BXBX NOVEL Chapter 456 Enough Pretending
“You know well enough that I don’t mean it like that…” I said before rolling my eyes at him.
Ace just laughed a little at my reaction. Although I was trying to be serious, Ace had no trouble finding some way to joke about it. I did realize that a part of why he was doing that was to make sure that I didn’t overly stress about things.
“Nothing major will happen. Everyone will panic to a certain degree but soon they will realize that whatever personal relationship that I have with Elizabeth isn’t going to impact their professional careers and lives at work. That’s just all there is to it. The merger will go on as planned and great things will happen now that the company is merged into a big, experienced, and well-equipped monster,” Ace announced quite proudly.
“I really hope that that will be the case. I think we’ve all had more than enough shock this year as employees of the company,” I said as I pressed a hand flat against my chest before breathing out slowly.
“I’m sure that Elizabeth has a trick or two up her sleeves to handle the sentiments of her employees and also the shareholders, so you don’t have to worry about that too much,” Ace said reassuringly.
“I see…” I murmured.
Mentioning Elizabeth brought up a new batch of questions that I wasn’t quite sure how to ask. The fact that I had no idea how I felt about the matter didn’t help at all.
“What about Elizabeth and her marriage?” I asked without wanting to mention Kyle’s name.
I still wasn’t sure which side I was on for that one. On one hand, I felt bad for Elizabeth if she had to break up with Kyle, but I didn’t like Kyle enough to wish him a happy ending either. Now that the merger was well underway and Elizabeth is the new CEO, her father probably didn’t have much to complain about even if she did end up breaking up with Ace.
“Honestly, I don’t think she’s thinking much about that right now,” Ace replied with a thoughtful look on his face.
“What does that mean exactly?” I asked curiously.
“Exactly as it sounds. I think she’s too busy and too focused on her career to think about her love life or anything else. You might think this doesn’t make sense because you haven’t seen much of her lately. She’s like a zombie right now because of overwork and lack of sleep,” he said before letting out a chuckle.
“You look like you’re having a good time watching her suffer,” I mumbled.
“A little. I like seeing her try so hard. She’s doing very well, though. She’ll continue to do well even when I’m not there,” Ace said while sounding a little proud.
“That’s good for her and her career, I guess. I’m a little worried about her relationship…” I admitted softly.
“Don’t worry about it. Not everyone can be successful at everything and get everything that they wish for. Being lucky in love and in the game isn’t easy, you know?” Ace replied lightly before letting out another laugh.
“You’re right about that…” I muttered in agreement.
Putting Elizabeth aside, I didn’t think that luck came easily to me whether it was in love or in work. Challenges seemed to come my way too easily, though. Thanks to those challenges, I’ve grown so much more as a person, and I’ve also grown much closer to Ace than before.
“The last time she asked me for advice, I repeated the same advice that I’ve been giving her and that is for her break it off with Kyle. She should find another husband that at least knows that he’s doing and can support her, even if it’s just a little. Kyle is just an ugly burden…” Ace said bluntly.
“We’ll just have to wait and see what she decides…” I replied before showing him a small smile.
…
No one got any work done the day that Elizabeth and Ace announced that they will be going their separate ways. Adding their split on top of Ace’s recent retirement from his position at the company and there was enough chaos to distract everyone from their daily activities at work. I was surprised that they didn’t announce for the day to the be a holiday for the employees to curb the chaos that also went on in the office.
Unlike the announcement regarding the merger, employees were not notified to watch the announcement announcing the split between the two of them. It did make sense considering that their personal relationship was supposed to be nothing but personal. However, the fact that we were not informed of the announcement in advance didn’t mean much because the news spread like wildfire. All it meant was that not everyone got to watch the announcement live.
Since I knew about it in advance, I did manage to catch some parts of the announcement live on one of the channels where it was broadcasted and on some social media channels as well. For those that missed it, I knew without a doubt that they must have watched the recording of it. Just as Ace had told me, Elizabeth handled everything smoothly.
The two acted extremely apologetic for letting their supporters down for the second time in a row. Citing their irreconcilable differences and their desire to focus on their professional career before their own personal love life, they announced that they had jointly decided to go their separate ways.
“We’re still good friends and will remain good friends. I wish nothing but the best for Ace for his future ventures as well. Thank you for giving us this chance to clarify everything regarding this matter to everyone. We are extremely sorry for this disappointing news. Although it was difficult, we’ve made up our minds to end our relationship and pursue a relationship based on friendship instead,” Elizabeth said before smiling.
--To be continued…
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