It was Sunday and the two lovebirds decided to just spend their time together at home.
“There… Harder… Aw… A little more. Harder… There…. Oh my god. That’s so good.” Lily let out a moan.
“Hmmm… You like it?”
“Yeah… come on lower your hands…. That’s right. Lower. Okay… that’s it. Oh….”
“I won’t be exerting too much force or you will get bruised from the massage. This should be enough for now.” Zhuo Jingren trailed kisses on Lily’s naked back. “Are you ready for your trip later?”
“Hmmm… I am.”
“Won’t you miss me?” Zhuo Jingren asked before he rolled over to Lily’s right side. He propped his head into his palm and looked adoringly at Lily.
“I think you should really stop saying things like that. It does not suit you,” Lily said.
“Things like what?”
“You know… like that. When you act like a wife. A six foot two man pouting is somewhat weird no?” Lily chuckled, still lying on her stomach and using her arms as her pillow. “Aw! Why did you slap me?” she immediately jolted up and covered her body when Zhuo Jingren slapped her behind.
“I don’t know, acting like a husband?” He raised an eyebrow at her. His words instantly made Lily laugh. For some reason, this man could be cute, cringey and weird all at the same time. And she… she seemed to be loving it.
….
Lily left Hong Kong on her private plane on Sunday night together with Yang Mi and Daohu. Lily’s flight took off around 2300hrs Hong Kong time and was expecting to land in London at 0445hrs on Monday, London time.
Thirteen hours later.
Lily’s plane finally arrived in London. Today was also the day of the Facci Group quarterly meeting. As they had arrived in the wee hours of Monday morning, they still had time to get some rest before the meeting. Yang Mi drove Lily back to her apartment before returning to her own apartment that was not far away from Lily’s. While Daohu checked into a nearby hotel.
Lily took a short nap and woke up at eight in the morning and immediately started preparing for the meeting. Daohu and Yang Mi reported at her doorstep at 0830hrs.
“President, these are the vitamins that President Zhuo prepared for you. He said that these should be taken every morning, just after breakfast.” Lily did not know whether she should laugh or cry as she looked at the three familiar looking capsules on the table. To think that Zhuo Jingren actually had the foresight to pass the bottle of vitamins to Yang Mi as if he already anticipated that she would forget to bring them along with her.
“Alright.” She nodded before she continued reading the news and eating the English breakfast that Yang Mi had bought for her. Lily savoured the familiar taste of bacon, sausages, sautéed mushrooms and toast. She missed the food here.
As Lily read the news, she noted that the stock prices of Arison Holdings was still dropping. No doubt the scandals surrounding Liam and Sofia Arison was instrumental. This was only the first step in her plans.
Her second step would be to talk to the most suitable candidate who could take over Arison Holdings – Liam’s younger and half-brother, Jack Arison.
After Lily was done with breakfast, they all headed to Facci Group together in one car. This morning, Lily was feeling a little excited because she was going to meet Jack Arison soon.
…
Facci Group Headquarters – London.
The quarterly meeting went on uneventfully. As expected, Facci Group was doing well; their profits were on the rise and shareholders were happy. Their employee satisfaction index was also high. It could be said that Lily handled her responsibilities well as a CEO and she had brought Facci Group to greater heights.
During the meeting, Lily shared her vision for the company. She shared about her long term goals for the company, not just in the coming years but for the next ten to twenty years. This earned a round of applause from the men and women who attended the meeting. Everyone was excited and pledged their support for Lily. They couldn’t help but applaud the late Lillian Facci for her foresight to train Lily to take over her.
When the meeting was over, everyone made their way to the function room for their buffet lunch. The lunch was attended by the middle and top management as well as major shareholders. It was an opportunity for everyone to mingle, to talk business or engage in casual conversations.
“I heard that you are having a hard time with the takeover in Hong Kong?” A tall middle age man asked with a smile on his face. It was Han Yeping, the managing director of FC Construction in Spain.
“Hmmm… what do you expect from a hostile takeover?” A middle aged woman answered. “But our Lily is the smartest, I have confidence in her. She can handle those people. Isn’t that right my dear?”
“Director Su is making me blush,” Lily answered. “We are working towards the opening of Harmony Isle’s first retail branch in Hong Kong at the start of the first quarter next year.”
“Hmmm… If you need any help, you know you can give us a call. It will be an honor to work with you.” Han Yeping smiled, his eyes were deep and unfathomable.
Earlier this month, Lily had tasked him to participate in the bidding for all the projects that the Arison Construction would also be participating in. But he had to be discreet about it. He was uncertain about this task and did not have the confidence to go against Arison Construction and win the bids.
After all, Arison Construction has been in the industry for years, with a strong foundation. They had good leadership and their revenue had been steady all these years. While FC Construction was fairly new in the industry.
What baffled Han Yeping was why would Lily want to attack Arison Construction, the biggest and most profitable subsidiary company under Arison Holdings? Most people knew that the Arison and Facci family were old friends. In fact, Lily Facci and Liam Arison were once engaged before.
However, looking at the current scandals in the Arison family which implicated Arison Holdings, including its subsidiary, Arison Construction, he finally understood.
The current instability within Arison Construction would give them the perfect opportunity to snatch over every project that they had plans to bid for. At this moment, the focus of everyone in Arison Construction would likely be on public relations, hoping to turn the situation around. They would be busy trying to stabilise their stock prices, to stop them from falling any further. How would they find the time to fight against Han Yeping’s well planned proposals?
Han Yeping stared at Lily who was smiling and talking to the other executives. Behind Lily’s smile was a scary brain. If she were to marry someone just as smart and capable, wouldn’t they be able to rule the business world at the top together? For some reason, Han Yeping’s line of sight fell onto Lily’s left hand.
His eyes immediately widened when he noticed a ring on her ring finger which could only mean one thing. Didn’t Lily only break off her engagement to Liam Arison just a month ago? Who did Lily get married to then?
Of course, the wedding band on Lily’s finger didn’t go unnoticed by everyone else during the banquet. Lily was the star of the show after all and people paid close attention to her. A diamond studded ring like that would surely attract attention.
However, no one dared to ask her if she was married. Everyone was left curious about the man whom the great Lily Facci married.
Was he as great as President Lily?
Everyone couldn’t help but notice that Lily looked rather radiant today. She was smiling a lot more and she seemed to be brimming with happiness. Could this be the effect of President Lily’s marriage?
…
Editor: Swaning
