"Aren't you going to take that? It could be important.." Ace said with a careless shrug.

"Can anything be more important than what we're going to discuss?" his father snapped.

"Up to you.." Ace muttered like he couldn't care less.

After shooting a glare at Ace, the Chairman sighed and stood up from his seat. With his phone in his hand, he exited the room to have a private conversation with the caller. I let out a long sigh when the door closed behind him, and I was left alone with Ace in the room.

"Well, I guess the real conversation can't start until everyone is in the room.." Ace said before leaning back leisurely on the sofa.

"More people will be joining us?" I asked with widened eyes.

"Actually, you're the last of us to arrive because there were things that I had to get sorted out first," Ace replied.

I narrowed my eyes at him as my mind raced to understand what was going on. Someone else was supposed to join us. I was biting down on my lip without realizing it as I tried to figure out the identity of the other party. The sound of the door opening caught my attention, and I turned toward the door while expecting the Chairman's return.

"You're back.."

A woman's voice said before the door closed behind her. My mouth fell open and I didn't even remember to bother to hide my shock. While running her fingers through her hair, Elizabeth chase entered the room and approached us with a confident smile on her lips.

"How is he?" Ace asked before he grinned.

Ace did not seem surprised to see her and that was when I realized that she had probably been here all along. Elizabeth turned and directed a smile at me before her attention returned to Ace. I watched her movements as if watching a rare and endangered animal making its entrance into the city as she lowered herself down onto the sofa opposite where Ace and I were seated.

"Whatever you have imagined in your head is probably accurate. It's not looking so good," she said before giggling a little.

"Do you think he'll feel better after we tell him what we have planned?" Ace asked with a hopeful smile on his lips.

"I'm not so sure but he better be fine about it.." Elizabeth replied before rolling her eyes upwards.

What exactly were these two supposed to tell the Chairman?

My eyes travelled questioningly from Elizabeth's to Ace's face while I tried to look for clues. I tried my best to ignore the rotten feeling that grew inside of me. It didn't sit well with me that once again these two were talking about something that I had absolutely no idea about. It was like they were in their own little world, and I was the alien outsider.

"Don't look so upset, Rina. You'll find out what this is all about when my father returns when he's done with his phone call," Ace said as he reached for my hand.

I wasn't that impressed with his words, but I did let him take my hand. Ace held my hand in one of his while he stroked it slowly and gently with his other hand.

"He went out to take a call?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yup. He should be back soon, though," Ace replied.

Elizabeth nodded her head a few times before she turned her attention to me. No matter how many times I meet her, I could never get used to being in her presence. The way she looked at me made me feel uneasy and I didn't have anything to say to her. I just sat there as she continued eyeing me with my body feeling stiff.

"Sorry that we had to drag you out here along with us. It's also a great day for you, winning the competition and all. Congratulations to you and your team. It was very well deserved and I'm not just saying it. I'm not a biased person so you can trust my review," Elizabeth said before she smiled at me.

Did she just..?

I blinked in pure surprise at her sudden change in attitude. It was extremely shocking and difficult for me to believe that she had just apologized and then congratulated me at the same time. After recovering from my shock, I managed to nod my head while I struggled to find my tongue.

"Thank you.." I managed to say while feeling thankful that I succeeded in not stuttering.

What shocked me the most wasn't her words or her sudden change in attitude, but it was the way that she made me feel that her words were sincere and without any hidden agendas.historical

"The commercial is great. Rina and the team worked very hard on it. I'm not surprised that we won. I would have questioned the committee if we didn't," Ace said quite sternly.

"It's great that we won. You're right about us working so hard on it," I said in a small voice.

"You're always so confident when it comes to your work. I really like that about you," Elizabeth told Ace before laughing brightly.

For whatever reason, Elizabeth seemed to be in a very good mood. Although their initial conversation hinted that the upcoming chat with the Chairman wouldn't be an easy sailing one, the two of them didn't seem at all bothered by it.

"I'm not confident in everything.." Ace muttered.

"How long is your father going to take on the phone? I hate waiting.." Elizabeth began complaining.

"No idea," Ace replied as he sunk back further into the soft leather sofa.

Elizabeth let out a sigh before she sat forward in her seat and stared directly at me. Her eyes shone brightly like she just had an amazing idea.

"Karina, do you know why Ace brought you here today?" Elizabeth asked.

I didn't..

"Not this again.." Ace murmured before turning away.

For some reason, Ace had decided against getting involved in the conversation that Elizabeth was trying to start with me.

--To be continued..