Beyond the Divorce

I dialed the number, and Fred answered immediately. "Ms. Chloe. Are you in Solaris?"

"Yeah."

"Let's meet up. How long are you staying here?" Fred asked eagerly.

"I have to go back tomorrow morning. We need to meet, and we have... two hours." I checked the time and added, "You can come to my location. We can meet at a coffee shop." "Send me your location, I'll be right there. I'm heading down now," Fred said before ending the call.

I sent him my location.

Grayson entered my office and asked, "Are you leaving, Chloe?"

"I have some other business to attend to tonight, so I'll leave tomorrow morning. Can you book a flight for me around 10 am tomorrow?" Grayson served as my assistant here.

I nodded, "Noon will be fine too. I have to do something with Ava in the afternoon, and I can't be late, or she'll give me a hard time."© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

Grayson promptly went to make the arrangements.

Ryan stayed to join the project's follow-up work planning meeting.

Half an hour later, Fred appeared in the coffee shop that was downstairs in the building. He looked a little thinner this time, and he didn't seem to be in good condition. He greeted me politely. "Why the rush, Ms. Chloe?"

"I have a special event tomorrow I can't miss, so I'm pressed for time," I explained briefly.

"When did you arrive?" He inquired.

I had always been thankful to him for helping me register the Hartz construction matter.

"I arrived yesterday afternoon. I had meetings all day, and relatives picked me up in the evening, so I didn't call you. Oh... by the way, I just saw Hugo."

"Oh? You saw him? Are you sure?" Fred had an odd expression on his face.

"Absolutely. What's wrong? We just met in person," I asserted confidently, sensing something fishy.

"So, he's still in Solaris. He said he wasn't here, the bastard." Fred's expression turned unpleasant.

"So that's why he didn't respond when I suggested inviting you over just now." I remembered that Hugo's expression seemed off moments ago. He was trying to cover up the truth, but I happened to catch him in the act.

I was practically his nemesis.

"What's going on? Has he been causing trouble recently?" I asked Fred casually.

He sighed indignantly. "He's never stopped causing trouble. After I exposed the spies he hired last time, he came up with other schemes. He's targeting the customers now. Looks like he likes wasting money on these schemes."

I looked at Fred, "Being too lenient invites trouble. I didn't think you would still tolerate him after so many years."

Fred looked helpless. "It's not that I

want to tolerate him. It's because of

my old man... I apologize for the embarrassment. After all, he's old and I can't ignore his feelings. always think he's not going to live much longer, but Hugo is becoming more uncontrollable."

"Forgive my bluntness, but your hard work is bound to be ruined sooner or later," I spoke frankly. "Have you considered that your decades of effort could collapse in three to five years? If things go on like this. I'll really... have to consider changing our manufacturing partner."

Fred looked up at me, his eyes filled with fear.

"Ms. Chloe...," he began.

His eyes were filled with apprehension.

I had no intention of forcing him to do anything. After all, he had helped me when I needed it the most.

"I just think you can be too indecisive sometimes, Fred. I appreciate that you helped me when I was in trouble, but I can't back down on this. After all, this is about the development of my business," I said solemnly.

"You don't need to say that, Ms. Chloe. You've helped me more, after all. We only met by chance, but you decided to help me. You've always said it was unintentional, but I am truly grateful. I..." "Don't mention it, Fred." I cut him off, though it might have seemed impolite. Time was of the essence.