Perfect Match: Irresistible Desire For You
Chapter 72

Yasmin lowered her head while speaking, so Patricia couldn’t see how the expression in her eyes changed. Besides, her voice gave nothing away. Patricia thought that the reason why Yasmin would voluntarily ask something about Zachary out of nowhere was because she had already realized that she had feelings for him.

If her assumption were true, her emotions would give her away. However, Yasmin was like a closed book, her emotions hiding so deep inside her that they were impossible to read.

Nearing the end of their breakfast, she decided to try again. “I’m going out with Zachary tomorrow. He said that he will show me around Ariosa. Do you want to come with us?”

Patricia’s mission was to replace out, once and for all, whether Yasmin had a crush on Zachary. Only in this way could she replace a solution to the problem. As an impartial observer, she needed to be around the two of them so she could actually gauge the situation and figure out how to help Zachary out more efficiently. Now that she had extended the invitation, she could only wait for Yasmin’s response.

“I’m free tomorrow. You are new here, so you probably don’t have any friends around. I can be your tour guide for free.” After wiping her mouth with a tissue, Yasmin continued, “Just ring my doorbell when you’re ready to go tomorrow.”

‘Just kidding… How could you two be out on a date without me?’ she thought. Yasmin accepted Patricia’s invitation for a good reason.

‘You have to go. Now that the big fish has taken the bait, all that’s left is for Zachary to behave himself.’ Hearing her ready agreement, Patricia beamed widely at her and said, “Got it! I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Yasmin looked at her watch and saw that it was almost time for her to go to work. “I have to leave for work now. Stay here and head back once you’re done. I’ll take care of the bill.” With that, she picked up her bag and said goodbye to Patricia.

“Okay, bye. Be careful on your way!” Patricia waved goodbye in return.

Lost in thought, Patricia watched until Yasmin disappeared out of sight. In the time she spent with Yasmin, she found the other woman to be funny and eloquent. Moreover, her bright eyes charmingly sparkled with intelligence and zest for life. Patricia was definitely looking forward to the trip with the three of them in the next two days.

After breakfast, she went back to the apartment and called her aunt Juliet to report the current situation. Every detail was mentioned, including the events of last night and today, her evaluation of Yasmin, and their schedule for the coming weekend.

On her end, Juliet felt relieved to hear that her niece had cleared the first round. After instructing Patricia in some dos and don’ts and giving her encouragement, she ended the call with a satisfied smile on her face.

Ashley planned to go to Mexico in two days. Mike was completely supportive of her idea to spend some time in another country to relax and get started on her childhood dream of traveling around the world. She had spoken to her open-minded parents about her plan, to which they enthusiastically endorsed. Regrettably, their schedules didn’t align—they had just been to Mexico and had finalized their plans to return home; otherwise, they would have accompanied her.

Ashley planned to set out on the day after tomorrow. After packing up the clothes that she needed for the trip at her apartment, she trudged down the stairs with her suitcase. She was planning to stay at home for two days before her departure so that she could do the necessary preparations for the trip and take care of Mike’s daily life as he had requested.

Mike told her not to drive home by herself. He was free that day, so he offered to pick her up and buy other travel necessities. After finishing up, Ashley went out to wait for her brother at the gate of the community.

The last thing Ashley expected was to be mobbed by reporters arriving one after the other. Then, a luxurious car stopped in front of the gate, and James, the Synder Group’s CEO, emerged from it and walked toward her.

The CEO wanted to personally make the public apology to Ashley. Besides, he wanted to meet her in person—he found himself curious about the manager who had attracted the attention of Joseph and turned down the Synder Group’s offer without hesitation.

Last time, Charlie wanted to settle things with Ashley in private, but the woman adamantly refused his request. With his tail tucked between his legs, he went to report this to his father, embellishing his story by a certain degree. Charlie repeatedly emphasized that he had strictly followed James’s instructions in his attempts to negotiate with Ashley. It never occurred to him that Ashley would turn him down without even allowing him to come in the house. Moreover, she was set on having the Synder Group issue a public apology. In his story, Charlie made Ashley look like an arrogant, mercenary woman that the usually proud, in-control James felt a twinge of anxiety.

However, now that the Empire Group took advantage of the chaotic stock market situation of the Synder Group in order to launch an overt, tough acquisition strategy, James had run out of better ideas.

The recent issue besetting the Synder Group had caused the stock price of the company to fall sharply, and the company’s image had taken a severe blow. Then, after giving the required compensation for the last breach of contract incident, the Synder Group’s liquid assets had been seriously depleted, as well. Opting for “stock repurchase” to resist Empire Group’s malicious acquisition would not only put the Synder Group into worse financial constraints but also hinder the subsequent development of the company. Besides, stock repurchase needed a large sum of money which, at this point, the Synder Group had in short supply. Surely, the strength of the Empire Group was not something ordinary companies could overcome.

After some thought, James decided to comply with Joseph’s requirements so that the Empire Group would ease their attack on his company. If he didn’t miss his guess, James would say that the Synder Group’s slander of Ashley was the trigger to Joseph’s attack. If he managed to handle this matter well, maybe he could make Joseph stop—after all, it was not an easy thing to annex the Synder Group. Besides, nothing else could explain the man’s behavior.

Since Charlie, his heir, had failed, James cursed the woman’s bullheadedness and then decided to meet her in person. ‘I’m sure she would treat me with some respect. Everything will be fine once I’ve issued a public apology.’

A deep frown marred Ashley’s forehead as a veritable swarm of reporters bearing expensive camera equipment flocked toward her. Then, suddenly there was James approaching her with every purposeful step.

Ashley knew that James wanted to publicly apologize, but she didn’t mean something like this—a media circus. Besides, he actually invited a group of reporters to block the gate and take photos. A sincere public apology should not be handled in this manner. Suffice it to say, Ashley was not satisfied by James’s attempt.

“Miss Guzman, can you give us your thoughts on the CEO of the Empire Group, Mr. Marshall, clearing your name and demanding a public apology from the Synder Group?” one reporter asked.

“How do you feel now that the CEO of the Synder Group is publicly apologizing to you?” questioned another reporter.

“Miss Guzman, the CEO of the Synder Group is showing great sincerity by apologizing to you in front of everyone. As a former employee of the Synder Group, will you forgive what your previous company has done to you?” Yet another reporter threw the question at her.

Ashley was speechless.

Without even giving her the chance to respond, the reporters crowded in on her, ruthlessly firing one question after another.