"But Christian is no longer the best partner. Mr. Zavier should know that, right?"

Wendy said as she thought about it. "It would mean greater risks if he were to continue protecting Christian. He might even be accused of secretly doing some dirty work with Christian."

"I don’t know if they have made any sort of agreement in private, but I think this matter can’t be resolved that easily. As long as he is willing to meet up with me, I’m sure I can persuade him," Michael said as he gave Wendy a pancake.

"I trust you," Wendy smiled, confident that Michael could do it. She believed that Michael was able to handle everything.

"You’re pregnant, so you should rest at home. I’ll take care of the rest." And then Michael added, "You will be the first to know the outcome. If you want to know the process, I’ll share that with you too."

Michael knew Wendy’s personality well. She was not the type who was willing to sit at home doing nothing. But now that she was pregnant, it was better for her to not tire herself out. Michael would keep her up to date with what was happening to give her peace of mind.

"Okay," Wendy nodded. Her smile widened.

She felt that Michael seemed to be understanding her a lot better. Unlike in the past, when he used to hide everything from her and claimed that it was for her good.

They were husband and wife. They were meant to face everything in life together, for better or for worse. This is what marriage is supposed to be.

After breakfast, Zess took the two children to school. Michael did not rush off to his office. Instead, he called Yonina to come over.

Yonina arrived soon after. Wendy had not seen Yonina for a while because Yonina was busy with work at Collins Group.

"Hi, Wendy," Yonina smiled and greeted her. Yonina had always been filled with respect and admiration for Wendy.

"You guys go ahead and talk. I’ll cut some fruit. What would you like to drink?"

Wendy asked with a smile.

"Anything’s fine," replied Yonina.

Sitting on the couch, Yonina asked, "Has Mr. Zavier agreed to meet you?"

"Not yet. I’ve asked Mr. York to call him again at ten," said Michael. He looked at the clock. "He’ll be calling soon."

Michael stood up and brought his laptop over. He placed the laptop in front of Yonina. "Why don’t you look through this proposal first? If you have any concerns, we can discuss and make the necessary changes."

This was the project proposal that Christian had stolen. At that time, Michael had deliberately allowed Christian to steal the proposal. Now, it was time to reap the rewards of Christian falling into his trap.

Now that Michael was planning to take over the project from Christian, it was the right time to improve on the original proposal. The project had been underway for a few months, so it did not make sense to start from scratch.

Wendy brought out a plate of cut fruit and placed it in front of them. She had no intention of interrupting their business talk and was about to walk away. But Michael pulled Wendy down to sit with him.

Yonina looked over the proposal very carefully. The more she read, the more satisfied she was. Smiling, she said, "I have to say that your revised proposal is better than the last version. Besides not making any changes to the first stage, you have cut back on the costs and reduced the timeline for the remaining stages. Mr.

Zavier would have no reason to reject you after seeing this proposal."

...

"So you don’t have any problems with it?" Michael asked Yonina.

Yonina shook her head to show her satisfaction. "Nope."

"Then I will forward this proposal to Mr. Zavier," said Michael. He took the laptop and started tapping out an email. The then sent the proposal. At the same time, Mr. York called.

"This time Mr. Zavier did not reject us immediately, but he said he was still busy and needed another three to five days," said Mr. York.

"Got it," replied Michael. He had anticipated Mr. Zavier’s response. Mr. Zavier was obviously trying to buy Christian more time. But that did not matter. Michael would do something about it.

After ending his call with Mr. York, he called Mr. Zavier. Michael sat with his hands interlocked on the tabletop while he waited for Mr. Zavier to take his call.

Mr. Zavier saw the incoming call and he panicked slightly. He knew it was Michael.

He did not dare to take the call.

Michael was not the only person who had been trying to contact him these few days.

There were several other companies that were eyeing the project in Christian’s hands. The others were easy to handle, but not Michael.

It was ideal for Mr. Zavier to burn all his bridges. What if Christian turned out to be unreliable and could not pay up on time? Mr. Zavier would need to find a replacement then. And Michael was the best choice.

That was why he deliberated on whether to take the call. If he took the call, he would have to agree to meet with Michael. If he did not take the call, he was afraid that in the event of Christian bailing out, he would not have anyone to fall back on.

Taking a deep breath, Mr. Zavier decided to take the call.

"Mr. Zavier, I’ve sent a document to your email. Please take a look at it when you have the time."

Mr. Zavier was a little taken aback by what Michael said. He thought Michael would ask if he had time to meet. After getting over the initial surprise, Mr. Zavier knew that the document must be something important.

"I know you are busy so I shall not take up any more of your precious time. After you have finished looking at it, I hope you could give me some feedback. If you don’t get back to me, I will have no choice but to ask someone else to do so." Michael’s tone was friendly, yet it carried a veiled threat. With that, Michael ended the call.

Michael had tried to contact Mr. Zavier through Mr. York several times but to no avail. So Michael made the call himself. He would not let Mr. Zavier have his way. He had to give Mr. Zavier some pressure.

Mr. Zavier had not said a single word throughout the call, and he had beads of cold sweat on his forehead. He looked at his email inbox and found the document that Michael had sent.

After he had looked through the document, he understood what Michael had meant.

Michael was threatening him. If he did not agree to meet with Michael, then Michael would send this document to all the other people involved in this project.

Mr. Zavier had to admit that Michael’s new proposal was an improved version from the last one and it was good. If the other people in charge of the project saw this, they would most probably like it. And then if he were to continue helping Christian, he would be mocked by everyone.

Michael, Wendy, and Yonina sat in silence, waiting. Michael was pretty sure that Mr.

Zavier would call him back. True enough, Michael’s cellphone rang soon after. It was Mr. Zavier.

...

Michael smiled and took the call, turning on the speaker mode.

"Mr. Lucas, is now a good time to talk? If you are available, let’s have lunch at one today," said Mr. Zavier.

"Of course I’m available. But I thought you’re busy?" Michael said deliberately. "I had asked my assistant to call you several times but you kept saying you were so busy. I can understand though. You must have a lot to take care of."

"I can’t take care of everything. Besides, no matter how busy I am, I need to eat," replied Mr. Zavier. "I’ll ask someone to make a reservation for us and we’ll have lunch together. How does that sound?"

"I will not say no," Michael smiled slightly and replied.

"See you later," said Mr. Zavier.

After hanging up, Michael turned to Wendy and said, "I will meet him with Yonina later. You’ll wait at home. Once this is settled, I’ll let you know."

"Okay," Wendy nodded.

Since Wendy was not involved in this project, it was not appropriate for her to be there. Since Yonina was now in charge of Collins Group, if she went with Michael, they would have a better chance at persuading Mr. Zavier to hand the project to them.

Michael soon received the location of where they should meet Mr. Zavier.

He stood up and put his arm around Wendy’s waist. Kissing her on the forehead, he said tenderly, "We’re off then."

"Hmm..." The kiss was over before Wendy could stop him. Because Yonina was still around, Wendy felt a little embarrassed by his show of affection.

Yonina gave a small cough and said, "I didn’t see anything." And then she walked out of the house.

Yonina and Michael soon arrived at the meeting place. Mr. Zavier was already there waiting for them.

Michael smiled and said politely, "Mr. Zavier, I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.

Traffic was bad."

"That’s fine. I had just arrived myself." Mr. Zavier smiled and gestured for him to take a seat. He then looked behind Michael and saw a woman whom he found somewhat familiar. "And this is?"

"Allow me to introduce the both of you. This is Yonina Collins, CEO of Collins Group," said Michael. "I hope you don’t mind me inviting her along to our lunch."

"Oh no, I don’t mind," said Mr. Zavier, but he knew what Michael was thinking. It seemed that Michael had come well prepared. Mr. Zavier began to panic.

It was not his intention to protect Christian, but his interests were tied in with his partnership with Christian. He did not wish to tarnish his reputation now because of Christian.

"Hello, Mr. Zavier." Yonina extended her hand to him. With a smile, she said, "We have met before when bidding for the project."

"Oh that’s right," Mr. Zavier replied immediately. "I remember there was a beautiful female CEO at that meeting."

In reality, he had already forgotten who was at that meeting.

"You flatter me," Yonina smiled demurely.

"Please take a seat," Mr. Zavier said.

The waiter came with the menu and Mr. Zavier said, "Take your pick. You don’t have to worry."

"We will have plenty of chances to enjoy our meals together in the future, so I will definitely not worry," Michael said with great confidence.

But that was not a good thing for Mr. Zavier. So he looked down and did not respond.

He simply smiled.