"I can’t make a decision on this right now. I’ll need to think this through, and I’ll also need to meet with Elizabeth’s father to discuss this further," the chairman finally said.

"That’s good enough for now, I guess. I didn’t expect that you could decide right away. However, I just want to remind you that this will have to go through in some shape or form according to the deal that we’ve made," Ace said as he stared directly at his father.

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"What deal?" the chairman asked.

He can’t mean…

"Don’t act like you forgot. The deal where I’m supposed to grow the company. If I remember correctly, and I’m quite sure that I do, when we made that deal you agreed that I could use whatever method that I wanted. You would allow me to do things my way to grow our company. I remember that the set timeline is three years. Good news is, with this, it won’t take anywhere close to three years," Ace said with certainty.

The chairman eye’s widened as if he finally fully understood what was really going on for the same time. As for me, I gasped and lifted a hand to cover my mouth when I realized that this was probably the solution that Ace had come up with for himself and also for us.

’You will grow our company to be as large as the size of the two combined. I give you three years, if you can’t achieve this, I will never acknowledge your relationship. That will also mean that you will keep your relationship a secret until then,’

That was what Ace agreed with the chairman. All of this came about because he had broken off his engagement to Elizabeth and also because he had decided to keep on dating me. I was overjoyed that Ace still intended to keep the promise that he made to me. If things went the way that he wanted and planned for it to, his father would acknowledge our relationship and we didn’t have to live our lives in hiding anymore.

Suddenly, it truly felt like we had a future together that might resemble that of a normal couple. The relief that flooded my chest made me feel warm inside and I was reminded of how much I love Ace; however, that warmth didn’t come without a mix of guilt and worry. I had been doubting him all this time when he was actually trying so hard for the sake of the future of our relationship.

The chairman’s words caused me extreme worry and I couldn’t help but imagine the many reasons why this may not work out. I also wasn’t sure if what Ace and Elizabeth were trying to do could be counted as cheating. After all, the chairman clearly did not expect this when he promised to let Ace do things his way to achieve the company growth target. I had to admit that although his plan was sly, it would ensure that he would meet the harsh and almost unrealistic target that the chairman had set and also the fact that it would take a lot less than three years. That is, if the merger went well.

"Was this what you had in mind when you made that deal with me?" the chairman asked with a scoff.

Ace just smiled a little at his father before he nodded his head in affirmation. It was hard for me to believe that in that short amount of time, Ace had come up with this plan to merge the company by getting Elizabeth’s help. I also had no idea how Ace managed to convince Elizabeth to go along with his plan.

Did she want to become the CEO of Jessen’s and Hill’s that badly that she was willing to convince her father on the companies’ merger?

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Elizabeth was indeed young to be the CEO of such a large company and I doubted how she would fare. Ace seemed confident in her abilities, but I couldn’t say that I truly agreed. Before I knew it, I was gnawing on my lower lips as my mind raced to evaluate the possibility of this plan.

It still felt very far-fetched and unrealistic to me.

"This is interesting…" the chairman said.

Unlike his outright rejection from before, the chairman had a perplexed look on his face and an unreadable look in his eyes that made me feel like there might be some crazy chance that the chairman may see this plan succeeding in reality. The idea of success sent a tremor down my spine and all I could do was stare at Ace’s face.

"Let us give this a try," Ace said with full conviction.

"This won’t just depend on me. It is big and many things will be beyond our control. Since I agreed to let you have your way on the methods that you choose to employ, I will keep my word and see how this plays out," the chairman said sternly.

"Thank you, father," Ace thanked his father with a smile.

"Thank you. We’ll make sure that this works out. For your sake and also for mine," Elizabeth chimed in with a determined look in her eyes.

"Do you really think that you can head the company? All by yourself?" the chairman asked Elizabeth.

"If you’d allow it, I would love to give it a try. However, I won’t truly be alone. I’m sure Ace won’t leave me alone and let me fail. Plus, my father will definitely lend a helping hand…and I guess so will you…" Elizabeth said before showing a bright smile.

I wasn’t sure if the chairman was convinced by her words, but he did seem amused and interested enough by her idea. It didn’t escape me that if what Elizabeth said was true then Ace would probably be sticking around the company at least for a while longer to make sure that everything goes well. The silence that crept up on us told me that the conversation for today had come to an end.

--To be continued…

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