Her Return, His Regret

Chapter 34- Trouble

"Grandpa, what's going on? What's the emergency?" Ryan asked worriedly when they got to Charles' study.

Charles cleared his throat. He sat back in his chair and said, "Before we get to that... there's something I want to ask you. As Lora's work partner, what do you think of her?"

Ryan frowned, not knowing why his grandfather asked that question. He replied, "Lora's very talented, Grandpa. Her skills are unlike anything I've ever seen before... It's a pity our partnership ended, she would have been a great asset to our Jewelry company." Charles studied his grandson, a knowing glint in his eyes. He knew his grandson so well and knew that Ryan was already seeing Lora in a new light, although Ryan himself was unaware of this.

He smiled and remarked, "Knowing how it's not easy to impress you, you must have a high opinion of Lora Davis for you to speak so highly of her."

Ryan shrugged and said, "Well, she's good at what she does, Grandpa."

Charles let out a chuckle. He grinned and replied, "What an interesting lady she is, huh? I thought she was just a young lady who was found by her parents later in her life. Who knew she's Miss L? I'm a fan of Miss L's designs!"

"A fan?" Ryan arched an eyebrow. his grandfather. "Since when are you a fan of jewelry, Grandpa?"

"You don't know everything about your old man, Ryan. In my younger days, I used to rock male jewelry and I would make the ladies swoon with my handsomeness," Charles remarked seriously.

Ryan shook his head at his grandfather's words. He asked, "Can you tell me what the emergency is now, Grandpa?"

"The emergency is that I want to meet Lora aka Miss L. Please invite her home."

Ryan, ""

"Are you for real, Grandpa? I thought something serious happened to the company," Ryan uttered.

Charles glared at his grandson and remarked, "This is something serious, I never knew Lora was the mysterious Miss L when I met her and didn't give her the treatment a legend like her deserves. Invite her home, Sonny. I would also like to engage Miss L in a personal project."

"A personal project?" Ryan eyed his grandfather suspiciously. "And what might that be?"

"I need to place an order, Ryan. I may be old but I would still look hot with male jewelry," Charles remarked. "So, when do you think you can bring her home?"

Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. Lora made it clear that she didn't want anything to do with him. How could he suddenly invite her home? He shook his head and replied, "Grandpa, I don't think she will-"

Charles banged the table with his hand and said, "Don't give up, Ryan! I told you this is an emergency! I need you to invite Miss L home! My wrists are itching for some bling-bling!" Ryan, "

"Fine," Ryan relented. After all, his grandfather had just given him a reason to contact Lora.

Chapter 34- Troube

Charles hid a smile when Ryan agreed.

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Meanwhile, Lora arrived at work on a Monday morning and went straight to the conference room to attend the emergency meeting that was arranged by the board members.

The conference room was thick with tension as the board members had a heated argument among

themselves.

Lora could hear their voices from the hallway as she approached the room. She frowned and asked Hannah, "What happened?"

Hannah shrugged and replied, "I have no idea, Ma'am. I was told to call you in for the emergency meeting."

As Lora was walking into the conference room, she heard her father's voice echo in the room.

"Calm down everyone. Lora will handle this-"

"With all due respect, Mr Davis, your ghter may be the legendary designer, Miss L, but she doesn't have any managerial skills. How car manage to lead a company when a shipment of goods got lost the moment she took over?" The man who spoke was none other than Lewis Hendrix, the managing

director of Davis & Co.

Lewis, a tall young man with brown hair and blue eyes, was the preferred candidate for the CEO position before Jack Davis appointed Lora as his successor.

He had been abroad during the handover and recently returned to the City.

At his words, the other board members agreed with him.

"That's true... we can't dispute that she's a genius designer. Perhaps the department of design would best suit her scope of work," Craig Hendrix, Lewis' father, chipped in.

Lora walked to her seat and everyone glanced at her. As soon as she took a seat, one of the board members attacked her with questions.

"Miss Davis, a shipment carrying precious stones suddenly went missing under your watch, what do you have to say about that? How are you running this company if goods worth millions of dollars can easily get lost without a good explanation?"

Lora raised her head and said, "How come I wasn't informed about the missing shipment and who called for this meeting?"

"I did," Lewis answered as he glanced at Lora. "Before you returned, Miss Davis, I used to run things around here. However, ever since you took over, things in the company have been chaotic. This is the first time we are losing a shipment and the goods in that container are worth a fortune. I called for this meeting to discuss how we are going to deal with this matter."

Lora looked at Lewis and questioned, "As the managing director, who do you report to? Is it the board of directors, or me, as your CEO?"

Lewis clenched his hands into fists at that question. He replied through gritted teeth, "I report to you,

Miss Davis."

Chapter 24- Trouve

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"So why did you call for a meeting without informing me of the problem first? I would have solved it by now and there would be no need to trouble the board members," Lora remarked.

"Are you saying you can find the missing shipment, Miss Davis?" Lewis threw a question at Lora.

He looked calm on the surface but he was seething inside. 'How dare this foolish woman humiliate me in front of the board members? Who does she think she is?

Lora nodded confidently and replied, "Of course, I'll find the missing shipment in two days."

"And if you don't? Are you willing to resign from your position?"

"Mr Hendrix!" Jack yelled at Lewis

"It's alright. As a leader, I'm supposed to lead by example and get tasks like these done. If I don't find the missing shipment in two days, I'll willingly resign," Lora declared. Lewis secretly smirked and shared a look with his father, Craig Hendrix and a few other board members.

Lora left the conference room and began to make calls. Just when she was about to leave when she

received a lead about the shipment, her phone rang.

She thought it was news about the sh ant so she quickly answered without looking at her phone." Hello, Lora Davis speaking."

"Lora."

Lora froze when she heard Ryan's voice on the phone. She rolled her eyes and snapped, "What is it, Mr. Kingsley?

"I would like to invite you home. My grandfather-

"Can you stop pestering me? So annoying!" Lora snapped and cut the call outright, frustration creeping

into her.

At the same time, Ryan glared at the phone when Lora hang up on him. "Lora... how dare you hang up on me like that?'

There was this painful lump in his throat that couldn't go away... Lora's indifference irked him.

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