Chapter 13

"Valentine's Day is coming soon, Lily. It would be such a blessing to receive a set of Poesia Eleganza’s Crown line cosmetics," Phoebe said to Lily.

"You? Keep on dreaming," Lily said with a smile.

At present, Poesia Eleganza’s Crown line had an exceptionally high price and was limited to only 520 sets, which were probably all sold out. Those who could buy them were big families who had ample connections. Smaller families like the Lyndons had zero chance of obtaining them.

"Alright, enough," Lily giggled. "Let’s go and buy a couple of clothes. Granny’s birthday is coming soon. We have to dress nicely for the celebration."

Phoebe nodded, then walked into a store arm in arm with Lily.

The next day, at Platinum Corporation.

Darryl sat in the general manager's office and got up from the sofa. It was two in the morning by the time they finished their drinking session the night before. He could not be bothered to go home, so he decided to just sleep at the company.

His cellphone vibrated, and he swiped open to see a message from his mother-in-law, Samantha.

‘So now you have learned not to come back home, haven’t you? If you don't want to stay at home, then don’t ever come back again.’

Less than five minutes after the text message was received, he received another from Lily.

‘Granny's birthday is the day after tomorrow. Buy a present for her and don't embarrass me too much.’

Darryl placed his phone away after reading the two messages and he soon heard a knock on his door.

A beautiful woman dressed in business attire walked in. It was his secretary, Pearl Hahn.

"President Darby, we’ve just signed the partnership contract with the Lyndon clan and they’ve already sent someone here," Pearl said. "They said that they’d like to take over Giselle’s image consultancy. William is already waiting outside."

"Tell him to scram." Darryl waved his hand and said, "Make it clear to the Lyndon family that the contract is canceled."

"Yes."

Pearl bowed and walked out of the room.

William was waiting anxiously outside the door. Lily was the one who sealed the deal, but Grandmother Lyndon had passed Lily’s efforts to him and even sent him to discuss with Platinum Corporation! ‘Haha!’

Rumor had it that Platinum Corporation’s newly signed Giselle was beautiful and had a stunningly sexy body. If Platinum Corporation agreed to let the Lyndons style Giselle’s image, they would certainly make a fortune. Success would mean he would get all the credit!

"Mister Lyndon." Pearl walked over in her high heels.

William looked at her from head to toe. It was not surprising that Platinum Corporation was a premier company for A-list celebrities. Even the President’s secretary was very pretty.

"Miss Hahn," William greeted as he walked over with a smile. "What did the president say? When can we start handling Giselle’s affairs?"

"Apologies, Mister Lyndon." Pearl flashed a smile. "Our president told you to scram. The contract that was signed earlier has also been canceled."

"What?!" William bellowed in shock. He was not in a position to show his displeasure regardless of how angry he was!

He could not afford to provoke Platinum Corporation! His lips curled up into a modest smile, though it looked uglier than if he were to cry. "Why?"

Pearl explained gently, "Our president stated that it was Lily who came and handled the negotiations. Platinum Corporation’s decision to cooperate with your company is solely out of respect for Lily. She has to be the one to show up and discuss any projects in the future. No one else will be entertained."

As soon as she finished speaking, several security guards immediately escorted William away.

At the Lyndon family villa.

The old lady sat in the chair, sipped a big mouthful of tea, and massaged her chest continuously.

"You… What did you say... " The old lady asked as she stared at William.

"Granny, Platinum Corporation stated that they wouldn’t cooperate with us anymore... " William explained with teary eyes and a runny nose. "They told me to scram... "

"Granny, why is Platinum Corporation being so unreasonable!" One of the Lyndon family’s damsels voiced her unhappiness.

"That’s right, Granny. Platinum Corporation has agreed to cooperate with us. The contract has been signed, and all of sudden they want to terminate it now? Isn't that a breach of contract? We can sue them!"

"Yes, Grandma! The contract clearly says that whoever breaches the terms will have to compensate twenty million in damages! Let's sue them!"

Several of the family’s younger generation spoke in succession as they fumed in anger.

The old lady was expressionless. Their twittering annoyed her and she slammed the table heavily.

"Shut up, all of you!"

Everyone kept quiet at once. They took a step back after seeing the old lady’s anger.

"You’re all a bunch of short-sighted younglings." The old woman frowned and said. "Would you dare to sue Platinum Corporation even if they did violate the contract? Don’t you know that the Darby clan owns Platinum Corporation! They’re the preeminent family in Jiangnan! They can smother all of us with a pinch of the finger. It wouldn’t be a problem for them to compensate twenty million, but are you brave enough to demand it?"

Everyone was dumbstruck and began looking at each other.

Her statement was irrefutable. Indeed, 20 million were peanuts to the Platinum Corporation, but if the Lyndons dared to sue them, they would be burning bridges with the Platinum Corporation. Life would only be difficult from then on.

"William, what else did Platinum Corporation say?" The old lady asked. "They can't possibly terminate the contract without any reason? Did you offend them?"

"Granny, I swear to God, I didn’t offend them," William blurted out hastily. "Granny, Platinum Corporation said that the earlier contract discussions were done with Lily. They said they only cooperated with us out of courtesy for Lily.  All future negotiations must involve her and they won’t accept anyone else."

"This... "

The dozen or so people present were the backbone of the Lyndon clan. At that moment, they all exchanged glances and saw each other’s shocked reactions.

The Platinum Corporation cooperated with the Lyndon family for the sake of Lily alone?

How could it have been Lily! She was nothing more than one of the Lyndon family’s juniors, and the company Lily ran was the least profitable of all the companies in the clan! Was Lily so promising that the Platinum Corporation had eyes only for her?!

Donghai Airport.

Lily and Samantha got out of the car and glanced at their watches.

"Dad will be getting off the plane soon, right Mom?" Lily asked.

Six months ago, Lily's father, Wentworth Lyndon, went abroad to start a business. Rumor had it that he did quite well during that period and often sent Samantha short video recordings of his life abroad, driving luxury cars and visiting high-end office buildings. Since it was Grandmother Lyndon’s birthday, Wentworth said that he would return home and give her a surprise.

"It won’t take more than ten minutes for him to get off the plane," Samantha said as the two of them walked into the airport.

The two women always turned heads wherever they went! It could not be denied that Samantha and Lily’s mother-daughter combination was extremely eye-catching.

Ding-ding.

Lily received a text message. She opened it and saw that it was from Darryl, and it contained only short sentences.

‘Honey, you must reject Grandma’s offer if she calls you later and asks you to negotiate with Platinum Corporation.’

What was he up to!

Lily's slender body shuddered. She had repeatedly warned him not to call her that, but he seemed to lack the ability of simple comprehension.

Moreover, Grandmother Lyndon had already handed over the responsibility of negotiation with Platinum Corporation to William. Why would she ask Lily to handle it again?

Grandmother Lyndon’s favoritism toward William was an open secret. Lily might have been the one who secured cooperation with Platinum Corporation, but she had been robbed of her efforts by William!

"Did that loser text you?" Samantha looked over and asked coldly.

"Mm... "

Lily nodded. She knew better than anyone who that ‘loser’ referred to.

"Let me be very clear to you." At that moment, Samantha stopped in her tracks, looked at Lily, and said, "Your dad is home today, and once your grandma’s birthday celebration ends, your dad and I will bring you to get the divorce done. You must divorce him!"

"Mom... Darryl, he... " Lily wanted to say something nice about him, but after thinking for a while, she realized how limited her vocabulary was when it came to praising Darryl.

Lily was unsure of her feelings toward Darryl. All she knew was that Darryl had been with her for three years, worked hard, and endured every single complaint.

He was merely unambitious in his quest to improve himself and was quite a good person aside from that.

"Enough, stop talking right now." Samantha waved her hand and said, "If this loser doesn't leave, I will."