Ethan’s Vengeance of Love

Chapter 28

It was impossible for them to create a new proposal for such a large-scale project in less than 2 hours, let alone come up with another that would surpass the quality of the original design. Well, at least none of them could.

‘Tanner has returned to Rodcaster, right? Is it possible to get in touch with her? Maybe she has some ideas?’ Suddenly, Tyler Hopkins, one of Irvin’s close friends, thought of Tanner, who was especially popular in Rodcaster recently. According to the rumors, she’s a very amazing figure!

After Ethan read Tyler’s text, he quickly replied, ‘It’s difficult.’ Because of his father, Ethan had always wanted to contact Tanner. Yet, he couldn’t find heads or tails of her until today. Thus, from his point of view, getting in touch with Tanner would be a challenging task, not to mention that Irvin only had less than 2 hours left.

As a matter of fact, in an effort to help Irvin, he even gave the manager of the Knight Group’s planning department a call. Alas, much to his dismay, he received an answer saying that it was absolutely impossible to create a proposal involving 50 million dollars in less than 2 hours.

The reason why he didn’t take over his family business, the Knight Group, was primarily because he wanted to establish a career all by himself. Then secondly, it was because he wasn’t interested in business-related affairs.

Since his father, Lawrence, had always been a figure who was relatively democratic and liberal when it came to his household, he never forced Ethan to dive into the world of business. As a result, even though one could find the companies owned by the Knights nationwide, Ethan didn’t have a deep understanding of their business-related affairs.

For that reason, he really couldn’t help Irvin with this matter, even if he wanted to.

At the same time, other members in the group chat, who had their own businesses, also called the respective heads of their companies’ planning department. However, they all received the same answer as Ethan—impossible!

As Irvin’s close friends, they would definitely lend him a hand whenever he faced trouble. Nevertheless, they couldn’t help him with this, for even their money and influence couldn’t help Irvin this time.

Actually, they all faced the same challenge; the time limit was far too short. In addition, the original proposal created by Irvin was already of good quality in the first place. Hence, it took more work to develop another that could surpass his old proposal in such a short amount of time.

When Irvin knew that none of his close friends could help him, he stopped sending any more texts regarding this issue. As a result, the group chat fell silent for a moment, and everyone stopped chatting.

They all knew that Irvin had poured blood, sweat, and tears into the bidding of the Eastburgh Design Project. Therefore, they knew that this project was vital to Irvin. As a matter of fact, this project held the key to determining his future in the Thorne Enterprise, his family business.

Frankly, none of them wanted to see things end in such a situation. Unfortunately, this was precisely how things worked in the business world. As the people in the industry said, ‘Business is as fierce as war.’, which indeed summarized the cruelty of the business circles rather elegantly.

Under such fierce competition, one could only endure their anger, grievance, and grudge in silence. That was all they could do when they lost their battles; the business world didn’t care if they would become dispirited or despairing over their loss and even lose their mind in the process.

That was precisely how Irvin felt at this moment, discouraged and nearing the state of having a mental breakdown! He knew very well that he was doomed. I’m dead meat, for sure!

At the same time, Alice, who was in the hotel, received a call. “Alice, do me a favor.”

The caller was Justin Reef, an old acquaintance of Alice. “Sure. Just tell me what it is that you need my help with,” Alice said as she involuntarily raised the corners of her lips, resulting in a slight smile painted across her lips.

“I remember that you paid close attention to the Eastburgh Design Project some time ago. Can you write a business proposal for the project within an hour?” The husky, sexy, and pleasant voice on the other end of the phone also carried a trace of humor.

“Yes, I can.” Alice thought for less than a second before giving her answer. Although her reply sounded casual, it was also an affirmative reply filled with confidence.

Meanwhile, the man on the other end of the phone immediately chuckled, “I knew I could count on you.”

He knew that since Alice said she could do it, it would definitely be done and would absolutely be highly outstanding too.

“I have a friend who has encountered a little problem. He participated in the bidding for the design proposal of the Eastburgh Design Project today, but his proposal was stolen. Then, to make things worse, the other party used his proposal before he could,” the man on the other end of the phone briefly explained the situation.

After that, the man continued, “Alice, you only have less than 2 hours to get it done. Since it’s time- critical, you may need to rush to the site to communicate face-to-face with him.”

Alice no doubt understood why Justin made such an arrangement. It’s indeed time-critical, considering there are only less than 2 hours left. JT is just making the most reasonable arrangement as we can’t afford delays. Even though I have paid close attention to the Eastburgh Design Project, I’m now tasked

to write a proposal for someone else’s company. This involves many details. Hence, face-to-face communication is the most efficient and fastest way to solve this.

“But JT… I can’t reveal my identity as Tanner West yet.” In order for Alice’s subsequent plan to succeed, her other identity, Tanner West, couldn’t be revealed so soon. So, of course, it was even more impossible for her to meet Irvin with her real identity.

The man on the other end paused for a moment before saying, “This is merely a small problem to you. You don’t need to meet him using Tanner’s identity. Just devise a simple disguise to fool him, and I’ll specifically remind him not to reveal anything about you.”

“Okay, JT,” Alice replied swiftly. She just didn’t want her identity as Tanner West to be exposed so soon, for she feared that it would affect her plans. Nonetheless, she had nothing to worry about since Justin had already made arrangements for her.

“But JT, who is this person?” Alice asked. She knew Justin wasn’t a particularly generous person. Thus, she was still a little curious about who it was that could receive Justin’s help.

“His name is Irvin Thorne, and he’s the second son of the Thorne Enterprise.”

She was stunned for a moment when she heard the person needing help was Irvin. Then, instantly, she remembered the person who employed the police force when she escaped from the hotel seven years ago.

She later learned that Derek, the police chief then, visited the hotel in person and stayed there for quite some time.

From her perspective, she was confident that Derek was helping that man catch her that night. For that reason, she could confirm that Derek must have known that man from that night.

Later, she went online and searched for Derek’s information.

Through her search, she discovered that Derek had a circle of close friends, which was known as the Seven Sons of Rodcaster.

If she remembered correctly, according to the information she found out, Irvin was also part of the circle, a member of the Seven Sons of Rodcaster, and had a good relationship with Derek.

Ethan was the eldest and the boss of the Seven Sons of Rodcaster.

The second member, however, had been living abroad for many years. Since his identity was very mysterious, she still couldn’t get ahold of any information about him as of now.

Derek was the third member.

Irvin was the fourth, followed by Chris Dorsett, Tyler, and, lastly, the youngest, Benjamin Dixon.

Will my identity be exposed if I help Irvin now? After all, that man from 7 years ago just had someone extract my fingerprints moments ago. Perhaps that man is lying in wait for me, thought Alice.

Anyhow, she only hesitated for mere two seconds before she came to a decision. Screw this sh*t! JT rarely asks me for help. I can’t chicken out and shirk my responsibility. © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

Justin and Alice met when she was 12 years old. At that time, she accompanied her grandparents to Cliaria in an effort to cure her grandmother.

At that time, they were next-door neighbors with a couple from Cliaria. The wife was the most outstanding professor of economics at Princeton University. The husband, on the other hand, was an even more amazing individual. He once held the position of president in two of the now most globally

famous companies. Furthermore, he took office when the companies were in times of crisis and even successfully averted said troubles.

Justin was the couple’s adoptive son.

Back then, Alice lived in Cliaria for five years. During those five years, she learned about economics and business from them. At the same time, she had to go through hellish guidance from Justin, who received double doctorates in business management and economics at the age of 20.

Because of that, her abilities definitely skyrocketed within those five years of back-to-back training.

It was also because of this that ‘Tanner West, the business prodigy’ came to life.

Justin had also gone above and beyond during the seven years she was in Cliaria after the car accident.

“JT, give me the address, and I’ll head over now.” Alice knew that time was running out, so she didn’t delay the matter. I need to rush over now!