Perfect Match: Irresistible Desire For You
Chapter 73

Ashley was smart enough to realize the true purpose of the reporters. She suspected that they had been hired by James for two rather obvious reasons. Firstly, in the normal course of their work, reporters would refrain from directing successive questions to the interviewee without affording them the opportunity to answer their initial question. Secondly, the reporters had asked her if she had forgiven the Synder Group yet. Why would the reporters ask this question when the Synder Group had not yet offered her an apology? It was as if they had been briefed with specific information that only James could have provided to them.

Ashley raised her hands to signal the reporters to be silent. She responded, “My dear friends, I have a question for you. Since Mr. Synder has not yet offered me an apology, how will I be able to answer the question of whether I forgive the Synder Group?” After ending her statement, she looked through the crowd of reporters and stared directly at James, who was not too far from her.

Hearing Ashley’s shrewd question, the reporters, who had just been overflowing with questions, were now struck dumb. The once buzzing scene was now dead silent. At a loss for what to do, many of them looked to James, seeking some sort of guidance from him.

Realizing that Ashley had the keen ability to quickly turn the tables on them, James had to admit that she had something special about her, apart from her beauty and charm.

An ordinary woman of her young age would have caved under the pressure of the reporters. Ashley didn’t just observe and internally draw conclusions from the scene, she had decided to forget the passive approach and act directly, facing the situation head on.

James had sourced these reporters from some lesser known newspapers in advance. His purpose was to catch Ashley off guard, causing her to lose her train of thought and undertake openly that she had forgiven the Synder Group and would therefore not take action against it for its defamatory comments against her. He would apologize after-the-fact, and replace someone to edit the video to make it seem as though it was one flowing occurrence, wherein it appeared as if he apologized first and she accepted.

James was of the belief that it was beneath his position as CEO of the company to publicly apologize to an ordinary employee. He still, however, had to provide Joseph an explanation so he had come up with this idea to satisfy both himself and Joseph. To his surprise, however, Ashley had easily seen through this ruse.

Feeling Ashley’s gaze upon him, James looked at Ashley head on while walking towards her.

Ashley was casually dressed and had her hair tied into a ponytail. Her attractive, slender figure was apparent in this outfit. ‘Apart from her exceptional beauty, she is nothing more than an average young woman who is still wet behind the ears,’ he thought about her.

He stood directly in front her and said, “I have heard a lot about you, Miss Guzman. I am James Synder, the CEO of the Synder Group. I am here to offer an apology for your unjust dismissal from the company.”

Seeing that Ashley was unmoved by his apology, James squinted his eyes and continued, “I hope you can replace it within yourself to so graciously bury the hatchet.”

To Ashley, James looked out of shape, carrying extra weight on his frame. He wore a sharp suit and a pair of genuine leather shoes. Time had left its mark on his dignified and composed face. He exuded a sense of superiority. Ashley had seen this same sense of superiority in Charlie too.

James’ words of apology did not match his cold tone, which almost had a note of threat underlying it. Ashley couldn’t help marveling at how the apple had not fallen far from the tree. The father and son were so similar, especially in the way they offered so-called apologies.

Ashley scoffed at the insincerity of the apology. She said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I was hoping to deal with this matter soon. But I have suffered significant damage to my reputation due to the Synder Group’s conduct. While I appreciate that you have come in person to apologize, I hope you can replace it within yourself to ensure your company offers me a more sincere apology.”

Not deterred by the icy expression which came across James’ face upon hearing her response, Ashley continued calmly, “For the sake of the image of your company, I think it would be wise that you take my advice.”

Ashley was rubbed the wrong way by James’ devious conduct which aimed to hide the truth from others. He had apologized with no humility and this arrogance had irked her. As the saying goes, a crooked stick will have a crooked shadow — like father like son.

Noting that Ashley was picky about the way she wanted him to apologize, James felt affronted and as if she were disrespecting him. ‘How dare such a feeble young girl show me such irreverence?’ he thought indignantly. He stared directly at her and said in a hostile tone, “You silly little girl, a person with sense would not push it this far. I have apologized, and whether or not you are happy with the manner I did so, this matter is effectively over.” Noticing that Ashley was completely unfazed, James added icily, “Have the sagacity to conduct yourself properly.”

His words were heavy with warning. In his opinion, she had already overstepped the line by disrespecting his authority and superior position. Seeing that she was not willing to cooperate, he took a harsh stance. It would be a piece of cake for James to ensure an ordinary employee like her would never be given a job by anyone in this business again. In his anger, James had forgotten his original purpose and also had forgotten that this woman had the backing of Joseph. He was infuriated by her conduct and his new purpose was only to put her in her place for her insolence.

“Well, Mr. Synder, I will just have to wait and see.” Ashley was not afraid of James’ threats in the least bit and responded bluntly.

“As will I. Let us wait and see.” From not too far off, a clear male voice could be heard. It was only then that the crowd had realized that a tall, handsome man had entered the scene.

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Synder. However, I did not anticipate that the first time we came face-to-face, you would be threatening my sister. Are we the young people not worthy of your respect?” Mike had walked up to the pair and addressed James with this frigid comment.

When Mike had arrived in the area, he noticed that reporters were swarming around. He alighted from his car, and entered the buzzing scenario without drawing any attention to himself. Then, he heard the words of threat James directed at his sister.

Mike could not tolerate that his sister was being strong-armed by this man. The incident of slander by the Synder Group had not been dealt with yet and now the CEO of the company had the audacity to openly threaten her. It seemed that Mr. Synder thought that he could walk all over the Guzman family. Having been provoked by James’ conduct, Mike immediately defended his sister to show the unity and strength of the Guzman name.

The reporters were dumbstruck when Mike had made his appearance. They were shocked that this beautiful woman who they had just interrogated was none other than the sister of the CEO of the Guzman Group, Mike. Caught up in their own disbelief and busily whispering about this unexpected development among themselves, the reporters actually forgot to record this breaking news.

James was taken aback by this unanticipated development. He had no idea that Ashley was part of the Guzman family. Judging from Mike’s protective behavior over her and the similarity in appearance between the two of them, it seemed to be true.

James felt flustered. The Synder Group had already provoked the Empire Group and now the Guzman Group, which was a formidable company indeed. The future of the Synder Group looked bleak.