448 The Annoucement

**The Day of the Announcement**

The day that the upper management and the representatives of the two companies would announce the merger finally arrived. Although I had promised Ace to help out with the preparations, the event was of a grander scale than an amateur like me could handle. Instead, professional event organizers were brought in to ensure that everything proceeded smoothly. The announcement was undoubtedly a big deal and that also made it a large-scale event.

On top of the expected large crowd of reporters, the prominent shareholders and board of directors of both companies will also be there at the event. Trying to keep the news of the mergers under wraps also meant that Ace could not involve that many employees in the preparation of the event. Thinking of it from that perspective, I could understand why such an experienced team was brought in to handle the entire thing.

“Are you sure that you don’t want to be there?” Ace asked me the night before the announcement.

It was surprising enough that he had time to drop by to see me before the event took place. Even though it was unexpected, it wasn’t at all unwelcome. I had already made up my mind on what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be on that day.

“Yes, I’m sure. I’ll stay at the company and..observe how people take it,” I replied honestly.

“Well, I guess it is up to you. You can watch me on television,” Ace said before he grinned at me.

“Good luck. I hope everything goes well,” I replied.

“The announcement will go well, there’s no need for you to worry about that,” Ace replied.

He smiled at me, and I could tell that he was brimming with confidence. It was like an unspoken thought hung between us that the hardest hurdle wasn’t the announcement at all. The announcement was just the start of everything that was to come. The hardest part was what would come after everyone learnt about the merger. Handling the panic and of the people and actual business changes that would need to occur after the merger would be much bigger challenges.

“I’m sure that it will. I’m sure that Elizabeth and you will handle it flawlessly as always,” I replied before smiling at him.

I wanted to ask him about what would happen between the two of them after the merger was announced but I didn’t dare ask him directly. After waiting for so long already, I knew that I couldn’t ruin all the patience and effort that I had put in. When everything related to the merger had settled down somewhat, I would ask him about their relationship and also about the future of ours. Instead of asking anything, I just kept on smiling.

“Any ideas on what this big announcement is supposed to be about?” Richard asked as he came to sit down on the chair next to mine.

“No..” I replied while trying to keep a straight face.

His sudden question snapped me out of my thoughts and returned me back to reality once more. To make sure that the announcement had everyone’s attention, the central HR team sent an email to all employees to watch the live broadcast of the announcement without telling them the details. Because of that everyone seemed to have their own speculations about what the announcement was going to be about. Of course, our company merging so suddenly with Chase Creatives wasn’t on the list of speculations that everyone had been talking about.

It was the right decision to send the company-wide email only a day before the announcement because the news truly stirred everyone and all they could focus on was the upcoming announcement. The way that everyone gathered as the time of the announcement approached to watch the announcement on the large screens throughout the office building reminded me of how everyone would watch the yearly competition together.

Although the situation was similar, the vibe in the air was drastically different from when everyone was excitedly cheering us on during the final round of the competition. There was no excitement in the air, instead, there was anxiousness and a sense of panic hiding beneath the surface. Everyone seemed cautious as if expecting some bad news to hit them, but I guessed that it was only natural when faced with the unknown.

“Don’t you have to be there with Ace? He’s leading the announcement, isn’t he?” Richard asked perceptively.

“No. He didn’t tell me that I needed to join..” I replied quite truthfully.

“Is that so..” he muttered. historical

Something in his tone of voice told me that he suspected that I knew something more than I was letting on. However, I refused to comment on anything or say anything more that may jeopardize the secrecy that needed to be upheld before the announcement was made.

“Want to move somewhere where we can see the big screen clearer?” I suggested while trying to keep my tone light.

“Sure..” he replied casually.

When we arrived at one of the auditoriums where the staff could gather to watch the announcement on the large projector screen, we ran right into Julianna and a few other members of the CEO’s office. It had been a while since we were all united like this since the end of Project Alpha.

“How have you two been? Is your project going well?” Julianna asked with a bright smile.

I wasn’t knowledgeable about the project that she was handling but it seemed to be going well judging by her attitude.

“Well enough,” I replied before returning her smile.

She beckoned for us to join her, and we ended up sitting all together in the same row as we waited for the announcement to start. The other members of the CEO’s office didn’t seem anxious as far as I could tell but the same couldn’t be said about the rest of the people that filled the auditorium. I let out a soft sigh before looking around to judge the reactions of the people around us. It didn’t surprise me that the aces that were gathered by Ace himself would feel more secure about what was happening than the rest of the staff.

--To be continued..

My new book is here! Check out: Substitute Wife for the Mafia King

Thank you!