BXBX NOVEL Chapter 248 - 248 His Answers
I wanted to roll my eyes at him, but I still tried to be positive about it all. If he wanted to get this over and done with, then maybe he would answer my questions quickly and directly.
“Why did you announce that you’re going to step down from your position as CEO? Why are you quitting all of a sudden like this?” I asked as I stared at his emotionless face.
“I don’t like this job. You should know that already. This job isn’t for me, and I’m not cut out to do it for life. I never took this job with the thought that I’ll be doing it until the day that I get old and retire,” he replied like it was supposed to be obvious.
“But why now? Why have you decided to quit now? Don’t you have to grow the company like you promised your father?” I asked hurriedly.
I was speaking faster and faster as my frustrations started getting the better of me. Ace was right and I did know that he wasn’t particularly fond of his job. However, since he had started focusing and working hard at his job, I thought that he was fine with it. Of course, I did not see any signs that would make me think that he was about to drop everything and leave after we won the Ashford competition. It was great that Ace didn’t leave immediately while Project Alpha was still going on but that didn’t make the matter much less grave.
What about the promise that he made to me?
He told me that we’ll get married after he’s done with fulfilling the promise that he made to his father and then his father would acknowledge our relationship.
“I don’t need to stay as the CEO to grow the company,” he replied all too simply.
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“What does that even mean? How are you going to lead the company if you’re no longer working there?” I asked as my brows drew into a deep frown.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t fully understand what is going on right now. Just trust me and everything will turn out just fine, Rina,” Ace said as his eyes stared into mine.
How am I supposed to just rest easy about this?
“What about us?” I asked in a small voice.
I could feel tears stinging the back of my eyes and realized that I was so scared of his answer. With everything that was going on, I didn’t have a lot of confidence left in us and I wasn’t sure what Ace thought about our future. We were still together but it didn’t feel like we were as close as before. There were just so many secrets between us and the fact that he didn’t like to explain himself to me wasn’t helping at all.
“What do you mean by that?” he asked like he didn’t understand what I was getting at.
“You made a deal with your father to grow the company within three years so that we could get married…” I replied in a shaky voice.
I didn’t remember the last time that I felt this anxious to hear someone’s reply to my question before. My hands felt cold, and I had to clasp them together to keep them from visibly shaking. The sickening feeling in my stomach worsened and became too much for me to ignore.
“Why do you sound so worried, Rina? I just told you that I can still grow the company without sitting in the CEO’s seat. We’ll be fine…” Ace replied quite confidently before he smiled a little at me.
Although I had no idea how exactly that was going to work out, I was kind of glad that he didn’t tell me that he didn’t intend to work towards that promise anymore. That didn’t stop me from worrying about it, though.
There was also another issue that I was still hesitant to bring up; however, there wouldn’t be a better time than this. Now that we were talking anyways, I might as well get it over with. This issue with Ace stepping down can still be avoided if I can change his mind. There was still time until the end of Project Alpha and by then Ace might reconsider his choice again.
“I…I saw Elizabeth at the party just now…” I said as my eyes searched his face for any reaction.
“Oh, so she decided to turn up after all. I invited her but she didn’t make any commitments to turning up,” Ace replied smoothly.
I wasn’t sure what kind of reaction I was hoping for but this casual and easy-going comment wasn’t quite what I had in mind.
“You invited her?” I asked without being able to stop myself.
“Of course. It’s not like we’re strangers. I ran into her recently so I thought that I should just invite her,” Ace replied like it was no big deal at all.
He ran into her recently. My eyes narrowed at his choice of words. I didn’t think that he simply ran into her, and I guessed that I knew when that little meeting of theirs took place.
“Since that day when she came to your office, have you been meeting up with her often?” I asked while trying to suppress my fears of being direct with him.
If I wanted some answers, I better start by asking my questions.
Ace eyes narrowed suspiciously at me and my direct question. He was silent for a moment as his eyes searched my face intently.
“I’ve met her a couple of times,” he replied flatly.
“For work?” I stated my best guess.
“Of course. Why else would I meet her?” he asked.
That was what I wanted to know. Why else did he meet her?
“What work-related things have you been discussing with her?” I probed even further.
“This and that. There’s nothing that will impact your work, so you don’t have to worry,” Ace replied without much more explanation.
–To be continued…