Maxine smiled, slipped her arm around Vivian’s shoulders, and said affectionately, “Of course! You and Lisa are the people I’m closest to.”

    +23

    The two chatted for a while. Soon, the conference room door swung open, and Urban appeared at the entrance. He nodded at them and said, “I’m back. Thank you so much for what you did earlier.”

    He walked to the table and nodded at Vivian. “My secretary has already told me what happened

    earlier. Thank you foring promptly to assist Maxine.”

    He and Vivian had met a few times abroad before, and she had a good impression of him. Smiling, Vivian said, “Wow, I didn’t expect Mr. Soto to be such an amazing entrepreneur!”

    Urban smiled and said, “You’re being too polite, Ms. Bernard. I’m about to go upstairs to confront that man from earlier. Would youdies care to join me?”

    Maxine nced at her watch in surprise. “You still haven’t gone upstairs yet?”

    Maxine nced at the time. It had been over an hour since they left the conference room. She wondered, “Is Bradley still waiting outside the executive office upstairs?”

    “After causing such a mess, it’s only right to let him stew for a while.” Urban shrugged with a smirk. “So,dies, would you do me the honor ofing upstairs with me to expose their shameless little

    scheme?”

    Vivian chuckled at his yful tone. “Absolutely.”

    Urban led the two women up to the executive floor office, where the secretarial staff were working efficiently under pressure. Noticing their arrival, Dawn quickly approached and reported, “Mr. Soto, all the meeting materials are ready. Additionally, Bradley has been waiting outside your office for nearly an hour.”

    Urban said, “Notify the waiting shareholders to get ready for the meeting. After all, Bradley went through so much trouble to bring them here, we can’t possibly let his efforts go to waste.”

    Urban added as he headed toward his office, then paused mid–stride and said to Dawn behind him, “Oh, and don’t forget about that representative from Peak Technology.”

    Dawn replied in a businesslike manner and promptly headed towards the lounge.

    At the doorway, Bradley paused momentarily upon seeing Urban. After hastily masking his look of displeasure, he forced a polite smile and greeted, “Mr. Soto, long time no see. How are your overseas projects progressing?”

    17:36 Tue, 26 Aug

    Q

    Urban gave a slight nod. “Not bad. Thanks to you, everything’s going smoothly.”

    44%

    As he spoke, Urban pushed open the office door, with Maxine and Vivian following close behind. Seeing this, Bradley had no choice but to step aside, feigning graciousness as he gestured and said, “After you.”

    He had only meant to be polite, after all, these two weren’t even Alpite Group employees, but to his surprise, Maxine simply nodded and said, “Thanks.”

    (23

    Bradley’s face twitched involuntarily. He hadn’t expected Maxine to be so blunt, and Vivian, standing behind her, didn’t even bother to say a word, as if this was exactly how things were supposed to be.

    Inside the office, Urban was already seated at his desk. Bradley had never been one to tolerate humiliation, otherwise, he wouldn’t have lost hisposure and hatched such a half–baked scheme

    the moment Urban was away.

    He took a deep breath when Urban’s sharp voice rang out from inside. “Bradley. Do you need more time to polish your excuses before facing me?”

    17:36 Tue, 26 Aug