Franklin's grades had always been poor. He failed the college entrance exam, scraped through university abroad, and returned home to invest in a bar with money.
Yet, Uncle Edmond was now allowing him to join the corporation directly?
Royce had excellent grades, a prestigious degree, and entered Jingxiu's investment company right after graduation. Back then, Uncle Edmond forced him to marry Lily by offering shares, and Royce seized the opportunity to join the corporation, which Edmond had agreed to.
Royce had been in the corporation for just over a year, only managing the first investment division, while the second division was superior. The manager of the second division had resigned at the end of last year, and an internal competition was ongoing.
Royce had been confident in securing the position. Now, Uncle Edmond was giving it to Franklin so easily? Why?
Franklin had no degree, no experience, and nothing but a group of wastrel friends. What qualifications did he have to become the manager of the corporation's investment division?
"Uncle Edmond, you must be joking, right? The manager of the second division can't possibly be Franklin," Royce said, his face pale with disbelief. He thought he must have either not slept well last night, woken up too abruptly this morning, or perhaps his ears were malfunctioning.
"When have I ever joked with you?" Edmond's gaze was indifferent as he looked at Royce.
"The capital market never operates on seniority. If I say Franklin is capable, then he is."
Karina, too, had finally realized the situation and almost spat out a mouthful of blood. She had gone to great lengths to entrap Franklin, only to unwittingly help him instead.
"Edmond, Franklin isn't qualified to join the corporation..." she began.
"His qualifications are for me to decide," Edmond said, staring at Karina, his tone filled with warning. "Third Sister-in-law, there's never a family issue without your involvement. I'm not in a good mood lately, so you'd better keep quiet, or I'll find more work for your husband."
Karina turned pale, opening her mouth but ultimately saying nothing.
Nadia met her mother-in-law Malika's angry gaze, feeling a chill in her heart. It was over; she had backfired spectacularly.
...Edmond carried Lily outside, and the driver opened the back door for them.
It wasn't until the car started moving that Lily snapped out of her chaotic thoughts.
"Edmond, why are you letting Franklin join the corporation?" she asked. She had heard from Royce before that even the children of the Zhou family needed to spend years honing their skills in subsidiary companies before they could join the corporation, proving themselves through their achievements. Franklin had always treated the bar as his main business. He had never worked in a proper company, let alone a subsidiary of Jingxiu.
Edmond only said one thing in response to her question.
"Don't underestimate Franklin."
The driver drove onto the main road, and Edmond instructed him to raise the partition.
The driver complied reluctantly, respecting privacy.
Lily stared at the rising partition in confusion, only to feel a strong arm wrap around her waist, and a familiar yet strange presence envelop her.
It was a fiery kiss, more intense than ever before.
Lily initially closed her eyes to endure it, but his fervent actions made her tongue go numb. Unable to bear it, she opened her eyes.
Edmond's eyes were open too.
One gaze was aggrieved and accusatory, the other was passionate and punishing her disobedience.
Their eyes met, and Edmond noticed her discomfort, relaxing his grip. He tasted her lips gently, swallowing her breath, and effortlessly lifted her onto his lap.
"When you knew Franklin was in trouble, didn't you think of calling me?" he pressed on this question.
From the moment he saw the injury on her face last night, he had been holding back his anger, controlling his emotions. Even Alistair didn't dare approach him when he was furious.
He was afraid of scaring her, so he didn't speak harshly or reprimand her too sternly.
But being too lenient seemed to backfire; she never learned.
Last night it was Aria, this morning it was Franklin. She hadn't considered her safety or his feelings.
Was he just a decoration? Edmond held Lily tightly, his handsome face close to hers, tasting her sweet lips with tender movements, but his tone was serious.
"Aria is your best friend. I can understand you not wanting me to intervene. But Franklin? He's your childhood friend and my nephew. If you wanted to help him, couldn't you call me?"
Lily's mouth was filled with his rich scent, and her mind was a mess. She answered whatever he asked.
"The vase... the vase was left by your mother. I didn't know how important it was to you. If you saw it broken and got angry, Franklin would be in trouble. I wasn't planning to hide it from you. I wanted to clear Franklin's name before coming to you."
Edmond paused at the mention of the vase, his hand cupping her feverishly hot face as he continued to ask, "Are Aria and Franklin that important to you?"
"Yes, very important."
"Who else is important to you?"
"Alive?"
"Yes."
"Aria, Franklin, my aunt, my cousin... no one else."
Edmond waited a long time and got a "no one else," leaving a clear bite mark on her chin.
"No one else? Is your husband dead?"
Lily's body tingled as if electrified, "Dead? No, my husband isn't dead."
Not dead, but not important.
Edmond's heart ached. He bullied her soft lips inside and out.
"Heartless, you didn't even include me in your top four. Even if you put me last, Lily, you're heartless."
Good thing she didn't have a dog; otherwise, he'd be less important than a dog.
...When they returned to Huachun Mansion, Edmond stayed, had dinner with Lily, and then took her to the bedroom to catch up on sleep.
Lily had many questions for him, but she was too tired. She fell asleep as soon as she lay down.
She slept soundly and comfortably, waking up at five in the afternoon.
Edmond was still there.
Their bodies were closely pressed together, and she could sense his restlessness. She quickly pushed him, "Aren't you busy? Why haven't you left yet?"
He usually got up after less than three hours of sleep to work. She thought he would be gone when she woke up.
Edmond had craved intimacy for years and was now experiencing it. Sharing a bed with her made it impossible not to think of more, but he knew she was still recovering.
So he didn't act on his impulses, just held her, calming down before answering her question.
"When you hurt your face last night, I postponed all my work for today."
He got out of bed, "I have nothing to do today, so I can stay with you."
Lily watched his tight, well-defined muscles, then quickly looked away.
"Then this morning... Aunt Fang said you went to the company."
Edmond took clothes from the closet, "I had other matters to attend to, not work."
He handed her a new dress and underwear.
"These are new, washed, and dried. Time was tight, so you'll have to wear them for now. I'll buy you more later."
Lily took the dress, noticing it was similar to what she wore yesterday, "Did you go out early to buy clothes for me?"
Edmond put on the black sweater she had worn that morning.
"No, Octavian had his secretary buy them. I wouldn't know what to choose, so I used your outfit from yesterday as a reference."
He thought she would wake up at noon at the earliest, giving him time to get the clothes. He didn't expect her to leave so early in the morning.
Lily was about to get dressed and wanted him to look away. She glanced up and saw him wearing the sweater she had worn.
"Aren't you changing? I already wore that sweater; don't you think it's dirty?"
Edmond sat on the bed and put on the sweatpants.
"You only wore it for a while and didn't go outside. It's not dirty. It's almost dinner time, and the day is almost over. Wearing new clothes would be wasteful. Aunt Fang would have to wash an extra item."
Lily: "..."
She changed the subject, "So, what did you do this morning?"
Edmond fastened his belt, "I went to the hospital. Alistair was hospitalized by Aria last night."
Lily, thrilled to hear Aria had beaten up Alistair, jumped out of bed.
Edmond quickly grabbed her arm, "No rush, let's eat dinner first."
Since they returned from the old house, she only had a bowl of porridge. She hadn't had lunch, so he had Aunt Fang prepare dinner early. It should be ready by now.