from them.
Walt's situation was more easily solved than that of Zac. For starters, he was not married, so she could
select a girlfriend for him openly and brazenly. Second, his taste in women vary within a wide range of
preferences, a fact which was infinitely preferable to her younger son's propensity of being extremely
picky regarding women.
She even planned to let Essie to host the party, which would be a huge blow to her. If she failed, she
could complain to Albert about her ineptitude.
She scheduled the party for Saturday night but deliberately did not tell Essie to prepare for it until
Wednesday before the event. She only had three days to select the venue and invite guests.
Essie knew very well that her mother-in-law was deliberately making trouble for her but did not refuse,
lest she found an excuse to question her abilities.
For the venue, she booked the banquet hall on the tenth floor of Glory Hotel, a five-star hotel owned by
the Rong Travel Group. Then, she enlisted the help of Ivy and Daisy to come up with a list of celebrity
and high-society guests. After all, no one knew the upper class circles of Dragon City like they did.
The men's list was drawn up and carefully curated by Mary herself. All of the potential attendees were
noble sons of Dragon City's finest families, but no one could hold a candle to the elegant demeanor of
her son.
They agreed to finalize the guest list once Walt had returned.
"Come here quickly, cousin. Did we miss anyone you want to invite?" Ivy waved at him and said
jokingly.
Walt was slightly taken aback. "What are you doing?"
"Auntie is holding a party for young ladies. She asked us to invite all unmarried women from rich
families in Dragon City. I guess she is doing this to choose a wife for you," said Ivy with a smile.
Unconsciously, a frown formed on Walt's brow. Was it possible that his mother had given up on Zac, so
she had decided to make a move on him?
"Should I get out of here and hide?" he asked half-jokingly.
"It's okay, you can pick a few women and just have fun with them. After all, you change your girlfriends
every week," Daisy commented with a chuckle.
A strange smile appeared on his face. What Daisy had said was completely damaging to his image.
Admittedly in the past, he was a playboy who went through a lot of women. Now, he only had his eyes
on one person, and that person was the only one who occupied his heart.
"I'm in love with someone. I don't want to be with any other woman except for her," he murmured in a
serious tone.
Both women looked at Walt in surprise. "No way! You are still thinking about your little sun?" Ivy asked
curiously, "So if you never find her in this lifetime, does that mean that you will never marry?"
"I've found her," said Walt slowly with a mysterious smile on his face.
"What? You've already found her? Why isn't she with you, then?" Ivy was shocked.
"We're still in the courting stage," said Walt lightly. Unbidden, his eyes wandered toward Essie.
Essie, who was too busy checking the guest list, did not participate in their conversation. Walt felt a
slight twinge of sadness in his heart. Even if she frowned at him, all hope was not lost. However, she
was so indifferent, like she had nothing to do with him. Apparently, no other person could occupy her
heart, only Zac.
He was the firstborn, but his grandfather chose Zac to inherit the family business. He knew Essie first,
but Zac married her.
Why couldn't Zac follow the rule of ‘first come, first served'?
While he was lost in thought, Essie's voice pierced his consciousness. "I will design the invitation card
and send it to the printing company so that they can print it out overnight. We will send out the
invitations tomorrow."
On the second floor corridor, Valery stared at the people in the living room with a malicious glitter in her
eyes.
'Just wait and see, Essie, things won't go as smoothly as you think they will.'
While he was lost in thought, Essie's voice pierced his consciousness. "I will design the invitation card
and send it to the printing company so that they can print it out overnight. We will send out the
invitations tomorrow."
On the second floor corridor, Valery stared at the people in the living room with a malicious glitter in her
eyes.
‘Just wait and see, Essie, things won't go as smoothly as you think they will.’
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