“So this is how things are right now—six months ago, we started work on the Green Palms Project and things had been going perfectly fine until this morning, when I was told that the budget for the project was embezzled. The police have launched an investigation into this incident.
The contractor appointed to complete the job was just a shell company and the director is no longer contactable; so far, the police haven’t apprehended anyone but news of this has already gone out to the public. The Green Palms Project is a major project and we have already pre-sold many units. Right now, our phones are ringing off the hook from all the phone calls made by these clients. If we can’t fill this deficit and continue with the construction works on the project, then we will be facing a huge lawsuit…”
Cameron broke out in cold sweat upon describing the situation to Myra. This had happened all of a sudden without prior warning, which was why they were caught by surprise and were completely unprepared.
As soon as Myra heard Cameron’s words, she looked at Tony instinctively and she couldn’t help but recall the words he had spoken to her the other day. She tried hard to calm her racing heartbeat and as she commented lightly, “President Stark, do you mean to say that you want me to come up with the money to fill the deficit?”
Cameron took a deep breath and forced a smile on his face. “Myra, I know that you’re definitely not who you were before. Of course, if you were to come up with the money, then there will be incentives for you from the company. Half of the profit from the project is yours to keep and I’ll leave the Stark Group in your hands too.”
He’s only going to offer me fifty percent of the profit from the project? Myra laughed out loud all of a sudden. “President Stark, according to your words earlier, this news is public knowledge. Obviously, even if you approach the bank for a loan right now, it would definitely be rejected, yes?”
Currently, it took a lot of effort for Cameron to keep a calm expression but his tone of voice remained quite warm. “Myra, this time, you’re the only one who can help the company. Surely you wouldn’t want the company to suffer any losses? After all, your mom put in a lot of effort into building up the company!”
“The losses are inevitable. Previously, you ignored my advice and insisted on using up all of our available cash flow to invest in those two projects with the Walton Group. Right now, you’ve got a problem with insufficient cash flow and a budget deficit issue. Soon, it won’t be just the Green Palms Project that will face the issue of a budget deficit; this will become a problem for the whole company too. By then, a major company like ours will most likely flop from this tiny incident.”
Cameron felt quite embarrassed and stung by Myra’s strong words. However, he remained quite stubborn in his thought that the Walton Family’s two projects were beneficial to them; one of them would result in a huge profit while the other one was beneficial in terms of building up their reputation. Every businessman would have taken that into good consideration. Besides, the Walton Family had granted them a bigger share of the profit. It was just unfortunate that the project had hit a snag halfway; as such, the money he had kept aside as an emergency cash reserve became totally insignificant.
“Myra…” Cameron gritted his teeth and there was a flash of annoyance in his eyes. However, his tone of voice was the same as he sounded frantic and quite anxious. “This will be a lesson for us and I promise there won’t be another incident like this anymore. This is a critical period right now so we need to first resolve the problem and stop all the rumors. Otherwise—”
“Tony—” All of a sudden, Myra interrupted Cameron’s words. She ignored Cameron and turned toward Tony. With a smile on her face, she looked at the man who was currently toying with her sleeve. “Would you be willing to help me come up with the money to fill the Stark Group’s deficit?”
Initially, Cameron felt quite upset at being cut off by Myra but upon hearing her words, he realized that she was seeking help from Tony, so that bit of unhappiness he felt faded immediately. He waited patiently on the line with bated breath as he listened to their conversation. Soon after that, he heard Tony say in a low and indifferent voice, “I’m not interested in helping fill that deficit.”
Immediately after Cameron heard that, he didn’t care whether they could hear him on the other end and he yelled out frantically, “Director Hart, Myra’s mother put in a lot of effort to build the Stark Group into how it is right now. If the company flops, I’m sure she wouldn’t be able to rest in peace. Besides, Myra will be quite unhappy too.”
Tony must have heard his words because right after that, Cameron heard him ask Myra, “If I don’t do this, will you be unhappy about it?”
Myra shook her head naïvely. “Why would I be unhappy about it?”
Right after that, Tony took Myra’s phone and replied to Cameron, “Did you hear that?”
Cameron clenched his teeth angrily as soon as he heard that. This vile couple is obviously taking me for a ride! Out of immense anger, he immediately hung up the call without saying another word.
Myra couldn’t control her laughter upon hearing the engaged tone blaring out from her phone. Just then, she pretended to put on an annoyed look and she raised her eyebrows at Tony before retorting fiercely, “My mother’s never going to rest in peace! I can’t believe you rejected my request to help fill the deficit for the Stark Group! I thought you said you love me? It must be a lie! You’re a big, fat liar and I’m not going to talk to you anymore!”
Tony chuckled deeply in response. He then tugged on Myra’s hand but she made to fling his hand aside; her actions resulted in him laughing louder than before and he suddenly pinched her cheeks. “Naughty girl! Do you really mean it?”
Myra felt quite embarrassed by his action of pinching her chubby cheeks. Due to her pregnancy, she had gained a lot of weight both around the waist as well as on her cheeks. When he pinched her, his actions further emphasized her chubbiness, which felt quite ugly to her. She hastily buried her head into his chest. “Stop pinching my cheeks; I look ugly!” Soon after that, she raised her head to look at him.
The man in front of her maintained his perfect figure. As he laid there, his broad shoulders and tight bottom were quite prominent; paired with his flawless face, Myra couldn’t help but feel a sense of melancholy. Out of annoyance, she pinched him hard on the waist but ended up feeling the pain in her hand herself. Last night, she had just seen his body and obviously knew how well-toned and powerful the abs she had just pinched were. She was gradually losing her pretty looks whereas he maintained his handsome appearance. This is so unfair!
As soon as she realized that, Myra buried herself deeper into Tony’s arms but this time, she purposely turned around and showed him her back. There was a stark difference between their looks and she couldn’t help herself from feeling upset about it.
Tony looked at her pouting lips and laughed out loud. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug. Then, he gave her a kiss on her forehead. “Fine, then. If you want me to come up with the money then I’ll do it for you, and I’ll even risk Grandpa’s wrath to give you the Hart Group if that’s what you want. You can have everything!”
This silly man! Myra pursed her lips and there was a hint of shyness that flashed across her eyes. Although he would occasionally sweet-talk her in the past, she felt herself drowning in his sweet and affectionate tone right now.
Gosh, I’ve become weirder and weirder even since I became pregnant. I can’t believe he played along with me though it was just an intentional little outburst. Myra’s lips curved into a sweet smile as she pondered over that.
Standing not too far from them, Sebastian was tending to his plants; he had seen the two of them being so lovey-dovey the whole afternoon. With a frown, he muttered to himself, “They’re so indecent!” Then, he snorted before heading back into the house to look for Lisa.
…
After Cameron hung up the phone, both Rachel and Kris, who were standing by his side, asked anxiously, “What did she say? Did Myra agree to come up with the money? How about asking her for a loan? Once we resolve this crisis, we can come up with the money to repay her. We shouldn’t have to be too courteous with her; we’re family, after all, but we shouldn’t take advantage of her too!”
Cameron’s expression turned darker as soon as he heard their words. Myra’s attitude clearly indicated that she wasn’t going to lend a hand this time. She’s no daughter of mine!
Just then, Rachel signaled to Kris. With a sigh, the latter said, “Dad, don’t worry too much. I’ve pleaded with Gideon to help us with this problem and he promised to consider it. If necessary, I’ll head over to the Walton Group’s new company to talk to him.”
Cameron’s face finally brightened slightly. Indeed, Kris is the only daughter who’s on my side when I need her. He clenched his teeth and promised, “Don’t worry, Krissy. I will take good care of you and your mother in the future. Once all this is over, I’ve decided that I’ll hand over ten percent of my shares in the Stark Group to you—it’s time for you to learn how to run the place.”
As soon as Kris heard that, there was a surprised look on her face. Perhaps it was because Cameron was a difficult person to please all this while, so this serious promise made by him right now was quite overwhelming for her. She glanced at Rachel and clearly saw the elatedness in her eyes as well. Soon after that, her mother shot her a look.
