Chapter 101: Chapter 101 Convincing Brother Apollo

"So you want to continue working there as an intern since they already mistook you for one?" Apollo asked, one brow lifting slightly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

A faint curve tugged at the corner of his lips, his expression carrying clear amusement.

Truthfully, he found this younger sister of his rather interesting.

Most young women from wealthy families he knew would happily stay at home spending their days leisurely shopping, attending tea gatherings, or enjoying luxury without a care in the world, much like how Ophelia usually spent her time.

But Ashley was different.

Instead of being repelled by the pressure and chaos of the corporate environment, she seemed drawn toward it. The bustling atmosphere of the office, the fast pace, the competitiveness... rather than tiring her out, it appeared to stimulate her interest instead.

And Apollo could already sense it clearly that Ashley possessed a quiet competitive streak hidden beneath her gentle appearance.

Perhaps it truly ran in their blood.

Apollo quietly observed Ashley’s every reaction, genuinely curious about what she would say next.

Most people would grow uncomfortable under his gaze. The longer he stared at them, the more pressured they became until they instinctively looked away first. Yet Ashley met his eyes head-on without hesitation, her expression steady as she nodded firmly before continuing.

"Yes, Brother," she said seriously. "Although I don’t have any credentials to show right now, isn’t experience the best teacher? You can let me work first and observe how I do before deciding whether I truly fit in or not."

Then, after a brief pause, she added honestly, "Can you give me this chance to prove myself?"

Since she was currently pretending to have lost her memories, Ashley knew she couldn’t suddenly produce evidence of her abilities or explain her past achievements without raising questions. Rather than awkwardly circling around the issue, she chose the most straightforward approach instead.

At times like this, being blunt was the better option.

Apollo, however, hadn’t expected her to ask so directly.

Not only was she fearless about voicing what she wanted, but she also didn’t seem worried that he might reject her outright. More importantly, Ashley had already subtly made her preference clear before he could even offer alternatives, practically steering him toward the answer she wanted.

It was obvious she had no interest in staying quietly at home.

And strangely enough, it almost felt as though she was low-key telling him what he should do.

That alone amused Apollo greatly.

After all, nobody had ever dared subtly push or guide him like this before, especially not those people who truly knew his personality and position.

Yet Ashley did it naturally without realizing it herself.

And instead of irritating him, Apollo found it unexpectedly refreshing... and incredibly interesting.

And for Ashley, there was another reason she couldn’t simply present her credentials directly even if she wanted to.

Although she had indeed graduated from a well-known university within the human world, her background was far from ordinary. Because she came from the supernatural world, both the Peacekeepers and werewolf society had long since sealed away most of her records and personal information under strict confidentiality.

Unless Ashley personally revealed her identity or underwent the proper legal procedures to reactivate her records, Apollo would never be able to casually investigate her background no matter how powerful he was in the human world.

And the process itself was incredibly troublesome.

The Peacekeepers existed to maintain the separation between the supernatural world and ordinary human society, preventing unnecessary conflict while also protecting humans from dangers they knew nothing about.

Because of that, every supernatural being living within human society had to pass through layers of registration, monitoring, and approval. It functioned almost like a controlled pass system; only those deemed mentally stable and non-threatening were allowed to move freely among humans.

At the same time, the process also allowed the Peacekeepers to quietly monitor supernaturals integrated into human society and keep track of their activities.

Compared to ordinary human procedures, the entire system was far stricter, more complicated, and unbearably tedious.

And Ashley couldn’t risk involving herself in it now.

After all, she had staged her own death.

As far as the supernatural world was concerned, her former identity might already be marked as deceased or erased entirely from active records. If she suddenly attempted to reclaim her old identity or retrieve her academic credentials formally, it could easily trigger alerts within the system.

And once that happened, there was a high chance Nathan and the York family would eventually learn she was still alive.

That was the last thing Ashley wanted.

Especially since all her original credentials and records were still safely locked away inside the archives located within the data room of the Black Mountain Pack.

The only other option would be to retrieve her records personally.

But that would require returning to the Black Mountain Pack’s territory and secretly stealing the archived files from the data room, a choice that was just as dangerous, if not worse. So Ashley immediately dismissed the idea altogether.

Which meant the only thing she could do now was stubbornly cling to this opportunity and try her best to convince Apollo.

Because her thoughts were so tangled and complicated, Ashley didn’t even realize that she had completely forgotten to worry about whether she was becoming troublesome to her brother or whether her words sounded overly forceful.

In truth, after years of standing in positions of authority herself, Ashley had long grown accustomed to giving instructions and making decisions.

Even though Maddison’s relentless mental torment over the past month had damaged her confidence and slowly ground down her self-esteem, her deeper temperament still remained unchanged.

At her core, she was still the same Ashley as before.

She simply hadn’t realized it yet.

Which was why she unconsciously pushed Apollo toward the answer she wanted while subtly avoiding every alternative, especially the possibility of being sent back to school first to earn degrees, credentials, and achievements before even discussing employment within the company.

After all, Ashley understood very clearly what this corporation represented.

This wasn’t merely a company.

It was the blood, sweat, and legacy of generations of the Gildenvale family. It was something their father and ancestors had painstakingly built over decades, something Apollo and her other brothers had protected fiercely from countless enemies and opportunists waiting like vultures to tear their family apart.

Because of that, Ashley knew Apollo would never treat hiring lightly. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Only the best people would ever be allowed to remain here.

Even someone like Lily, who appeared to come from an ordinary background, didn’t seem simple at all upon closer observation. From the company environment, employee treatment, salary standards, and benefits alone, Ashley could already tell this corporation recruited elites far above ordinary industry standards.

And realizing all that only made one thing clearer in her mind.

Convincing Apollo was not going to be easy.

"Oh? So my little sister wants to work, huh?"

Apollo spoke lazily, his tone sounding almost casual and half-hearted, yet the depth hidden within his eyes told an entirely different story.

His gaze remained fixed on Ashley with quiet scrutiny, observing every subtle reaction, expression, and shift in her demeanor without missing a single detail.

At that moment, he resembled a powerful predator lounging leisurely upon the grass, appearing relaxed and unbothered on the surface while silently watching his prey, patiently waiting for the perfect moment to move.

And somehow, there was even a hint of playfulness in the way he looked at her.

The faint smile lingering at the corner of his lips made it seem as though he was not merely observing Ashley but subtly toying with her as well, curious to see how far she would push this request and what she would reveal next.

Now that Ashley had already voiced her thoughts, she no longer intended to hold herself back. Since she had made up her mind, she would rather properly convince Apollo instead of hesitating halfway.

So she smiled at him sweetly, not in a deliberately ingratiating way, but naturally, and gestured for him to sit beside her while she personally served the food onto the table, completely forgetting that only moments ago she had been worrying whether the meal was still good enough for him to eat.

"Well, Brother," she began casually, "why don’t you sit first and try the food?"

Then, as though speaking about something ordinary, she continued,

"You see, while I was staying in the Sales and Marketing Department earlier, I overheard some employees discussing a distributor contract from another city. From what I understood, there still isn’t a proper distribution channel established there yet, nor a finalized local distributor."

Ashley neatly opened one of the containers as she spoke. "But the party negotiating with the company seems to be asking for a much larger percentage cut from the products so they can secure bigger profits for themselves."

Apollo remained silent, quietly listening.

"Still," Ashley continued thoughtfully, "their proposal seemed to have a lot of loopholes and hidden clauses from what I heard. And if I remember correctly, the city they mentioned has been having problems recently with local gang groups targeting merchants and transport businesses."