Filed To Story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
In his persistence, he accidentally touched her hand.
The receptionist was startled. She had just graduated from university and had just started her internship. This was the first time she had encountered something like this.
She immediately pressed the panic button.
The two security guards standing at the door immediately approached and grabbed Demetrius’s hand. “What are you up to?” “Please escort this gentleman out,” the receptionist stammered, her face pale with fear.
“Let go of me. I need to see Mr. Collins. I have something to say.”
The two guards grabbed his arms and shoved him out the door, barring him from re–entering the company.
Through the towering glass door, Demetrius saw a few receptionists comforting the girl, who was still pale from fright.
Innocent, speechless, and helpless, Demetrius pleaded, “Guys, I mean no harm. Have you heard of Melton Fashion? I’m the CEO. Here’s my business card.”
He pulled out his business card, but the guards didn’t even spare him a glance, completely ignoring him.
Demetrius tried to move forward, but the two guards immediately blocked him. “What are you trying to do? Get embarrassed again?”
Demetrius had never been so humble in his life. If not for the company’s crisis, he wouldn’t be wasting his time here with two security guards.
“Guys, let me pass. I really have business matters to discuss with your CEO.”
The guards eyed him up and down, his clothes in disarray, his demeanor downcast. He did not look like a client of their CEO!
Just then, the CEO’s private elevator door opened.
Hans Collins stepped out, glancing at the time. It was six in the afternoon; his sister should be home by now, right?
Just as he was about to step out of the building, he heard someone calling him.
“Mr. Collins, I’m Demetrius from Melton Fashion. You should know me, right?”
Demetrius finally saw his target and tried to approach him, but was blocked by the two guards.
“Let me go, let go.” Unable to break free from the guards, Demetrius could only yell, “I don’t know how I have offended you. If it’s about the Maestro Melody incident, I’m sorry. I’ll pay the compensation by midnight! We’ve already apologized to her!”
Hans Collins was confused.
“Can you give us a chance? Give us a break. To be honest, our company is in deep trouble, and with what you had your people do, our company is barely hanging on!”
“Mr. Collins, you must love the maestro’s piano pieces, right? You should know that the maestro was from our company. Can you be magnanimous and forgive us this once? Can we move on?”
Hans Collins was speechless.
What the hell was this man talking about? He didn’t understand a word.
Just then, Julian pulled up in front of Hans Collins and opened the door for him.
Hans Collins got into the car, completely ignoring Demetrius behind him.
“Mr. Collins, please wait. Give me a chance. I promise I won’t make the same mistake.” Before Demetrius could finish, he was choked by the car’s exhaust fumes.
The two security guards looked at him as if they were looking at a homeless dog who had lost its home.
“What are you looking at? Do you even have the right to gawk at the misfortunes of Tranquil City’s richest man?”
“Do you have a death wish?”
“Heh, what are you up to? Dare to hit me? ”
From the rear–view mirror, the driver, Julian, saw Demetrius being beaten up by the two guards and thrown out of the door. He asked in confusion, “Boss, what happened?”
“I don’t know,” Hans Collins replied, looking straight ahead and sitting upright. He didn’t take this little incident seriously, thinking that Demetrius had mistaken him for someone else. He just wanted to go home and see his sister.
Demetrius came home looking pretty bummed out.
Olga Melton took one look at him and gasped, “What on earth happened to you? Did the Collins family lay hands on you?”
They’re all big shots. How could they stoop so low as to mess with the richest man in Tranquil City?
Talk about uncivilized!
“It was two security guards.” Demetrius didn’t feel like elaborating.
“I can’t believe Mirabella would dare to air Yoli’s dirty laundry in public!”
Demetrius sighed heavily without saying a word. He knew Mirabella’s character all too well. When push came to shove, she wouldn’t hesitate to throw her family under the bus.
It was nine o’clock at night, and Demetrius’s 14 stores and four mansions were still on the market.
Melody’s lawyer called. “Sir, if we don’t receive your compensation by midnight, we’ll have no choice but to expose your daughter’s plagiarism of Melody’s work”
“Wait, give me some more time. I can’t control the fact that these properties aren’t selling.”
“You’ve got three hours left.” The lawyer said this before hanging up.
Demetrius was freaking out. He had been trying to sell his properties for three days without any luck. How was he supposed to sell them in three hours? And who would househunt or shop for commercial properties in the middle of the night? And pay the full amount at once?
He hurriedly called the agent. “What’s the holdup? Why can’t we sell these properties?”
“Sir, it might be because the price is too high and you’re asking for full payment upfront.”
14 stores and four mansions valued at 18 million were hardly affordable to the average Joe.
“Well then, drop the price. We must sell these properties before midnight, no matter what!”
After hanging up, Demetrius watched as the time ticked away.
10 o’clock.
10:30.
11 o’clock.
Olga and Yolanda Melton sat on the couch, too nervous to even breathe.
The agent still hadn’t called!
Yolanda clutched Olga’s sleeve, trembling with fear. “Mom, am I going to be publicly shamed?”
“Stop talking nonsense!” Even though Olga tried to comfort her, she felt completely defeated. It was already 11 o’clock, and they probably wouldn’t be able to sell their properties.
Just then, Demetrius’s phone rang. It was the agent.
He was over the moon, and even Olga and Yolanda perked up. Finally, someone’s interested!
“Did we sell them?” Demetrius answered the phone with a sigh of relief, saying, “I knew my properties would sell. They’re in prime locations.”
“Sir, we’ve had a lot of inquiries, but only one person has made an offer.” The agent said awkwardly, “He said he would buy if the total price was 8 million.”
“8 million? Is he out of his mind? My properties are worth at least 18 million. He wants to buy them for 8 million? He thinks he can just swindle me out of my wealth?”
“Sir, it’s getting late. Maybe you should consider about it.”
“No way!” Demetrius hung up in anger.
After hearing the conversation, Olga couldn’t suppress her rage. “He wants us to drop the price by 10 million? Is he insane? Even robbers aren’t that bold!”
“Let’s wait a little longer. No need to panic.” Demetrius tried to calm everyone down, but he had a bad feeling.
Upon hearing that Demetrius had refused to sell, Mirabella smiled and discreetly issued some instructions.
It was 11 o’clock.
Demetrius’s phone suddenly rang, and everyone’s hopes soared again. Without checking the caller ID, Demetrius picked up, “Did we sell?”
“Sir, this is the lawyer. You have half an hour left. I’ve sent you the statement we’re going to release. If we don’t receive the payment by then, we’ll go public with it.”
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.