Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
Flossie’s eyes were red as she lost control and yelled at him.
*Ahem!*
Jovan coughed lightly from another corner of the balcony, and walked over with a fake smile on his face. He was wearing a tidy suit and a pair of frameless glasses, and was the epitome of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
“Honey, you’ve got what you wanted. It’s time to get ready for the main show!” The man reminded Flossie with a smirk as he tapped his expensive wristwatch.
“Yes, it’s time for the show.” Flossie took a deep breath and beamed radiantly at Jovan, no trace of her disappointment from earlier. She patted Halston on the shoulder, and said briefly, “Take care, Mr. Guajardo.”
She linked arms with Jovan, and they headed into the banquet hall.
Halston was speechless for a while, but the shock was soon replaced with amusement, and a soft smile appeared on his face. He thought to himself, ‘Yes, this is how Flossie Ellsworth is supposed to live. I don’t care if she wants revenge, or anything else… I just don’t want her to be sad because of me.’
Flossie and Jovan attracted a lot of attention the minute they appeared in the hall, but it was mostly just disdainful stares. After all, Jovan was known as the right-hand man who failed in betraying his own family, whereas Flossie was known as a useless, abandoned woman whose family had fallen from grace.
To many, it was unthinkable that they would willingly attend an event like this given their reputations.
Meanwhile, Seraphina soon noticed that she was no longer in the limelight. Everyone was looking somewhere else, which made her quite upset. She followed everyone’s gaze to the spiral staircase, only to find Flossie and Jovan under the spotlight.
Seraphina sneered as she approached Flossie and said mockingly, “Miss Ellsworth, are you attending this summit as Mr. Guajardo’s plus one? You might not know this, but only people with significant contributions to the industry were invited to attend. Thus, Mr. Guajardo is not qualified to be here, and neither are you.”
“Oh, there were requirements? Sorry, but I had no idea!” Jovan grinned cheekily and replied, “Sorry to burst your bubble, but this lovely lady isn’t my plus one – I’m hers! You might not know this, but my sweetheart here is the president of the Electronics Technology Association. I just came here to broaden my horizons, you know?”
Hearing this, some of the people in the crowd immediately became enraged.
“How dare you even mention that?! Have you no shame? All of us voted for this woman as president because we trusted her, but she decided to just up and leave her post! Don’t you know how we were mocked because we had no leader?!”
“Who even made the attendance list? Allowing them to attend is an insult to our industry… Security! Kick these two out right now!”
“I was wrong back then, and I sincerely apologize to everyone for it,” Flossie said solemnly as she bowed deeply. She knew that her sudden departure had brought harm to the association, so she had long expected that she would be the main target for their resentment.
“However, I actually came here with a very important goal in mind. It was also the current president, Mr. Frederick Yarrow, who personally invited me to this summit. So, my plus one and I are more than qualified to participate,” she continued with a confident smile.
“Frederick Yarrow personally invited you? How is that possible?!” Shocked, everyone immediately turned to their current president.
Frederick adjusted his glasses as he faced the crowd calmly, looking distinguished in his well-tailored suit. “Calm down, everyone. I sent Miss Ellsworth an invitation because she has a special identity – one that is very significant in our industry. She is more qualified than anyone here to join this summit, so for the good of our industry, please respect everyone here as equals.”
The man’s words instantly enraged the older individuals in the hall.
“Yarrow, what are you saying? She’s just an inexperienced little girl! How could she possibly contribute more to the industry than us? Did you fall for that temptress’ tricks, youngster?! Did you exploit some loophole so you could invite her here?”
“Don’t forget that we can remove you from your position just as easily as we put you there, so don’t get cocky with us!”
Frederick smiled sadly. “By the time the conference starts, all of you will understand that I was only speaking the truth. If you still think Miss Ellsworth has no right to attend by then, I’ll be willing to resign immediately.”
When everyone saw how serious Frederick was, nobody dared to make the situation more difficult for him. The crowd soon dispersed, not even giving Flossie or Jovan a second glance.
However, Seraphina did not want to let the matter go so easily. She took a glass of wine and handed it to Flossie with a fake smile. “Miss Ellsworth, you’re here for Halston, aren’t you? I must say, you have amazing timing – we’ll be announcing our relationship to the public today! You’ll give us your blessing, won’t you?”
Flossie nonchalantly clinked glasses with her, flashing her an equally fake smile. “If my blessings could help reassure you, I’d be happy to offer them… but I’m sure you already know that you could never keep him at your side. If I were you, I wouldn’t even dream of taking such a huge risk. Try to cherish this feeling while it lasts, because you’re going to be heartbroken and ashamed once he’s done with you.”
Her words instantly triggered Seraphina, and the woman’s eyes widened in rage. Uncaring of her image, she screamed at Flossie, “Shut your mouth, Ellsworth! Halston and I will be together forever, and the only heartbroken person here will be you! You were abandoned four years ago, and now, you’re being abandoned again!”
Seraphina let out a snarl and splashed her wine at Flossie’s face, her eyes wild.
Jovan quickly shielded Flossie, and warned Seraphina coldly, “Miss Murphy, you are crossing a line. If you keep behaving like this, I’ll have no choice but to have you escorted out!”
Seraphina glared at him arrogantly and scoffed, “You’re just a good-for-nothing assistant who was banished by your own family, so you have no right to speak to me. The Guajardo family’s fate is completely in my family’s hands now, so how dare you act like you own this place?! I should be the one kicking you out! It’s amazing how you can’t even see how worthless you are!”
Jovan was fuming, and he splashed his own wine at Seraphina, not holding back at all. “Don’t push me! I won’t go easy on you just because you’re a woman, I’ll hit anyone who deserves it!”
“Ah, you… you…” Seraphina was gaping at him in shock, red wine dripping down her face. The delicately beautiful makeup she had put on earlier had been ruined by this madman.
Seraphina was furious, but she knew how ruthless Jovan could be, so she didn’t dare to provoke him any further. Instead, she decided to target Flossie again. She turned to the security guards and shrieked, “What are you waiting for? Kick both of these freaks out! I’m ordering you as the eldest daughter of the Murphy family! If you don’t get it done now, I’ll have my family retract their sponsorship for this event!”
“Uh… well…” The guards looked rather conflicted. The Murphys were not involved in the electronics industry, and Seraphina wasn’t exactly a professional either. However, the Murphy family was still the biggest sponsor of the event, and were also the biggest shareholders of the legendary H Group. Thus, the security guards didn’t dare disobey her.
“Miss Ellsworth, Mr. Guajardo, please cooperate with us…” One of the guards finally said as he approached them.
After all, Flossie had no money, while Jovan had no skills. Since they were both practically outcasts, the guards figured it would be safest to side with Seraphina.
Jovan lost his temper, and grabbed the guard by his collar furiously. “Do you have a death wish? How dare you ask us to leave?!”
Flossie, however, shrugged dismissively. “Let him go. If they want us to leave, we will.”
“Why should I? This is clearly an abuse of power! We got an official invitation fair and square, so what makes them think they can just take that away from us?” Jovan snarled defiantly. Being a pampered son of the Guajardo family, he had never been treated like this before.
Flossie smirked and said mysteriously, “It’s alright. Even if we leave now, they’ll be begging us to come back.”
Seraphina laughed mockingly and sneered, “Just who do you think you are? Apart from the heads of this summit, everyone here is replaceable, especially people like you who only got an invite through their connections!”
Ignoring her, Flossie grabbed Jovan by the arm and pulled him out of the banquet hall. She went to the hotel’s parking lot, got into her luxurious car, and started casually playing a mobile game.
Jovan stared at her in disbelief, then covered her phone screen and said impatiently, “Why are we giving up now? It wasn’t easy to get that invitation, you know? I can’t let this opportunity slide, especially since we haven’t even shown them who’s boss yet!”
“Stop that, you’re getting in the way!” Flossie pushed his hand away crossly and continued playing her game. A smirk slowly curved her lips as she said softly, “I said they’d be begging us to come back, didn’t I? What’s the rush?”
“How can I not panic? The conference is starting in ten minutes, and the new chairman of KCL Group is attending too!” Jovan protested agitatedly. “Do you know how amazing the new chairman is? They invented the G6 chip all on their own, and managed to become the largest shareholder of KCL in just two years through a creeping acquisition! They even overthrew the original chairman, Mr. Y, and acquired complete command of KCL…”
“So?” Flossie seemed unbothered.
“So we have to cherish this opportunity! Let’s go back to our original plan and find a way to win KCL’s chairman over so that they’ll work with Azure Group! With that, we can crush H Group, and finally win against Halston Guajardo!” Jovan was exhilarated, his eyes gleaming with determination.
“Back then, Halston used his connections with Mr. Y to stay at the very top of the industry. Now that KCL has changed chairmans, it’s rumored that they might start looking for a new business partner too. Since H Group is in trouble, they’re no longer the best candidate to work with… Basically, whoever gets to take H Group’s place and sign a contract with KCL will be able to rule the industry!”
“That’s true.” Flossie smiled, amused at how naive and straight-laced Jovan could be sometimes.
“Ah, the conference is starting in five minutes!” The man whined miserably.
The most important part of the event was starting soon, and several important figures were already seated at the round table. This included Halston, Frederick Yarrow, and many other powerful leaders of the industry.
The rest of the participants could only observe their meeting from a large meeting room outside the hall. Even the biggest sponsor of the event, Seraphina, was not allowed to attend the conference.
To start the conference, the eight industry leaders would have to press the activation button, located in the middle of the conference table, simultaneously. This activation button was shaped like the Earth and divided into eight pieces, representing the eight regions that contributed most to the technology industry.
The conference was scheduled to start soon. Some people had even brought automated translators, and they counted down excitedly.
“Five, four, three, two…”
There was a long silence. Nothing had happened, and the attendees were visibly confused. The activation button should have been pressed by now.
“I’m sorry, everyone, I’m afraid we’re experiencing some technical issues.” Frederick Yarrow, the president of the Electronics Technology Association and the host of the event, suddenly announced in a panicked voice.
“Huh? Technical difficulties? What happened?”