Chapter 2

For any publicly traded company, internal management is everything. If that falls apart, nothing else matters.

The senior partner's face turned cold, and he made an excuse to leave.

Emma saw everything but still chose to side with Derek.

I held back my anger. "Emma, this is a business meeting. I won't make a scene. But forget about making Derek CEO."

The fact that I hadn't thrown Derek out after what he pulled was already merciful.

Emma stared at me without speaking. I took a deep breath and explained patiently:

"That senior partner, Mr. Williams, just got back from Europe. He cares deeply about internal management. If we go explain things to him now, we can still save the partnership. If we wait until next month, our cash flow will collapse!"

I thought surely Emma wouldn't sacrifice the company's interests.

But she just laughed coldly: "Whatever deals you can't close, Derek will handle. He and Mr. Williams were classmates abroad."

I frowned, confused.

Derek smirked and pulled out his phone to call the senior partner:

"Hello, Mr. Williams. This is Derek. Let me explain what just happened."

I was about to relax when Derek's tone turned strange:

"Actually, I embarrassed Lucas on purpose. I couldn't stand watching him deceive you anymore."

"I looked at the contract you signed last year. Lucas only gave you 6% profit when he could have offered 15%. He was clearly taking advantage of you!"

"Business is about mutual benefit. Lucas treated you like a fool just to make more money. That's why I called him out in front of you."

"If you're willing to continue our partnership, I can sign a 15% profit contract with you right now on behalf of the company."

Mr. Williams' voice turned icy: "Are you saying Lucas cheated me?"

I stared at Derek in disbelief, then grabbed Emma's hand through clenched teeth: "Are you really going to let him keep lying?"

Everyone knows that profit and net profit are different things. The 6% I offered Mr. Williams was my maximum good faith—we actually made no money on it. I did it to build goodwill for this year's renewal.

Besides, that 6% was calculated by Emma and me together.

15% doesn't account for labor and material costs.

Once you factor those in, 6% is the maximum we can offer.

Anything more would be a losing deal—working for free and paying out of pocket!

The company had made some money over the years, but it couldn't sustain losses like that!

Emma yanked her hand away, her voice dripping with impatience: "Do you think just because you're a man, you know everything? Do you think I can't run this company because I'm a woman?"

I was completely baffled. What did any of this have to do with gender?

But she was already lost in her own world. She grabbed Derek's phone and declared boldly:

"Mr. Williams, just as Derek promised—if you change your mind, we can sign the contract right here at this meeting and announce the renewal publicly. I'm sure the media will love to cover our powerful partnership."

I looked at Emma coldly: "You're going to regret what you did today."

Her eyes turned sharp:

"Have you forgotten your place?"

"I'm the Chairman of this company. My decisions are not yours to question!"