The conference room was unusually quiet. Alex Miller sat near the end of the long glass table, his eyes fixed on the document Gracias had just placed in front of him, he read it once and his fingers tightened around the edge of the paper‘Monthly Salary: $4,000’“I'm sorry, Gracias. What is this?”Alex slowly raised his head to askGracias Miller sat at the head of the table, completely unfazed. She had been temporarily appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Elite Construction Company while Alex's father remained bedridden. For the past several months, she had gradually taken control of the company's daily operations.She folded her hands on the table with a grin, “It's your new salary structure.”“My new salary structure?” Alex was confused“Yeah, your new salary,” Gracias repeated.“But I earn five thousand dollars every month, why the cut off. What happened, is the company not doing well?” He bombarded Gracias with questions, still in awe “The company is doing well but that do

Henry stood in the doorway of his office, his eyes moving from the empty spaces on the desk to the bag hanging from Alex's hand.“Packing my things,” Alex replied.Henry stepped farther into the room, scoffing at the same time and asked, “Packing your things?”“Yes” Alex replied as he picked up the last folder from the desk and placed it inside his bag.“Is it because of me?” Henry questioned, walking closer to Alex who only stared at him in return.“Hey, I'm not taking your position. I'm just here to ease your stress and for the betterment of our father's company” Henry added“Ease my stress?”Alex almost smiled at the choice of words.“You know what I mean, right?” Henry leaned against the door. “Mom said you have been working overtime, trying to keep up with everything and brought me here to help out. It's nothing bro. It's all to make things easier for you” he repeated “You're right” Alex replied as he slipped his bag, “but it's not about you, Henry, it's all about me” “What doe

“Twenty-four hours?” Alex repeated while Ethan nodded, “That's what your father instructed. You have twenty-four hours to establish your construction company and submit a bid for Eric Stephens's billion-dollar project”Alex leaned forward in his chair, looking confused “you mean dad wants me to start my own construction company?”“Not just any company. He wants you to build something that belongs to you, something you won't have to beg anyone to be recognized or show your capacity”Alex looked at his father, who watched him silently from the hospital bed. Although the older man couldn't speak, his eyes remained fixed on his son, as if waiting for him to understand the significance of what Ethan had revealed.“But how am I supposed to establish a construction company in twenty-four hours?” Alex asked. “I need an office, equipment, staff, registration documents, and enough resources to convince Eric Stephens that I'm capable of handling a billion-dollar project”“Your father has made ce

Gracias stared at the elevator doors, unable to believe what had just happened. Henry stood beside her, clutching his tablet with trembling fingers, while Derrick watched the floor numbers change above the elevator.Eric Stephens had just rejected their company. Not only had he rejected them, but he had done so before they could even present their proposal properly and all because of a man Gracias had forced to resign.The elevator doors closed completely.A moment later, the sound of a door slamming echoed from the upper floor. Eric had entered his hotel room and shut the door in their faces, leaving them stranded in the lobby with no opportunity to defend themselves.Gracias's hands began to shake.“Did that just happen?” she whispered.Henry swallowed. “Mother…”“Don't! Don't say anything” she snapped, turning on him and Henry immediately fell silent.Derrick slowly reached for the tablet in Henry's hands. He scrolled through the documents, trying to identify the errors Eric had com