Soon the atmosphere in the room eventually cooled down.
The lunch was over, and everyone was settled down at the meeting table.
Mason and Oliver still did not like Alexander a lot. Was it prejudice or their knowledge about Alexander's behavior, which was completely different from what he portrays. Still studying Evelyn's expression from some time, it was clear how happy she was thus; they decided to be more tolerant.
Evelyn was never judgmental about their partners. She was always supportive and went the extra mile to get along with them. As her best friends, it was now their chance to do the same for her.
"Let's discuss the main plan, shall we?" Selena took over the floor to lead the discussion.
Now that everything was settled and everyone's stomach was satisfied, Selena could only hope that their brains could be able to work efficiently.
"We have a draft on who will invest how much." Selena handed everyone the paper, "Read it thoroughly and give your views."
Everyone ran their eyes through the pages. They were reading through the file in dept. Sound on paper turning were only heard throughout the room.
The concept of the papers was simple, Evelyn would have the highest percentage in the company followed by Oliver and Alexander.
Clara would invest as well. It was not the highest money, but it was still a huge amount. Clara wanted to lessen the burden on everyone else, even though it was just a little.
Clara had decided to use the money she earned during her internship and the money she had in her savings. It was not wrong to say that after this, Clara would be broke.
It was an embarrassing feeling for Clara, but she wanted to go to the extreme to achieve her dreams. She wanted to prove herself not only to others but also to herself.
"I hope everything is briefly explained in there," Selena continued, "If you wanted to make any changes, please do tell."
Selena opened a notebook along with a pen. She was ready to write the suggestion at any given moment.
Alexander was impressed, but the IL Group did the agreement. He raised his eyes to see Evelyn looking at the agreement with her uttermost focus.
Evelyn's eyes fluttered as her pretty orbs ran through the paper's word to word. Her lips were slightly opened as her long and smooth fingers held the file in place.
For Alexander, it was a sight to behold. His mind started wandering to places it should not have.
'I wish Evelyn would work like this in our study room.'
In the split second, Alexander decided to buy a new house with a huge study room with two desks. Until now, the thought had never crossed his mind.
Alexander was a workaholic, it was very rare for him to go back home to have a sleep. He would usually sleep in his office. Alexander's parents were not happy with his workaholic behavior, but it was useless.
Even Alexander never felt a need to buy a new house until now. Going to a locked house with no other human soul in it to spread the warmth was a situation he wanted to avoid.
But now it was different. Alexander felt that he had finally found someone to share a house with. Someone with whom he could experience some warmth in life.
Alexander shook his head. It was not time to think about these things now. Alexander looked down at his own file. He had read some old agreements where some other companies had taken some loan from IL Group, but even in them, the ultimate benefactor would be the IL Group.
As Alexander read more, he understood their strategy. They wanted to have an upper hand in every possible situation, but you could not blame the company as well, after all, every company wants to earn a profit.
Some might think that the company would be doing something illegal, but the IL Group was always within legal bounds.
The reason for this were the people sitting opposite Alexander, that is, Oliver and Mason.
Oliver had his own law firm that was very prosperous. But Oliver was very dedicated to the IL Groups. Every contract that he drew was extremely beneficial for the company. Oliver always made sure that the ILGroup had an upper hand in all circumstances, irrespective of the people they were dealing with.
No one knew the reason for it as almost all the big enterprises once wanted to hire him opposite the IL Group but in vain. Now that Alexander has been more acquainted with Oliver, he understood the reason. Oliver was an overprotective brother who would never let his sister suffer.
But it was still surprising to see this contract that way lying in Alexander's hand was not biased at all. The conditions were simple with no hidden dangers.
Alexander looked at Evelyn and her team, who were busy reviewing the papers thoroughly.
Soon Evelyn looked up and observed everyone's expression. Evelyn was happy with the contract, but she still had a few suggestions to add. She knew many would not be happy with it, but Evelyn still felt that it was necessary.
Clara was dear to Oliver, and she has also grown to like her. Spending so many days with her and guiding Clara on various occasions had strengthened their bond, but there were still times Evelyn felt to bring her business mind out.
It was never easy to earn money, and Evelyn knew better. She was young when she initially started earning money. People called her genius, but Evelyn knew it was not that but her hard work and her desire to prove herself.
Now Evelyn wanted Clara to do that as well. She could see herself in Clara, thus Evelyn wanted to go long and beyond to keep Clara motivated and to not let her submit under pressure.
"Make the year to repay the money three years rather than five years." Evelyn's words broke the stiff environment.
"Page 12, Article 13, make sure the interest rate to be 2% rather than 5%," Evelyn added as she started highlighting the notes.
"And make sure to add that the money we invest throughout, only 80% should be returned, as for the remaining 20%, the company will be owing to the shares thus won't need to deal with that money." Evelyn looked at Clara, who was also staring at Evelyn with her round eyes.
"I think 3 years will be too fast," Oliver debated. It was not that he did not believe in Clara, but rather he did not want to add more pressure on her.
"No, it is the right amount of time. Clara should be motivated to return the money to us." Evelyn narrowed her eyes, "And I think Clara can do it with her capabilities."
"And it is not a hard fetched thing. It is quite normal. We had people returning it within two years as well." Evelyn simply smiled and looked at Oliver.
"Agreed, but Clara is inexperienced," Oliver's fingers held the file tightly.
"We invest in many entrepreneurs who are inexperienced," Evelyn rested in her chin on her hands.
Evelyn knew Oliver would be difficult to deal with, but somewhere in her heart she still wanted Oliver to support her vision as he had always done.
"Still," Oliver was in between two stones. He wanted to understand Evelyn's point but did not want Clara to go through many hardships. At least not under his watch.
"I am not here to baby her Oliver, she has something to prove to her father and all of her shareholders who questioned her capabilities." Evelyn's voice increased by a pitch. She was controlling herself to her best, but sometimes it was difficult for Evelyn as well.
"Actually, it is completely okay if Clara could not repay you within time. I would fill in for her," Alexander held Evelyn's hand to calm her down.
Alexander understood Evelyn's motive. He would have done the same for Clara, but his heart was too weak in front of his friend. How could he be able to see Clara take all the backlash which comes in the entertainment industry?
But Evelyn was different from him, and Alexander was proud of it. Evelyn could be hard on Clara pushing her to her limits while he could be a soft pillow for his friend in her hard and low points. They could be just like Clara's parents.
The feeling brought a mild smile to Alexander's face.
"No," A small voice spoke, "I will do it on my own." Clara looked straight at Alexander and Evelyn with a spark gracing her eyes.
"But.." Alexander was to say 'just in case,' but the words were quietly swallowed back as Clara continued.
"Evelyn is right. If I cannot do this simple thing, then what can I really do in the future?"
Everyone kept quiet at Clara's word. She was right. Everyone had to face some hardship while moving forward.