Joseph didn't need to oversee his employees because they were all deeply focused on their tasks. He felt quite content, believing the common wisdom was true. If you paid your employees well, they would worry about the company's stability even if you were hands-off. In his company, even the least productive employee earned over eight thousand dollars monthly, while the top earners made over ten thousand dollars. They were convinced that if they left his company, they wouldn't find such lucrative opportunities elsewhere. However, Joseph disagreed, knowing that companies like Julian's and Aralyn's were also willing to offer high salaries. He felt a sense of relief, realizing that his employees were unaware of these alternatives. Otherwise, they might leave for better opportunities. With that thought, Joseph relaxed and enjoyed his tea, savoring the wonderful life he led.When Joseph heard his phone ring, he answered it casually. "Hello, Dad. Is something wrong?" Lucas asked, "Do
Nowadays, he could make a significant amount of money daily without lifting a finger and enjoyed a more luxurious lifestyle than most. He was torn between doing nothing and traveling everywhere as he used to or continuing to launch new businesses.Hearing the knock on the door, Joseph calmly said, "Come in." His secretary opened the door and promptly informed him, "Someone's here to see you." Puzzled, Joseph asked, "Who?" "She mentioned her name is Stella. She's your ex-girlfriend." At the mention of his ex-girlfriend, Joseph couldn't help but chuckle. Back when his father had been on the verge of cutting ties with him, Stella hadn't hesitated to leave him. Now that he was wealthy again, she had wanted to re-enter his life. What had been her game? Had she thought he had been easygoing enough to be manipulated at her whim?Joseph said, "I understand. You may return to your duties now." "Okay." With that, the secretary departed of her own accord.Joseph paused briefly be
"Consider the consequences carefully before deciding whether to let me make this call." After saying this, Joseph watched Stella closely to gauge her response. Stella pressed her lips together, contemplating. Ultimately, she felt that agreeing with Joseph would make it hard to justify herself regardless of the call's content.So, without much thought, she replied, "You used to trust me without question. No matter what I said, you always had my back. Whenever I faced any troubles, you'd always defend me. What has changed now?" Stella stared at Joseph intently.Joseph recalled the time he confronted Alice about her issues, instigated by Stella, and ended up being reprimanded by her. His expression grew more displeased. "Clearly, I'm not that foolish anymore." Stella shook her head. "I disagree. I think the real reason you're behaving this way is because you've grown closer to Alice.""What's your point?""Did you realize Alice is better than me and now want to make amends wit
She believed that by making the first move, she could secure a dominant position. Alice looked at her and then at Joseph. "Is she your ex-girlfriend?"Joseph was reluctant to admit it, but he nodded. "Yes, she is." Alice openly displayed her disdain. "She's so clueless. What were you thinking when you dated her? She even accused me of being with you just because you're wealthy now. Doesn't she realize that we both invested in this company together?"Alice turned to Stella. "As a co-owner of this company, I'm here to oversee its operations. Do I need your approval for that?" Stella was taken aback by Alice's assertiveness, and she quickly looked to Joseph for support. Joseph avoided making eye contact with her.Stella understood that Joseph would no longer be by her side.With her head held high, she said to Alice, "Why didn't you choose another time? Why did you come exactly when I was meeting Joseph? You're trying to disrupt my relationship with him!"Alice replied, "Did yo
Alice only perked up when she heard him ask, "What do you think?" "I think she'll spread rumors, claiming that while I was dating her, I was secretly flirting with you," Joseph said, gesturing widely. "Isn't that just her usual trick? If it works, she'll definitely keep doing it."Alice fell silent.Joseph went on, "We ended up together later, and then I dumped her." Alice touched her chin thoughtfully. "If that's all there is, I actually already have a plan to handle it." Surprised, Joseph asked, "When did you become so clever?"Alice calmly replied, looking down. "What do you mean by clever? When she dumped you before, my friend took a photo of it. After she sent it to me, I saved it. After all... It's not every day you get to see someone you dislike being humiliated. Of course, I couldn't miss it. Wouldn't you agree?" Alice finally looked up and met Joseph's gaze.Joseph forced a smile. "I'm really thankful for your curiosity. If it weren't for you, I'd be helpless if St
In other words, I could sit in the office, do nothing, and still receive my paycheck. This method of earning was, naturally, wonderful news for me. After completing the drawing, I rested my head on one hand and reviewed the messages and reports from others. The team recruited by the secretary was clearly very capable. They could manage everything flawlessly without my input. Some even took the initiative to propose additional plans and launch new projects to earn more, which I reviewed and encouraged them to pursue. They didn’t need to worry about funding, as my secretary and I were there to support them. Once I had done all this, I leaned back to relax. At that time, both Julian's side and my own company were bringing in significant profits annually. I was not only able to support my mother's retirement comfortably, but I also had plenty of funds to assist others. I quietly contemplated whether there were other companies I could explore beyond these two ventures.There was a kn
Sometimes, a company with too many benefits would end up breeding people who were greedy beyond reason.However, that didn't matter. Once they were kicked out, the company would still thrive.…"Joseph hasn't even broken up with Stella yet, and he's already hooking up with Alice!""He even forced Stella to break up with him just so he could be with Alice!"Reporters posted the news and photos online.Everyone who saw it started cursing Joseph, calling him a scumbag, and saying Alice was a homewrecker.They cursed Alice, too.Seeing this, Avery jumped in, saying that Alice had once encouraged Joseph to chase after her, and that the two of them were seasoned players when it came to messing with people's feelings.With someone stepping up as a witness, people figured it must be true this time, and the insults got even harsher.Meanwhile, the ones being cursed were calmly sitting in a restaurant, sipping tea.Lucas glanced over and immediately understood why Julian had made a po
"You'd better hide the recording. Otherwise, if I gave her the recording, she might even blame me for meddling and ruining her family."But after thinking about it, Serena decided she couldn't do that.She continued, "Good thing I insisted. She's doing a lot better now. I heard she not only has a job but has even started her own company. She even suggested I go work at her company."Evelyn asked, "Did you say yes?"Without hesitation, Serena nodded. "Yep."Evelyn shook her head in disbelief. "She was just being polite. How could you take it seriously?""I don't think she was just being polite. She seemed serious," Serena said, sitting down across Evelyn. "And she even told me about the company benefits!"It's ten thousand dollars a month during the probation period, plus holidays. And if you do a good job, you even get profit-sharing."Now, it was Evelyn's turn to be surprised. "That good?"Serena nodded. She understood what her mother was worried about. "At first, I thought s
Spencer asked, "Just because of one little argument?""In your eyes, maybe it was just a little argument," Stephanie said calmly. "But for me, it was the last straw that broke the camel's back. In this relationship, I was the one who always gave more."No matter what Kelly did, the one who ended up hurt was always me. You only had to take her side and blame me to settle everything. So, to you, it was always just small stuff."She continued, "Nobody wants to spend their whole life being wronged like that. I don't either. So, after that day, I really thought it through…"How much love do I still have left for you? Is it enough to keep tolerating you and her? The answer was no. I even realized at that moment that I didn't love you anymore."Forget tolerating both of you. Even just dealing with one of you felt unbearable. Then, I thought, since it's gotten to this point… We might as well break up."When Stephanie said this, her eyes carried a relaxed smile. "I just haven't figured ou
Shannon shook her head. "That's why I really don't think much of Luna. If it weren't for our son liking her…"Patrick understood how Shannon felt. "Honestly, we did wrong by Luna before. Once she's willing to come back, we should make it up to her as much as we can."Shannon was unwilling, but seeing Patrick insist, she could only mumble, "Fine, we'll do what you say.""Okay."…Hannah noticed that over the past few days, Patrick and Shannon hadn't contacted her at all, and she immediately found it strange.In the past, the two elders were very close to her son, almost seeing him every day. What was going on now?After putting her son to sleep, Hannah took the initiative and called Shannon. "Mrs. Cunningham..."Shannon frowned and glanced at Patrick, speaking in a low voice, "It's a call from Hannah."Patrick's face darkened almost instantly, but he forced himself to hold it in. "Don't tell her we went to see Rowan, and don't let on that we know the truth. If she wants to fool
Rowan shook his head. "If it were really that simple, that would be nice."Patrick didn't understand why Rowan said that.Rowan continued, "Before Luna and I divorced, she had already guessed you were lying, so she made it very clear to Mason…"If I chose to come back and help you, she would divorce me. If I stayed with her, she would continue living the hard life with me."Patrick hadn't expected the truth to be like this. His face turned even uglier. Shannon was also in pain.Rowan tilted his head up, staring at the ceiling. "But in the end, I was too scared the company would fall apart, so I chose to go back. To completely cut ties with me, she went and started dating Shayne."At first, Luna still had hope for him. After all, they had truly loved each other for so long.But over time, through all the back-and-forth, she probably realized he was never going to change, so she finally gave up completely.Recently, the comics she created have been doing very well. Because of tha
Rowan said, "Come on, I'll take you to eat."Patrick followed behind Rowan and asked, "Have you thought about what to do with Mason in the future?"Rowan didn't take the question seriously. "Why would I?""He's your only child. If you don't acknowledge him, you'll end our family line."Rowan didn't know why, but looking at the streetlights and the thinning crowd around him, he felt unusually calm. "Isn't this exactly what you wanted?"When they reached the restaurant, he handed the menu to his mother. "See what you want to eat."Shannon picked a light vegetarian dish and said, "We just didn't expect Hannah to lie to us!"Rowan crossed his legs and repeated her words. "You didn't expect Hannah to lie to you?"Patrick ordered two meat dishes before saying, "Exactly. Who would've thought she would dare lie about something like that?"Rowan stared at his father. "So, just because you said it, even if you had doubts, you really thought I cheated on her with Luna…"Shouldn't you ha
Willow stared at me in shock for a long time before finally asking, "You can really do that?"I nodded. "Yeah. As long as you want to, you can keep in touch with her as much as you want."Willow jumped up excitedly. "That's awesome!"Just then, there was an urgent matter at the company that needed Julian's attention. After taking the call, he happened to overhear my conversation with Willow.He immediately got an idea. "During summer break, if you want to hang out with Pamela every day, she might not have that much free time."Willow's smile disappeared instantly. She asked, "Then, what should I do?"He guided her, "Do you think there's an excuse that could make both of you improve and leave her mom no reason to say no?"She followed his lead and quickly figured it out. "Studying?"He didn't give it away directly. "Oh?""Daddy, how about you hire a tutor for me during summer break? I can get a head start on school! Then, I'll ask Pamela to join me. Her mom will definitely agre
Alice raised her voice and asked, "You two already broke up, and he's still coming around asking you to apologize?"Stephanie shrugged. "What else could it be? You don't think I'd made all that up just now, do you?"Alice had never thought that, but Spencer's behavior still struck her as outrageous. "Do you need me to help you?""No, it's fine." Stephanie had already moved on, so she needed to handle it herself. "I can deal with it."With that, she walked out of the hotel.Spencer saw her come out and quickly stepped in front of her. "Can we talk?"He expected Stephanie would agree, but she gave him a glance and asked, "What do we have to talk about?""I know you're upset because of her, but can you be the bigger person? If you just apologize to her, a lot of things can be smoothed over."She looked at him, confused. "Why should I be the bigger person?""Because you're my girlfriend!" He tried to persuade her.Hearing that, Stephanie couldn't help but laugh out loud. "It look
The expression on Stephanie's face suddenly turned bitter. "Actually, when we first started dating, my friends kept warning me. They said he was way too close with that female friend of his, and that I was going to end up hurt."But I didn't believe them. I thought they were just overthinking everything and would never find real love that way. So, I went ahead and got together with Spencer. But after we got together, I realized they were all correct."In Spencer's eyes, that female friend was always more important than me. Every time she bullied me, he would make me step up and apologize to her."Stephanie looked exhausted. "I could put up with it once or twice, but after a while, anyone would get tired."Alice nodded in strong agreement. "Yeah."Stephanie continued, "Recently, the two of us had another fight because of his 'friend.' And as always, he took her side without question…"After I calmed down, I really sat and thought about it. I realized… It's been like this for years
Stella went silent.Then, she hung up.Alice turned to look at Joseph."What?" he asked.Alice answered plainly, "I don't care who you date in the future, but I don't want to be dragged into it. Otherwise, it'll cause me a lot of trouble.""Alright."Since they had company matters to deal with, neither of them had any free time.After Alice dropped Joseph off at the company, she headed back to Hughes Group.As soon as she got into the elevator, she saw Stephanie coming out of it. Stephanie also noticed Alice, but after just one glance, she looked away.Alice clearly recognized Stephanie, too.As the elevator doors opened, Alice didn't go straight upstairs. Instead, she turned and walked up to Stephanie, asking, "Why are you working at this company now?"Stephanie had expected this encounter. "Obviously, I'm highly capable and got the job."Her family background wasn't impressive. When she was dating her ex-boyfriend, people in his circle always thought she was a gold-digger
Everyone went silent."We just thought you two got back together later," his friends replied.Joseph almost laughed out of anger. "I've been broke the whole time. You all should know there's no way she would get back with me."Only then did everyone sound disappointed. "Alright, then."Joseph opened the platform where people were posting, and saw that everyone was trashing them."Alice is a homewrecker! She must get off on stealing other people's boyfriends! If she liked him so much, why didn't she say yes when he confessed? Why wait until he has a girlfriend to start messing around?""Joseph's no better. Someone just crooked a finger at him, and he went running like a dog. He missed out on Stella, a great woman, and now he's doomed to never find love again!""Those two scumbags deserve each other!""Let them stay together! Just don't go ruining anyone else!"The insults were disgusting. Joseph just skipped past them.As he kept refreshing, he suddenly saw Alice's response. I