Chapter 12 A Master in Playing Hard to Get

“Your sharp tongue is as marvelous as your design talent, Miss Clarke,” Max said calmly, but he eventually let her go. There was a moment there where he fell into a trance. He thought Caitlin was familiar, so he was tempted to explore further. Caitlin sneered. “You should settle your family matters first, President Cooper.” After that, she left the company, and Max did not stop her this time. When Eliza saw Caitlin leaving the company, she went up and said uneasily, “I didn’t know she’s the designer who’s collaborating with the company, Max. She was the one who started it! I—” “Why did you come here?” Max’s cold look terrified Eliza further. “I noticed you didn’t have breakfast. I was worried it might be bad if you work on an empty stomach, so I got something for you to eat. I didn’t mean it, Max. Please don’t be angry at me.” Eliza tugged at his sleeves, and she gave him the puppy eyes. Max looked at her sharply, and Eliza felt like it would break her. “Max…” “Did you start it?” He couldn’t forget how shocked he felt when he saw Eliza acting like a common wench as he came out from the elevator. Eliza was going to refute it, but when she saw Max looking at her sharply, she gulped. “Yes, but that was—” “She’s Catherine, the most famous car designer of US’ HJ Group. I spent a lot of time, effort, and money to manage to get the chance for a collaboration. Now that you’ve brilliantly managed to chase her away, the company has lost at least a hundred million, and that’s excluding the loss of our reputation and trust. I don’t care how you’ll do it, but you have to get her to forgive you. I want to see her here the next morning, talking about the collaboration with me. If you fail to do that, don’t blame me for asking you to leave the Cooper Family.” Max left after that. Eliza stood rooted in place, her face drained of all color. “No! You can’t do this to me, Max! I am William’s mother! What will happen to him if you chase me out? Please, I know I was wrong, Max! I didn’t do it on purpose!” She hugged Max’s arm while begging pitifully. It had been five years since she gave birth to William. Thanks to William being the eldest grandson of the Cooper Family, she managed to move into the Cooper Residence. However, Max treated her differently than how he treated his son. The man gave his son all the best things in the world, and was infinitely nice to him. However, he treated her like she was a stranger. Everyone thought Max treated her well. It was true that he had fulfilled her material needs, but she wanted to be Max’s wife instead of just staying at the Cooper Residence as nothing more than William’s mother. Max ignored her. No matter how much she did, Eliza had never been able to get into his bed, let alone his heart. When Max threatened to chase her out of the Cooper Residence, it sounded like a nightmare for Eliza. “I’ll beg for that woman’s forgiveness! I’ll do it! Don’t take William away from me, Max! I almost died out of excessive blood loss back when I went into labor! Did you forget all about that?” “Do you think you can even stay in the Cooper Residence if not because of that?” Max radiated a cold vibe as he told her mercilessly. Eliza trembled. As she looked at the merciless man before her, the woman could feel her heart being shattered. “How could you do this to me, Max?” “Do not allow Miss Pierce into the company without my permission from now on, Miss Roberts. If you can’t do that, I advise you to tender your resignation to the HR department.” Max didn’t care how Eliza felt. After leaving that cold message, he left the lobby. Dexter followed Max quietly. When they went into the elevator, Max told him, “Find out where Miss Clarke is staying, and send a gift to her. Make sure it’s expensive, and tell her it’s from me as a compensation.” “President Cooper, didn’t you ask Miss Pierce to apologize? Why do we have to do this? It sounds redundant.” Dexter was confused. Max glanced at him before calmly saying, “Eliza’s apology is for her own personal feud. Our apology is to show the company’s sincerity in working with her. Do you think Miss Clarke is unwilling to work with us? She’s just using this as an excuse to assert her dominance. This woman’s intriguing though. She’s a master at playing hard to get. Forget about you sending it. Pick out an expensive gift, and I’ll personally send it to her.” Dexter was shocked. “You’re sending it personally, President Cooper? That’s really giving her too much credit.” “She wants me to extend our invitation myself. I can only know what she’s thinking if I make a trip there myself. Just do as I say.” Max went out of the elevator and back into his office after that, while Dexter was getting excited. It has been five years since I last saw the president being so meticulous about a woman. Is that designer, Catherine, that charming that she could change the perpetually apathetic president?