Chapter Eighty-Eight

Chapter Eighty-Eight

Mr. James seemed to sense the unusual nature of his daughter's marriage clearly. Rarely seeing his daughter and son-in-law, and knowing that Bella did not want him to interfere in her small family to ensure her happiness and her right to decide her own fate, he had complied with her wishes.

However, when Bella mentioned that she had been experiencing abdominal pain to the point of bleeding and yet Max showed no concern, Mr. James found it hard to accept such indifference.

“Tell me, what’s going on between you and Max?” Mr. James tried to suppress his discomfort as he spoke to his daughter.

Bella, of course, wanted to tell her father everything, but it wasn’t the right time. She simply smiled lightly and said, “Nothing is wrong, Dad. Don’t worry too much, I will handle everything myself.”

“You? Handle everything yourself? Bella, I respected you and gave you the full right to make your own decisions and didn’t interfere. But look at this, married for four years and still no children. Look at how Max treats you, how can you still be infatuated with what you call love… this isn’t love.” Mr. James furrowed his brows, truly losing patience with his foolish daughter.

Bella bit her lip and didn’t respond, knowing that everything she had gone through was her own choice. She should have felt upset and unhappy when hearing her father's scolding, but hearing her father's scolding made her feel somewhat relieved and comforted.

“Dad, trust me this one last time. Please rest and don’t get angry, it will affect your health.” Without waiting for her father to say more, Bella quickly left.

Bella knew Max wouldn’t be coming home but would surely be at the office, busy with meetings and work as he always appeared to be.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of her phone.

“How did the health check go? Is your body still okay?” The deep, slightly hoarse but captivating voice on the other end made Bella blush instantly.

This morning, Bella had left Levi’s house early for her health check at her father’s, while he was still asleep. Judging by his voice, he had just woken up.

She quickly composed herself and answered, “I’m not that weak. Did you just wake up?”

“Ha… you should have woken me up. But… last night you were begging me to let you go, and now you’re full of energy this early in the morning. Seems like I was too gentle with you last night, right?”

Mentioning last night, Bella’s face turned as red as a tomato, but fortunately, they were only talking over the phone, so Levi couldn’t see her expression.

Levi might have a thick face and be brazen, but no matter how much she tried, Bella’s skin couldn’t be as thick as his.

“Now it’s your turn, Levi.” Bella thought about the "game" she had planned before ending everything and smiled, laughing heartily in her car. Her bad mood from meeting Max this morning lifted.

Max had just arrived at the office, his face dark and grim, indicating a terrible mood. No one in the company dared approach him, fearing they might get scolded for no reason, so they quickly bowed and went about their work.

Pearl noticed Max’s bad mood and gently asked, “What’s wrong, my beloved director? Who made you this angry?”

Max sighed and began to complain, “I’m so sick of that old man. When will he just die? Ha… I thought I only had to endure for a few years, but he still hasn’t retired. He has never respected me, not even when I’m a well-respected company director.”

Although Max didn’t specifically mention who he was talking about, Pearl could easily guess he was upset with his father-in-law. From this, Pearl surmised that Mr. James must have scolded Max during the health check this morning, making him so upset.

A man's pride is significant yet fragile, especially for Max, who couldn’t tolerate being belittled and humiliated. Max clenched his fists, deeply resentful of his father-in-law. Ever since marrying Bella and even before that, he had tried to prove his worth to Mr. James.

But despite years of effort, all he ever received were looks of disgust and disdain from Mr. James.

Pearl smiled gently and comforted him, “You can be angry now because soon you won’t have the chance to be angry anymore.”

Max, not fully understanding her, asked back, “What do you mean?”

Pearl didn’t answer but just looked at Max and smiled. At this moment, Max also realized the implication in Pearl's eyes and words. After all, Mr. James was going to retire soon due to old age and at most could live only a few more years.

Just as the two were laughing and talking happily, there was a knock on the door. Pearl quickly adjusted her collar and stood next to Max.

"Come in."

The person who entered was Max's newly hired assistant. Although Max had a secretary and essentially didn't need another assistant or secretary, since Pearl became his secretary, she seldom worked and mostly just flirted with Max at the office.

Max didn't care about Pearl's work; whether she worked or not, he paid no attention. However, Pearl's salary was always very high, even higher than some vice presidents and department heads.

"Sir, Mr. Karter is waiting for you in the lobby. Would you like to meet him?" the timid female assistant asked.

Max was surprised and loudly asked, "What? He's here? Why didn't you inform me earlier? I must go see him." After saying that, Max quickly walked out of the room.

Now, only Pearl and the female assistant were left in the room. When the female assistant was about to return to her work, Pearl stopped her.

Pearl raised her voice and said, "You'd better understand your position. Don’t think you can be arrogant with me just because you got this job." Pearl's tone was completely different from the sweet tone she used to coax Max earlier.

The female assistant bowed her head low, looking very pitiful, and said, "I... please don't misunderstand... I’m just... doing my job. I'm just doing my assigned work well."

Pearl looked at the female assistant with disdain and disgust. She knew Max hired this assistant to handle all the tasks that originally belonged to Pearl, so Pearl wouldn't have to work and could just stay by Max's side, attending meetings with him. And of course, Pearl’s salary remained very high, even though she didn’t have to put much effort into her job.

Pearl should have been happy and satisfied with the new assistant’s presence, but on the contrary, she was very annoyed and disgusted. Partly because she didn't want any other woman around Max besides herself, but more importantly, the clumsy and awkward demeanor of the new assistant somewhat reminded her of Bella six years ago.

In the lobby, Levi didn’t have to wait long before seeing Max rushing over.

"How long have you been here? Why didn’t you call me directly?" To Max, Levi was not just an ordinary friend but also a valuable resource. Everything Max needed and wanted was right in front of him.

Levi shrugged and said with a smile, "I didn’t originally plan to come here to see you. But then I remembered a project I want to invest in with you."

After successfully bidding on a suburban land and a few other projects with Levi, Max had reaped many successes. So, regardless of what project Levi mentioned, Max was delighted.

"Let's go to my office first and then we can discuss it."

As soon as they sat down, Pearl brought in coffee from outside, looking very graceful and seductive.

"Here you go. Are you here to discuss a new investment project with Max today, Levi?" Pearl said sweetly, her voice so charming that it was hard for anyone to resist. Pearl had heard from Max a few times that he had invested in several projects with this man, but this was the first time Levi had come to the company to discuss a matter related to investing in a certain project.

Levi didn’t answer Pearl right away but gave her a cold glance. He turned to Max and said, "Since when did I give you permission to call me by my name? Max, is this how your company's employees welcome guests? No etiquette, no manners good. I suggest you retrain your staff, or better yet, fire those who don’t follow orders."

Pearl’s face alternated between red and green; she hadn’t expected Levi to have such an attitude. Though angry, she didn’t dare to respond. She quickly apologized, "I’m really sorry, it was my mistake to be disrespectful to you."

Max signaled Pearl to leave. What Levi said was too accurate because, in Levi's eyes, Pearl was just an ordinary employee. Max couldn’t refute or cover for Pearl and certainly couldn’t show favoritism towards her in front of Levi.

"On behalf of my staff, I apologize to you. I will retrain her on how to behave and communicate culture with customers and partners." Max said with a smile.

Levi didn’t continue on this topic. He leaned back and got to the main point. "As I mentioned, I’m planning to invest in the AIN project. More accurately, I’ve already invested a considerable amount. According to my analysts, this project will be very successful in the near future."

"AIN project?" Max raised an eyebrow and asked.

Levi nodded slightly and continued, "Of course, I won’t just talk. Here is the analysis report that my analysts took quite some time to prepare. As usual, because you’re my friend and I want to invest together with someone. Have a look."

Levi handed over the prepared documents to Max, containing all the work done by his top investment analysts.

Max also being knowledgeable in finance and investment, only needed a quick glance at the figures to see the potential of the AIN project that Levi presented. Max certainly wanted to invest in this project with Levi but didn’t want to appear too eager.

Max didn’t find it unusual for Levi to want him to co-invest because he knew his friend had a capricious nature. Although Levi appeared not to care about anything, anyone who worked or invested with him in a project or two could clearly see Levi was a genius at making money.

It didn’t take long for Max to agree to invest in this project. Before leaving, Levi said, "I warn you, profits always come with risks; the bigger the profit, the higher the risk."

Max certainly knew this, but after many successful investments with Levi, he no longer paid much attention to the so-called "risk."