Chapter 109
The attendees immediately straightened their postures and paid attention to Asher, who started to
share stories from his business trips abroad.
When he was done speaking, he instantly shifted the topic to Sonia. “I heard about the problems
that surfaced during my absence in thepany. Sonia has managed everything well on my behalf.
Good job!”
On his behalf? She winced at his description but soon broke into a smile. “President Dafoe, please
drop the formalities. After all, I am thergest shareholder in thispany and as the vice
president, I have the responsibility to manage thepany. All the blood, sweat and tears are part
and parcel of the job.”
Upon hearing that, Asher’s lips twitched as he simmered in anger. This youngdy is a tough nut to
crack indeed.
He refused to believe that she was oblivious to the subtext of his words—that he was back to
reim his power to manage thepany.
“Oh, is that so? Sonia, you are quite the sensible and mature youngdy! Anyway, now that I’m
back, you can take a back seat and rx.” Asher stared at Sonia with a fake smile.
A smiling Sonia looked straight into his eyes. “That’s fine! I am still young and I have no problem
taking on some challenges. President Dafoe, you have nothing to worry about.”
Asher’s expression immediately fell after he heard her courageous reply.
At the same time, members of the senior management and other shareholders lowered their heads
and held their tongues, for they were surprised at Sonia’s guts to publicly wrestle with Asher Dafoe
for power. Should we describe her as courageous or hopelessly naive?
Even Charles was stunned by her bold move.
Although he personally thought that she had recklessly started a power struggle at the wrong time,
he chose to stand by her side regardless of whether she made the right decision out of his love for
her.
“Baby, all the best!” He punched the air with his two fists to cheer her on. After being stupefied by
his actions, Sonia fired back at him, “Oh, shut up.
Charles giggled and promptly fell silent.
When Asher saw Sonia flirting in the middle of the tense situation, his eyes widened in anger at her
insolence. “Youngdy, are you being serious right now?”
She smiled. “Of course I am! As thergest shareholder and the vice president of thepany, it
would be bad not to have any decision-making powers. That is why I request to share the
leadership with you!”
Deep down in her heart, she knew very well that she could not win against Asher. After all, he had
been managing thepany for years and the majority of the senior management as well as the
shareholders were on his side.
Still, Sonia could not bring herself to surrender her power to Asher. Therefore, she came to the
secret decision that even if she could not safeguard all her power, she had to at least keep half of it.
The intensity of Asher’s anger gradually transformed into hrity and bewilderment as he cackled,
“Wow, the younger generation nowadays is truly ambitious. Why have I not seen that side of you
before?”
Sonia flicked her hair before she answered calmly, “That’s because I was living under my dad’s
protection. Now that he’s no longer around, I have to stand up and carry the weight on my own. If he
were alive, he would have been ted for me. Don’t you think so?”
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He tightened his fists and hid the malice in his eyes as he replied through gritted teeth, “You are
right.” This youngdy is really something! She brings up Henry to attack me and remind me that I
was one of Henry’s mentees, which means I would be an ingrate to mistreat his daughter!
Too bad Henry was unable to retort, for if he did, Asher would be seen as an ingrate and public
opinion would swiftly turn against him.
Plus, it was the cold, hard truth that Asher did not hold as many shares as Sonia. If the share prices
were affected by public opinion, the shareholders would definitely pin the me on him. He could
almost foresee the domino effect —the bunch of them would call for a shareholders’ meeting to
reelect thepany’s president, which would send his years of management down the drain.
At the thought of it, his chest rose violently, but he restrained his explosive rage and stared at her.
“Sonia, you are indeed Henry’s daughter! Sure, I can share the leadership with you, but...”
Sonia’s gaze wavered at the abrupt turn in his sentence. “Please continue, President Dafoe.”
She knew it. He would not share the power without putting up a fight. Of course he would set a trap
for her to fall into.
Asher picked up a document beside him. “This is a proposal for a partnership on an alternative
energy technology. It took me a lot of effort to gain a seat at the meeting for this proposal. The
partner who conceived the idea ns to have five partners onboard. As long as you can secure a
seat in this partnership for Paradigm Co., I will share the leadership with you.”
After a pause, he introduced the grim consequences of failure, “If you can’t secure a ce, you
have to surrender your leadership and leave Paradigm Co. as just another shareholder. Of course,
if you fail in your mission but insist on taking the leadership from me, please do not me me for
taking things to the extreme and ruining thepany. Sonia, what do you think?”
“You’re threatening her!” Charles pointed an usatory finger at Asher, but Sonia pressed Charles’
hand down and looked at the old fox. “Okay, I agree to the conditions.”
Soma—
Sonia looked at Charles with a serious expression. “Charles, you should know what Paradigm Co.
means to me. Even if this is a trap, I will have to jump into it. Do you understand?”
He opened his mouth but could not utter a word. She beamed in satisfaction and reached out to
Asher. “Give me the document then.”
Asher obliged with a conniving smile. “Two in the afternoon—that’s the time of the meeting.
Sonia, don’t runte like you did just now!”
He did not believe that she could sessfully secure the partnership, for the leading partner had
dered that they would only work with the most capablepanies. He knew that Paradigm Co.
was underqualified to be a business partner; therefore, he was coolly waiting for her defeat.
The meeting ended just like that. Charles answered a call and left the room while Sonia returned to
her office with the proposal. She took a seat and immediately started to peruse the document.
Her work continued until 1:00PM, when she finally ced aside the proposal that she had reviewed
countless times. Then, she drove to the venue of the meeting—Universal Hotel.
She arrived at the hotel at 1:50PM, which was ten minutes from the meeting time. She parked her
car and rushed into the hotel in her high heels. The closing doors of an elevator caught her eyes
and she hurriedly called out, “Wait for me! I need to enter too.”
That’s a familiar voice... Toby narrowed his eyes and ced a hand between the closing elevator
doors.
When the elevator sensed the obstruction, it came to a quiet stop before it slid open again.
Upon seeing that, Sonia’s eyes sparkled with hope, for she knew that the person in the elevator was
waiting for her. She quickened her steps.
Finally, she rushed into the elevator. While her hands were on her knees, she bent over and panted
heavily, “Thank you.”
Toby lowered his eyes to look at her and his gaze identally fell on her slightly-opened cor.
He could clearly see Sonia’s pale skin that trembled from her huffing and puffing through the low-cut
cor. It was a dangerously seductive sight to him.
His eyes darkened as he replied in a low voice, “Don’t mention it.”
Sonia was in the midst of wiping away her sweat when she came to a sudden halt. Since she
thought that she must have misheard his words, she straightened her posture and looked up at the
man.
When she realized that he was indeed Toby, she ced a hand over her eyes in defeat. God, are
you messing with me? How could I run into him on a random elevator of all ces?
She pursed her rosy lips and took two steps to the side with an icy expression to keep a distance
between them.
He observed the huge space between them, which could amodate another three more people,
and his expression darkened. Am I the gue? Why is she avoiding me?
Toby looked at his feet, battling the frustrated feelings in his heart.
Soon, the elevator arrived on her floor. As she was eager to get out of the space she had awkwardly
shared with him, she impatiently stepped out.
After taking a few steps out, she heard the sound of footsteps closely following behind her.
“Wait, that can’t be it.” Sonia’s lips twitched in surprise and she slightly turned her face sideways to
steal a nce from the corner of her eyes. When she confirmed that Toby was indeed walking
behind her, she could not help bute up with a bold guess. Could he be headed toward the
same destination as me?
Her wild guess gradually turned into silent confirmation as they inched closer to the room.
When she finally stood outside the room and turned around to look at Toby, she could tell from the
shock in his eyes as she confirmed that he was here for the same meeting as well.
With that being said, it did note as a surprise for her because the Fuller Group was a
heavyweight in Seafield. Since Toby was the head of the Fuller Group, it wouldn t make sense for
him to be absent from the discussion of a lucrative business proposal.