Chapter 26

Chapter 26 Chapter 26 When it was time for the appointment, Kris fetched his mother and drove to the Baltimore branch of TT Fashion. The building was magnificent, with stunning interiors and exteriors. They took the elevator to the top floor, where the CEO’s office was located.

They stopped by a desk in the most sophisticated area of the floor, and his mother asked, “Is this the CEO’s office?”

“Yes,” the secretary responded. “How may I help you?”

But his mother didn’t wait. She turned and tried to open the door when the secretary rushed to stop her.

“You can’t just enter as you wish!”

Indignation filled his mother’s face. “How dare you speak to me in that tone? Don’t you know who I am?”

“Mum!” Kris quietly chastised her, feeling like she was frustrated with everything going on. His mother had always been a proud and self–sufficient person, so having to seek the help of someone else was hard for her.

He turned to the secretary. “We have an appointment with the CEO.”

“Of course. You must be the Millers. Please follow me.”

With that, she opened the door for them. Kris’s heart skipped a beat as he followed his mother inside, but it sank when he realized there was no one in the office.

“Where’s your boss? Why isn’t she here?” his mother questioned.

“She’s caught up in something, but please take a seat. She’ll be here soon.”

His mother was upset. “She was the one who insisted that we come this afternoon, and she isn’t here? How unprofessional can she be?”

“Ma’am, if you think you’re too busy to wait, you might as well leave and book another time,” the secretary said and immediately walked out.

“Did you see how she spoke to me?” his mother complained.

Kris sighed. “Mother, just calm down and let’s wait.”

“But this is so humillating. I wouldn’t have had to stoop so low if you had just agreed to give me more money from your company.

“Mother, you already know why I refused,” Kris said. “I’ve already invested several billion, but it all ended up going down the drain with the losses your company incurred. If I keep giving you more money, the textile company might go bankrupt, and we won’t have anything to fall back on in case your company doesn’t recover from the crisis.”

“Don’t say that. My fashion house is going to get back on its feet!” his mother insisted.

Kris let out another sigh but didn’t say anything else.

Meanwhile, Thalassa was in Luisa’s office, watching the footage from the camera in Thalassa’s office, observing and listening to the conversation between Kris and his mother.

“Who does she think she is to make us wait for her?” Linda was still complaining after twenty minutes.

“And yet she’s not leaving,” Luisa noted with a small laugh “She must be truly desperate.

1/3 +25 BONUS Chapter 26 Thalassa smiled with satisfaction. She had intentionally kept them waiting to see just how desperate they were, and she was truly pleased. Now it was time to finally go see them.

Back in Thalassa’s office, Kris was beginning to get annoyed, feeling like the woman was toying with them. Just then, the door opened behind them.

“Good afternoon.”

Kris’s s spine straightened at the sound of the voice. Immediately, he spun his head, eager to see the face of the woman, but his eyes narrowed immediately when he saw her.

She was still wearing the mask.

He watched as she elegantly walked to sit in her swivel chat, those familiar striking brown eyes moving between him and his mother.

“Perhaps an apology for keeping us waiting so long?” Linda Miller said, her voice sounding annoyed.

Thalassa smiled behind her mask, tipping her head to the side. “I do not apologize for attending important things first.”

to more Linda fumed, knowing she was implying that she wasn’t important. But Kris was concerned with something completely different.

“I didn’t know we were continuing the masquerade party at the office. I would’ve also brought my mask along.”

“Halloween doesn’t end until tomorrow. Until then, I’m still in the Halloween spirit, so I’ll keep wearing this mask until I feel like taking it off. Why, do you have a problem with it, Mr. Miller?”

“Of course not,” Kris flashed her a hard smile.

He was beginning to think that Karen was right. Maybe she had a nasty scar on her face. Or maybe she didn’t want to show her face because she was Thalassa, as he suspected.

“So why were you so desperate to have a meeting with me? Thalassa asked, leaning back in her chair as she enjoyed the irritated looks on the faces of both mother and son.

Seeing how livid his mother was, Kris decided to take control of the conversation.

“We came here to talk about your company. Your company has become the highest–selling fashion brand this year in Baltimore and other cities, but I hope you’ve realized that in so doing, many other brands have been affected, not just my mother’s.”

Thalassa raised a brow. “How does that concern me?”

“You managed to conquer the market by selling your designs at extremely low prices,” Linda stepped in. “You use the same quality materials we use for production and spend a lot of money on promotion, so how can you sell at such low prices? Surely, you must be incurring losses.”

“Losses?” Thalassa chuckled. “I don’t incur any losses, Linda. I only charge what’s fair. Anyone who charges more than I do is nothing short of a criminal.”

Linda’s eyes blazed with indignation. “Are you trying to offend me?”

“Oops.” Thalassa briefly covered her mouth in fake innocence. “I forgot how expensive your designs are. Apologies.”

Though Linda was upset, she knew she had to continue eating humble pie. “Apology accepted. But the real reason I came here is to make some suggestions to you. Now that you have market dominance, why don’t you increase Chapter 26 your prices? Surely, your loyal clients will still want to buy from you.”

“I also have a suggestion,” Thalassa said as she leaned forward, resting her chin on her interlocked hands. “How about you reduce the prices of YOUR designs and charge lower prices? Who knows? That way, your fashion house might recover.”

Linda was horrified at the mere suggestion. “Never! My fashion house is too-”

“High class to reduce prices?” Thalassa cut her off. “It seems you’re not ready to recuperate your losses then, Linda”

‘My fashion house isn’t experiencing any losses,” Linda retorted firmly. “In fact, that’s why I’m here. I want you to form an alliance with me. Just think about it. Your fashion house and mine are two of the best in the world. If we form an alliance, imagine the number of customers we can pull in together.”

Linda raised her eyebrow expectantly but was taken off guard when Thalassa burst into laughter.

“Did I say something funny?” Linda questioned through gritted teeth.

“Of course you did. How do you expect me to form an alliance with a dying company?”

This time, Linda was not able to hide her fury. She shot to her feet, with anger and humiliation written all over her face. “I came to you in peace, and you have done nothing but insult me and my company. You’ll regret this.”

With that, she stormed out of the office. Once his mother was gone, Kris slowly got to his feet.

“Perhaps you should advise your mother that threats won’t take her anywhere,” Thalassa said, unable to hide the pleasure in her voice.

Instead of answering, Kris slowly began walking around her desk towards her. Thalassa’s heart began racing as she wondered what was going on in his mind, but she forced herself to remain in her spot, unperturbed.

“You enjoy humiliating us, don’t you?” he asked when he finally got to her, standing so close that she could feel the familiar heat of his body.