‘’Now that’s done, let me go meet with the Graysons.'' Annie smiles at Liam.

"Annie, I think it would be best to let Liam attend this meeting as well. And it will be a wonderful way for him to understand how things are done.’’ Carl stops her.

''Oh, you are right. Silly me.''

Carl nods and winks at Liam as if he knows what he is planning. It is as if he knows of his revenge and is pushing me to do it.

''Right this way.'' Annie holds the door for Liam.

Liam nods, then follows her out and down the hall to a larger room that has a long table in the center and several chairs surrounding it.

Kyle looks up at Liam then burst out with a laugh.

‘’Is this some kind of a joke?’’ he asks.

Annie frowns. ‘’You have me at a loss.’’

‘’This poor man, what is he doing up here? This place is only for exclusive people.’’ Kyle points at Liam.

‘’Mr Grayson, I’ll have you know that Mr Tate is the owner of this esteemed organization.''

Kyle’s eyes hold confusion as he looks back and forth between Liam and Annie, while his mother and sister have dumbfounded looks on their faces.

‘’He… what?’’ Mrs Grayson finally says.

‘’Liam Tate owns the Wellington Group,’’ Annie tells her with a nod.

‘’That is not possible. He is a poor man. How can he be the owner? Where is Marie?’’ Kyle demands.

Annie seems taken aback by his outburst, but says. ‘’Mr Grayson, please control your temper.’’

‘’No, because this has got to be a prank. There is no way a man like this-’’

Mrs Grayson places a hand on Kyle’s shoulder. ‘’Dear, calm down. We are here to do business, so please. Let's just do that.’’

Venus steps in at that. ‘’Mother, Kyle is right. This can’t be true. A man like him can’t possibly own the company. He is trash, a nobody.’’

‘’How dare you speak about Mr Tate like that?’’ Annie gets angry.

Liam holds up a hand to stop her. ‘’It is alright, Annie. Mrs Grayson, please tell me what your reason is for coming here today.’’ Liam then sits and places a hand on the table.

Mrs Grayson looks at Kyle, then Venus, before clearing her throat.

“As you might have known, the Grayson Family Company, our family, has been dominating the corporate world of law and has been offering these and other services for over sixty years now. And we would like to form a partnership with you to expand and reach new clients.’’ Mrs Grayson smiles.

Liam drums his fingers on the table. He hasn’t been paying much attention to what she was saying because, in reality, he isn’t going to co-sign them as his partners.

‘’We were thinking of a buyout as well, where we gain twenty percent of the Wellingtons Group.’’ Mrs Grayson finishes.

At that, Liam laughs, and then said coldly. ‘’I will never do business with you people or any of your affiliates.’’

Kyle’s face turns red but Venus, who sees this, places a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

‘’May I ask why?’’ Venus puts in.

Liam scoffs. “Your family shamed me two nights ago, humiliated me in front of so many people just because you didn’t see me fit to be with that girl. Well, I don’t see you fit to be my partner, and the Grayson family will not be gaining a profit from what my family has worked so hard to gain.’’

Annie looked at Liam with pride and gives him an approving nod because at first, she thought that he would have taken them up on the deal even after what Kyle had said. But she is glad he hasn’t because the Grayson family is the last people his mother would want to make their partners.

‘’I’m sorry about that night if we had offended you… Mr Wellington but-”

“It’s Mr Tate and I don’t want an apology. I refuse to corporate with a poor company like yours. You are nothing but low lives and shouldn’t even have come here in the first place.’’

Mrs Grayson is about to say something, but Liam stops her.

‘’Leave or else I’ll call security to throw you out in the trash where you belong,’’ Liam tells them.

‘’You can’t just throw us out!” Kyle yells, getting to his feet.

‘’Not only that, but I’ll make sure that all your business partners know the type of people you all are and how you look down on others, then your trash of a family will lose it all.’’ Liam says.

Kyle looks furious now. "You-''

‘’Please leave and let this be the last time you people ever step foot in my company.’’ Liam finishes.

Kyle scolds. ‘’You will regret not signing with us. Your company will come crashing down and you will go back to being the poor man you are.’’

Annie presses a button on the bottom of the desk so that security can arrive immediately.

“See them out,’’ Annie tells them before standing.

She smooths back her already slick-down hairstyle. The blonde hair color fits her ivory skin perfectly and seems to make her blue eyes and the freckles that dot her nose pop.

Her thin lips are set in a firm line as she watches security escorting the family she loath out, her upturned nose flares a bit because she wishes she was the one who could have told the Grayson off but she is still satisfied with how Liam handled things.

She looks at Liam with a smile, showing off more of her crocked bottom teeth. While Liam takes a deep breath to calm himself, because throughout the time he was conversing with his now enemies, he wanted to punch Kyle and wipe the smug look off his face.

Liam gets up, looks in the glass, and fixes his blue tie.

‘’You did well,’’ Annie tells him. ‘’And trust me, your family never wanted to do business with those snot nose clowns, so there is no need to feel bad.’’

Liam scoffs. ‘’I don’t feel bad. They made a fool out of me and made the dozens of guests they had laugh at me. I was even forced to divorce the woman I loved, but… she didn’t have any love for me. So I don’t feel bad.’’

Liam ruffles his messy brown hair, which badly needs a cut, but now he thinks he will let it grow past his ear this time and change his image. Thinking that he might as well go back to his college self, which Nova made him change because she never liked his rugged look.

He would go back to the gym again and work on his muscles. He moves some of his hair out of his face to see his grey eyes, which shine with determination. His angular jaw ticks while his pouty pink lips are turned down as he thought of his plan.

‘’No longer will I be disgraced,’’ he said aloud to himself. ''No longer will I be shamed and laughed at.''