Divorced My Cheating Husband, Married A Billionaire

Chapter 16: Collaboration Request

Back to the present.

At King's Enterprises Headquarters.

Adrian held his chin high as he moved his wheelchair into the conference room. There was an ongoing commotion, and he knew why.

"This is the third project the ACE Construction Firm has taken from us."

"Well, the same company owns a metal factory. It's understandable how they could offer a lower bid."

"It isn't just the bid!" Adrian's father, Anthony King, said. "From what I have gathered, the ACE Construction Firm offered to redesign the Megaworld Entertainment Plaza. They found a fault in the initial design!"

"They gained favor because they went above and beyond their service!" Anthony added. "Why didn't we see that? Huh? Didn't we hire the best engineers? That is a hundred-billion-dollar project we lost!"

"Fredrick, Brett? Answer me!" Anthony questioned.

Just then, Adrian appeared before them. His calm expression silenced everyone. He found his place, and Clint sat beside him. Then he asked, "I thought the meeting was at eight-thirty. It's still eight in the morning."

"An important matter needs to be addressed. Don't you know?" Adrian's father informed.

"I have heard," Adrian said nonchalantly before glancing at his stepbrother, Fredrick. "I'm sorry our construction firm lost the bid."

Adrian smiled inside as Fredrick narrowed his eyes.

Fredrick looked at Anthony and said, "Father, this is a temporary setback. Director Monroe and I are going to work something out."

Anthony King was the chairman of the King's Enterprises, whereas Fredrick was the CEO. Adrian's father still had a say in everything despite Fredrick's position.

The conference room had a long table. Anthony and Fredrick sat on both ends while the directors and their assistants occupied the other seats. Adrian was next to his father, Anthony. Across from him was Director Brett Monroe. He had been leading the construction firm for three years, and he was someone Adrian had worked with.

Director Monroe was settled near Director Gina Gibson. Gina oversaw the local supermarket in Halliport, The King's Supermarket. Seated next to Clint was Director Noel West, the executive managing King's Pay, a financial technology platform. Last, Anthony's second wife, T King, was the director of the fashion line.

If Adrian was to be completely honest, T, his stepmother, only got the position because she was Anthony's wife. Her company was two years old but remained stagnant, barely making even.

"Do you have any plans, Fredrick?" Anthony asked. "The construction firm is about to complete its existing project, yet we don't have any new one." With a sigh, Anthony admitted, "We haven't been doing well since - since last year."

Adrian watched as Fredrick and Director Monroe looked at each other. Then, Fredrick revealed, "We have given this a considerable amount of thought."

With a pause, Fredrick revealed, "We are going to offer our help to ACE Construction Firm. We have been in the industry for ten years. They will be honored to accept a collaboration."

Clint ended up coughing. When everyone stared at him, he said, "Sorry. My throat was itchy."

Adrian only squinted. His stepbrother could wish, but he would never approve of such cooperation. Why would he share a hundred billion-dollar project?

"And how do we do that?" Noel West said. "The CEO of ACE Construction Firm is a very secretive man. No one knows who he is. Only the stand-in CEO, Engineer Philips, entertains partnership requests."

"We will go through him, of course," Director Monroe proposed.

Anthony King hissed. He turned to his son and asked, "What do you think, Adrian?"

That surprised Adrian. It had been a long time since his father asked for his opinion. Still, Adrian glanced at his father and replied, "I think the CEO of ACE Construction Firm is a very capable person. Director Monroe, or our CEO, should match his level of competency."

"You -" Fredrick pointed a finger at Adrian. "You think you are better than me?"

"I did not say that. I said, whoever is the CEO of ACE Construction Firm is better than you," Adrian said.

"How dare you say that about my son?!" This time, T expressed her anger. She looked at Anthony and demanded, "You should fire him! He is disrespecting our CEO!"

"I think he simply stated a fact. Whoever is the CEO of ACE Construction Company is wise and committed. He bagged three major projects across the state in three years despite it being a new company," Gina said, and Noel echoed the same.

"I don't think requesting a collaboration with ACE Construction Firm is the best solution. They will see it as a desperate move on our part," Adrian said. "We should just focus on getting other projects."

"The Williams are renovating their building. The local government has a few road widening projects," Adrian suggested.

"But those are petty projects!" Fredrick objected. "It is not in our portfolio!"

"Beggars can't be choosers," Adrian said.

"That's it -" Fredrick slammed his hand against the table and said to Adrian, "Are you forgetting that I am the CEO? Are you forgetting that you lost your chances because you had leaked company data -"

"I already said I had nothing to do with it!" Adrian shot back. "You keep pinning that on me when all you have is an email trail that happened while I was away!"

"Either way, Adrian, you couldn't handle being the CEO. What image are you going to show the world?" T pointed out. "You are disabled!" "Enough!" Anthony scolded. "How many times do we have to discuss this!"

Anthony snapped at Adrian and warned, "Adrian, you must accept that Fredrick is now the CEO. As one of the directors, you should cooperate by helping your brother."

Yes, that was true. Adrian lost the CEO race primarily due to leaked company information, the evidence of which was an outgoing email that happened while Adrian was on vacation. The second reason was his disability.

Three years ago, Adrian's condition

was not as good as it was today. The board of directors saw his disability as a hindrance to

attracting business partners clients. Thus, they voted in favor of Fredrick and assigned Adrian to the company's healthcare entity.

Ine

"And I already said that our construction firm should find jobs for our people. Otherwise, we will be obliged to pay salaries when no work is ongoing. We must make the most of what is available, regardless if it is within our portfolio or not," Adrian retorted.

With a sigh, Anthony said to Fredrick, "Try to collaborate with Ace Construction Firm, but if they do not agree, then we will go with Adrian's suggestion

"

"But, Dad -"

Fredrick tried to reason, but AnthonyCòntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

raised a finger. He said, "We have over two thousand employees in our construction business. Where will we get the money to pay them during idle time? A project, any project, no matter how small it is, is

better than nothing." Content

belongs to NovelDrama.Org

***

Later that day, Adrian was working on his laptop from his office when Clint walked in with the news. He said, "Engineer Philips has received the call.

The King's Enterprises are offering a collaboration. I told him right away to decline the offer."

Adrian glared at his assistant. He asked, "Are you the CEO?"

"Ah, no, Boss. I'm sorry," Clint regretfully said. "I'll call Engineer Philips."

"Good," Adrian said. "Tell him that I decline the collaboration."

"Eh, that's exactly what I did, Boss," Clint said hesitantly.

"All directives should come from me, even if you know what I would say," Adrian reminded, and the poor assistant nodded.

"You are the boss," Clint confirmed.

When Adrian was alone in his office, he leaned back in his seat and mused, 'Father, Fredrick, how would you react if you find out I am the CEO of ACE Construction Firm?'

He smirked and softly muttered, "I look forward to that day."