Chapter 12 by Marina Vittori

After entering Mirage, Lyra vented her anger. “Ugh, that woman is hot, but she’s blind to fall for an incompetent fool like Dustin.”

“I know, right? What a waste,” Chris chimed in with a long sigh. He was rich and handsome, so why was he unable to meet a beautiful woman too?

“That’s enough talk. We’re here for business,” Dahlia interrupted them and said, “Lyra, go and find out which Harmon is in charge tonight. It’d be best if we could promote ourselves.”

“I know a close friend who works at this place. I’ll give her a call.” As Lyra spoke, she fished out her phone and dialed a number. Before long, she informed Dahlia of good news. “Ms. Nicholson, tonight’s charity event is organized by the Steel Lady herself. As for the partner, it’ll depend on her preferences.”

“The Steel Lady? Could she be the famous business prodigy?” At the thought of this, Dahlia’s eyes lit up with excitement. The Steel Lady had a well-known reputation for being the only woman who singlehandedly conquered the business world of Swinton, surpassing nearly all of the other businessmen.

Dahlia couldn’t help but admire such an exceptional businesswoman. However, she’d never met the Steel Lady.

“Lyra, ask your friend whether she could help us arrange a private meeting with the Steel Lady. We can’t miss this opportunity,” said Dahlia.

“I can try and ask her, but there’s no guarantee.”

“Okay. I will thank her afterward.” Deep down, Dahlia was bubbling with anticipation. Being the Harmon family’s partner meant a lot to her. If she could meet the Steel Lady in advance, she was confident that she would be able to convince the other and prove herself.

…

As time passed, the number of guests gradually increased in Mirage. Although the charity event had yet to commence, Natasha was already busy.

“Mr. Rhys, feel free to look around. I have to excuse myself. You can ask anyone here if you need anything.”

“Alright. Thanks.”

“Julie, help me look after Mr. Rhys.” Then, Natasha headed toward her office.

“Ms. Harmon…” Upon entering the room, a middle-aged manager approached her with some documents. “Here is the information you asked for. After several screenings, we have narrowed down only four companies that qualify to be our partner. Please have a look and see if there’s anything else you need.”

Natasha hummed in acknowledgment and nodded silently. She accepted the documents and began reviewing them. After a while, she raised her eyebrow as her interest was piqued.

“Huh, what a coincidence.”

A mischievous smirk formed on Natasha’s lips. It turned out that Jackson Group was among the candidates, and in the documents was Dahlia’s resume. Out of curiosity, she read everything about Dahlia and soon, discovered something unusual.

Three years ago, Dahlia was a nobody while Jackson Group was unheard of. Nonetheless, ever since she’d gotten married, her career experienced inexplicably rapid growth. In merely three years, the small company with assets worth less than millions of dollars had developed into one of the most valuable corporations.

During that period, Dahlia not only received a tremendous amount of investments but also orders for various projects. In Natasha’s opinion, these achievements were questionable and there must have been strings pulled behind the scenes. The problem was, however, Dahlia did not come from an influential family nor did she have connections to pull this off.

“Could it be… him?” An image of Dustin appeared in Natasha’s mind. Besides Dustin, she couldn’t think of anyone else who would help Dahlia so unconditionally. Subsequently, she became even more intrigued. Who on earth was Dustin?

No one could easily build Jackson Group into a large corporation in only three years.

“Dustin, oh, Dustin. What exactly are you hiding?” Narrowing her eyes slightly, Natasha was enthralled by the mystery surrounding Dustin.

“And that woman, Dahlia… What were you thinking? Why did you let go of a wealthy husband and choose to get entangled with that bastard named Chris instead? Are you really that stupid?” Natasha pondered and silently heaved a sigh.

A man had sacrificed so much for a woman, but in the end, she was ignorant and even self-righteously decided to divorce him. Natasha couldn’t wrap her head around that. Nevertheless, she realized that the situation had given her a chance to have Dustin all for herself.

“Ms. Harmon, are you considering Dahlia Nicholson from Jackson Group?” asked the manager tentatively upon the rare sight of Natasha reading the documents so intently.

“Dahlia? Hmph,” Natasha answered with a dissatisfied tone. “She is qualified to be our partner, but I don’t like her.”

“Understood. I will remove her from the list right away!”

“No need. Reorganize the documents and show them to Mr. Rhys. Let him decide,” Natasha instructed with an ambiguous smile.

“Yes.”

Although the manager was dumbfounded, he didn’t dare to question her orders.

“Is there something else?” Natasha asked when he did not leave.

“Ms. Harmon, Edward Spanner from Drey Group had arrived earlier and he wishes to meet you,” the manager explained with his head bowed.

“Edward? Trevor Spanner’s son? What is he doing here?”

Natasha was stunned.

“He says he wants to discuss business matters with you, but I doubt that it is his true intention. Should I order the guards to kick him out?”

“Trevor sent his son in his place? Ha… Never mind. I want to see what tricks he has up his sleeves.”