Chapter 8 Wish Us A Pleasant Cooperation

"Elena, here, take this. It's my friend's phone number. You can call him at anytime." Lyndon gave her a phone number with an encouraging nod and left the ward.

Wilbert witnessed what just happened in surprise.

As the chief of the Collins family, he knew Lyndon's status in the family and looked down on him just like everyone else. He knew that Lyndon couldn't be of any help.

But what Lyndon just did proved how much he loved Elena, and Wilbert respected this. He sighed and looked at Elena.

"Elena, you have to remember that no matter what, I will support you. Okay? I'm on your side," Wilbert said with a soft smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Elena looked down at the phone number in her hand for a while, and then suddenly took a deep breath. It wasn't over yet! If her husband-to-be hadn't given up, she, as the president of the company had no right to give up.

With renewed determination, she gritted her teeth and looked up at Wilbert. "Grandpa, I won't be the one to run Hytai into the ground. It won't happen while I'm in charge," Elena said and hurriedly left the hospital. She had to go to Hogan Company and give it one last try.

When she left, Wilbert sighed as his face fell. When the butler, Fred Evans saw Elena leave, he immediately stood up and went into the ward.

"Mr. Collins, I looked into it as you asked. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything that could be of help," Fred reported seriously.

"Nothing at all?" When the butler nodded, Wilbert muttered, "That means they are really careful." Wilbert sighed and looked at Fred sternly. "In that case, just tell me what the doctor said."

Fred opened his mouth to say something, but soon closed it. He didn't have the courage to say what had to be said.

"Don't be scared, Fred. Just rip the band-aid off and tell me. I can take it."

Avoiding his gaze, Fred said in a low voice, "The doctor said that you... that you have at most..." Fred took a deep breath and looked the sick man in the eye. "You have seven days left," he finished in a very low voice.

"Seven days only?" Wilbert didn't even know how to react to this news. Feeling dejected, he just closed his eyes and waved his hand. The butler understood this and left the ward silently.

"Bastards!" he grunted immediately the door was shut. "If I find you, there will be no place for you to hide in Antpelle!" Wilbert's already wrinkled face twisted in determination as he planned his next steps with murder in his eyes.

In the Collins family's villa in Antpelle.

Addy was a little impatient. Why was it taking so long? "Grandma, I think it's time you gave the order!" he said.

With Wilbert in the hospital, Eveline was in charge of the Collins family. So if she passed the announcement, Addy would officially become the new president of Hytai.

"Mom, only a few hours are left. Nothing could change, so why wait?" Denis added in support of Addy.

Standing next to them, Clara was already in tears. If Elena stopped being the president, her family would be ruined. Their good and luxurious life would be over.

There was even the risk of them sleeping on the street. She wouldn't have money to buy her expensive cosmetics!

Clara shook her head like a crazy woman, trying to get rid of these thoughts. Seeing that Adrien wasn't doing anything, she glared at him and began to kick and scratch.

"Clara, this is father's house, and not the place for you to throw tantrums! Now, will you contain yourself?" Rickey spat out angrily when Clara continued her assault on her husband.

Eveline just shook her head and looked at her watch. After a while, she sighed and was about to make a decision.

However, before she could say anything, Lyndon came in with a smile. "Mrs. Collins, it's not yet time. Don't make a decision in a hurry. Wait for the time to elapse."

Addy frowned and scolded, "You bastard! How dare you come back after what you did? You dared to kick me. What are you going to do to make up for that?"

"You loser, Elena is in a huge mess, yet here you are, making trouble instead of trying to make things right. Apologize to Addy now!" Clara pointed a finger at Lyndon and shouted in anger.

She kept throwing side glances at Addy as she did this.

She didn't want to offend him at a time like this. Addy could very well be the new president of the company in some hours, and they needed to be in his good graces when that happened.

However, Lyndon wasn't about to let himself be bullied when he had done nothing wrong. He quickly retorted, "He insulted Elena! The only thing I regret is having beaten him lightly! I should have gone harder!"

"You bastard! You've grown bold, haven't you? How dare you talk back?" Clara raised her hand and was about to slap Lyndon, but a strong hand suddenly grabbed hers midway before it could cause any harm to the young man. Clara followed the hand with her eyes, only to see Adrien who had been silent all along.

"What are you doing?" Adrien asked coldly when their gazes met.

"Well, well, well. Why am I not surprised? Loser dad helps loser future son-in-law. What a great headline for a story! Let me go! You are pissing me off!" Clara huffed and barked at him. She felt like her whole world was about to fall apart. Why was everyone against her?

"Adrien, go home and solve your problems with your family," Eveline said sternly, hitting her walking stick hard on the floor. Although Clara calmed down after this, she was in no mood to interact with anyone.

"Where is Elena?" Eveline asked suddenly, breaking through the silence that had taken over the room.

"Grandma, Elena has gone to Hogan Company," a young person answered.

"Hogan Company?" Eveline asked in confusion. She had never heard of this company.

"Grandma, Hogan Company is a newly established construction company, and its boss is a young and handsome man. I think Elena is throwing herself at him. She wants to sell herself in exchange for the contract. Can you believe it?" Addy smugly said and folded his arms across his chest.

"You're courting death! Keep up and you'll regret it!" Lyndon snarled. The murderous look in Lyndon's eyes pushed Addy to step back. His lower abdomen was still painful, and he didn't want a repeat performance of what happened earlier.

"Loser, are you trying to kill him? Stay back!" Denis stood up and hit the table, making a loud sound. Even if Addy did something wrong, a loser like Lyndon had no right to shout or talk back.

Tired of their continuous bickering, Eveline shouted, "Enough, be quiet! I'll give Elena some time. If she can get this contract before twelve o'clock, she will remain the president."

Eveline looked around the room with a hard gaze, daring anyone to object. Addy straightened his collar and cleared his throat uncomfortably, openly glaring at Lyndon.

The truth was that he had already tried talking with the boss of Hogan Company before. But the man was very stubborn. Signing a contract with this company would not be very easy.

Elena didn't have the grit she needed to nail this contract. It was going to end in one way, and Addy was sure that she would return empty handed!

Just to be sure things favoured him, Addy decided to go to Hogan Company in person. He wasn't going to leave anything to chance.

Soon after, Lyndon also left the mansion. Elena was alone and he was worried about her.

When Elena got to the building of the Hogan Company, two guards stopped her outside.

"Excuse me, sir. I'm the president of Hytai Industries. I have something very important to talk about with your boss." Elena was a little impatient. It was already eight o'clock, and she only had four hours left before the deadline caught up with her.

The two guards didn't waver. "I'm sorry, but Mr. Ortiz is very busy. You can't go in without an appointment!"

"An appointment?" Elena's heart sank and she began to panic. She had already spent more than an hour visiting her grandfather. If she was unable to come in now, she would have achieved nothing when the time finally came.

"Elena?" Addy called and chuckled. "You can't even get in? Pathetic!" He parked his Porsche and stepped out.

"Addy, what are you doing here?" Elena asked with a frown.

"You are here for business, right? Well, so am I." Addy laughed and strode in with his right hand in his trouser pocket.

Elena had been so distracted that she only realized what just happened when Addy disappeared from her line of vision. Neither of the guards had bothered to stop Addy!

Why? Well, it was definitely not because she didn't make an appointment, but because the Ford she drove was not good enough!

For businessmen, their cars were a symbol of wealth and strength.

She drove a Ford and yet, she said she was the president of an enterprise.

Of course, the guards found it hard to believe.

"Elena, what's going on?" Lyndon asked with a raised eyebrow when he came and saw that she was still outside.

"Well, some inconveniences as you can see," she said in an annoyed tone, clearly not wanting to talk to him about it. After all, it was useless telling him about it when he couldn't do anything to help.

Lyndon ignored her tone and smiled knowingly at her. "I gave you a phone number, right? Try calling it."

Elena looked up at him in surprise. Indeed, Lyndon had given her a phone number. How could she have forgotten?

Even when she was about to call it, she wondered if it would work.

Still pondering on this question for a while, Elena decided to throw caution to the wind and quickly dialled the number.

Soon after the call, a man dressed in a suit came out and said respectfully, "Miss Collins, why are you still outside?"

Elena almost let her mouth drop open. Why was she still outside? She told the guards that she wanted to come in a long time ago, but they stopped her from going in.

After knowing the fact, the man shouted angrily, "You bastards! Miss Collins is my distinguished guest and you dared to stop her from coming in? You are fired!"

The two guards looked at each other in confusion. Distinguished guest? How could they have known?

Lyndon on his part, encouraged Elena, "Come on, Elena. You can do this!"

Confused as to what was happening at the moment, Elena just let herself be directed into Hogan Company.

Lyndon stayed outside and waited. He had nothing to worry about since the boss of Hogan was Flint. The company was established according to Lyndon's instructions. So, naturally he was going to sign the contract with Elena.

Addy was talking to Flint in the hall, but Flint didn't hear a word of what he said. He wasn't paying him any attention.

"Mr. Ortiz, for as long as our cooperation is sealed, I promise that your company will grow bigger!" Addy declared in a proud tone, patting his chest with a grin.

Addy only realized that Flint wasn't listening to him when Elena came in. The moment he saw her, Flint ignored Addy and walked up to her respectfully.

"Miss Collins, I've been waiting for you for a long time now!" Flint was very respectful, and it was expected. After all, Lyndon asked him to cooperate with Elena. He couldn't do otherwise.

Elena had had to meet many different kinds of people. But Flint's kind was a first, and his behaviour confused her.

"Miss Collins, I'm trusting you because you are the president of Hytai Industries. This is the contract for the building materials supply of our company. The contract amount is three hundred million dollars. If you have no objection, we can sign it now," said Flint with a smile.

Addy's jaw almost dropped. He had been talking with Flint for such a long time, but Elena just came in and she was already signing a contract with him?

"Well, yeah... It's good with me." Although Elena was surprised and hesitant, she went through the contract carefully and after making sure that every term was okay, she signed it.

"Miss Collins, I hope this will be a pleasant and beneficial cooperation. My secretary will contact you concerning the contract as soon as possible." Flint smiled and stretched out his hand for a handshake.

"It's great working with you." Although Elena had a lot of doubts about this, she still maintained a standard smile and met his hand in a handshake.