CHAPTER 60: MR. REID’S VISIT

[Reid Enterprise]

The afternoon sun filtered through the blinds, casting angled stripes across Alexander’s desk.

He stood near the window with his sleeves rolled reading through quarterly reports while Carl hovered nervously with a tablet in hand.

"Carl," Alexander said without looking up, "move tomorrow’s finance review to Monday. I need the projections before—"

Just then the office door burst open, interrupting him.

"Okay, don’t kill me," Lucas announced. "But I have big news."

Alexander closed the file, giving him his full attention.

"Before I start," Lucas continued, holding up a hand, "I want you to remember that I am the messenger, a fragile, innocent messenger."

Carl stepped back automatically. He had a feeling whatever the news was, it wasn’t a good one.

Without waiting for Alexander’s response, Lucas started spilling. "Evelyn had a meeting this morning."

Alexander blinked once. "A meeting?" he asked, confused.

"Yes, a meeting with a man," Lucas clarified.

A muscle in Alexander’s jaw twitched which made Lucas wince.

He waited for a couple of seconds before dropping the second bomb. "And she has another one scheduled for tomorrow."

And the silence that followed was thick, cold and dangerous.

Alexander’s grip on the report tightened until the paper creased. "Who told you?" he asked with his voice dangerously calm.

"Patricia texted me to know if you have any plans of stopping the second one." Lucas answered. "I mean, I hope you do."

Alexander shot him a look so sharp that Lucas immediately straightened his posture.

"She said Gregory set the meeting," Lucas added quietly. "Both of them, actually."

Alexander’s jaw clenched and a storm gathered behind his eyes as he turned to Carl. "Find out if Gregory Carter is in his office."

Carl blinked. "Sir?"

"Now," Alexander ordered.

Carl hesitated only a second before scurrying out of the room.

Lucas whistled under his breath. "Wow, you have him on his toes all the time."

Alexander ignored him as he moved behind his desk. His fingers tapped on the wood surface continuously. It was a sign of anger he was keeping contained.

"She doesn’t want this," he said under his breath. "She didn’t agree to this."

"Gregory’s acting like a man possessed father. " Lucas shrugged. "And I don’t think we can blame him. I mean, whatever Benjamin said to him must have really hit deep."

Alexander couldn’t help but agree. He knew how his father’s sharp words could make any sane man do irrational things.

Ten minutes later, Carl returned, panting slightly.

"He is there, sir."

Lucas blinked, impressed. "Wait—what? How do you even know that?"

Carl cleared his throat nervously. "We—we have a group."

"A group?" Lucas raised a brow. "Like, what kind of group? Some sort of corporate mafia?"

Carl swallowed and contemplated for a while before answering, "It’s like an assistant network, sir. All the executive assistants from major companies are in it. We communicate, share updates, schedules and occasionally, we exchange information."

Lucas smirked. "So basically, you all sit around and bitch about your bosses?"

Carl went stiff, horrified. He vigorously shook his head. "No! No no no sir, we would never—" He nervously looked at Alexander. "I would never. I adore my job and you, Mr. Reid, you are very, very respectable—"

Alexander lifted a brow and Carl started panicking even more.

"I have to go—" He pointed towards the door, nervous. "I have files, errands, breathing—" He swallowed hard. "I mean,I need air. Excuse me."

He fled the room so fast he nearly tripped on the rug.

Lucas burst out laughing. "Poor guy, you have traumatized him to a level he can barely breathe.."

Alexander grabbed his suit jacket. His expression was unreadable but eyes burning with purpose.

"Where are you going?" Lucas asked, though he already knew.

Alexander buttoned his jacket. "To Carter Enterprise."

Lucas nodded with a grin. "Go get your girl."

Alexander paused at the door. "I am not letting Gregory decide her future."

Then he stepped out, leaving Lucas standing there with a quiet smirk.

He then took out his phone and texted someone:

’Mission successful’

And the response came almost immediately.

Patricia: Good job, partner.

.....

[Carter Enterprise]

The door clicked shut behind Gregory as he returned from the arranged meeting.

He loosened his tie, exhaling a breath so heavy it felt dragged out of his ribs.

The meeting went fine. The Wright boy was polite, well-mannered, ambitious and came from an old, respectable family. He was everything a father should want but—

Why the hell did it feel so wrong?

Gregory wiped a hand down his face as he sat down behind his desk, staring at the untouched documents in front of him but his mind was nowhere near the contracts.

He saw Evelyn’s face instead. The confusion, the hurt he had seen today clenched his heart.

The smile he had noticed in her face yesterday when she was Alexander before he had burst out and asked him to leave, was nowhere to be seen.

"That man—" he murmured under his breath.

Alexander Reid was powerful, sharp, brilliant and disciplined. He was exactly the sort of man he would have wanted for his daughter. But only if his surname wasn’t Reid.

Gregory hated the irony. He hated that the only man who made his daughter feel safe and cherished was the son of the man who had insulted her.

His chest tightened as he wondered how he ended up forcing his daughter away from the one person she actually wanted?

He slammed his hand on the desk. "Benjamin Reid— that bastard."

His ego still burned from what Benjamin said about Evelyn, their name and their reputation.

No father would bear it and Gregory was no different. But seeing how Alexander stood outside their house yesterday, calm but furious but refusing to disrespect him, Gregory felt something twist inside him painfully.

It shouldn’t be this complicated but it was.

Just then, a soft knock came.

Gregory straightened. "Yes?"

His assistant peeked in. "Sir, Alexander Reid is here to see you."

Gregory froze but his expression darkened immediately. "Tell him I am busy."

The assistant nodded and left without asking any questions.

Gregory stood and started pacing behind his desk, wondering what Alexander wanted. But deep down, he knew the answer.

Would he bow down and let him in? Absolutely not.

Then another knock came and his assistant reappeared, looking flustered. "Sir, Mr. Reid said he will wait."

Gregory stopped walking. "He will wait?"

"Yes, sir. In the lobby." Saying this, the assistant disappeared again.

Gregory looked at the clock and scoffed. "Let him wait all day," he muttered before he continued with his work.

Soon, thirty minutes passed.

Then an hour.

Then nearly two.

Gregory tried to work, he tried to focus on numbers, meetings, contracts but his eyes kept drifting to the door.

Minutes later, a knock echoed in the room again.

"Sir," the assistant said quietly when she stepped in again, "Mr. Reid is still waiting."

Gregory’s stomach twisted and his frown deepened. "What kind of man waits for two hours without complaint?"

The assistant hesitated before saying, "Maybe it’s something important."

The first shock was when she received a call from the reception that Alexander Reid was there to meet Gregory Carter and the second shock came when Gregory refused to meet him even though his schedule was free.

For the past couple of hours, she had watched Alexander calmly wait for Gregory in the lobby. He didn’t speak, he didn’t look offended, he just sat there without uttering a word.

In fact, it was she who had felt bad. She had offered him coffee, drinks and snacks but Alexander refused it all.

After watching him wait for nearly two hours, she decided to take the risk and inform her boss again.

Gregory’s fingers curled on the desk. He knew what the important work was, it was Evelyn.

The great Alexander Reid was waiting in the lobby for two hours without any complaints for his daughter.

And that realization hit him with surprising force.

Gregory took a breath that trembled slightly.

"Send him in," he said finally.

....