Sweet Revenge: Jace & Emerald

“Say that again?” Jace asked Kyle. They had just finished meeting with the marketing department and were left behind in the conference room.

“ACEGame wants us to submit our detailed proposal,” Kyle repeated.

“Are you kidding me? Aren’t we supposed to meet their boss so we will be able to explain the details further?”

“They told me that their boss would be very busy this month, so they canceled the meeting. They promise to look into our proposal and study it, and then they will get back to us.”

“What if they reject it? How will we explain the project to them if they base their decision only on the proposal? How will we answer their question if they will not meet us?” Jace asked continuously. He wanted collaboration very much but didn’t know why.

“Then we get another meeting. They said their boss will be very busy this month, which I understand since he just arrived.”

“Don’t you see it, Kyle? They didn’t want to work with us!” Jace exclaimed. “Asked for another meeting. Tell them that if their boss is unavailable, they can reschedule the meeting for next month if they want to or whenever they are ready.”

“They seemed to be interested when I told them about our proposal. Why would they not want to cooperate with us now?” Kyle replied.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Of course! The head of operations said it. That’s why he informed his boss about it. Otherwise, he would reject it the first time and would not even schedule the meeting.”

“Then, why the hell are they suddenly asking for another proposal and didn’t want to meet us?” Jace asked again.

“I had no idea. If they asked for it, why not give it to them?”

“I want to meet their boss. There’s no problem if they had done that from the beginning. But they had already scheduled a meeting with us, and then suddenly, they backed out. There should be a reason behind it, and I want to know that. Schedule another meeting no matter how long it will take.” Jace said angrily.

“Alright, don’t get so hyped. I will do that now.” Kyle replied and then left his office. Once Jace was alone, he leaned back and started thinking about ACEGame.

‘The owner was very private. Was he hiding or something?’ he thought. Online games had been rampant, and Jace also wanted to be in the market. His business is doing great, but he doesn’t want to be idle.

Jack had been managing their bank business for five years. After Emerald left, Jace didn’t want to work, so his older brother had to step up, especially when young Higginson hurt his wife because of him.

Three days later…

“Jace, let’s go,” Kyle said.

“Where?” Asked Jace, creasing his forehead in confusion. He doesn’t remember any scheduled meetings.

“We will go to ACEGame.”

“As in now?”

“Yes. Today is the only day someone can talk to us.”

“Someone? So it’s not their boss either?”

“I don’t know about that, bro. They just said; if we are available, we can go there to talk.”

“Alright,” Jace replied and got up from his seat. ‘Just what the fuck are they thinking?’ he asked himself. Although he wanted this collaboration more than anything, ACEGame is making him lose his patience.

The two drove their way to the ACEGame building. Jace looked up and thought that it was not what he expected, thinking it was not grand. But he saw different character game figures on display once they entered the building. He realized that the company was focused on what they were.

On the 10th floor, Daryl welcomed them and led them to their meeting room. “Good morning, Mr. Higginson. I’m sorry for rushing you here.”

“As long as you give us time, it’s fine with me,” Jace replied, although he knew his company was bigger compared to them.

“Mr. Kyle sent us the detailed proposal, and I called you here to inform you that our boss had rejected it,” Daryl said. He was nervous because he knew who Jace Higginson was. But he feared his friend and employer more than the man before him.

“What?” The two exclaimed. “Why the hell did you even make us come here?” It was Kyle.

“It’s because you are persistent. I’m afraid that you will never stop asking for a meeting, so to prevent that from happening again, I invited you here. You can ask anything, and I will try to answer it.” Daryl replied.

“The last time we talked to your head of operation, he was interested in this collaboration. I don’t see any reason for you to decline the offer since this is also a win for your company. It was also why he brought it to your boss’s attention.” Jace replied while Kyle was just quiet. He knew how angry his friend was now.

“Mr. Higginson, I know that this is upsetting. But I’m only relaying this to you. Our boss didn’t like some clauses in the proposal.”

“Which one?” Kyle asked.

“First, how the female characters dressed up. Our company wants wholesome clothes for male and female heroes and heroines.”

“We can change that.” Jace immediately replied.

“You have your development team while we also have that.” Daryl continued.

“We can discuss that matter. We could come up with a better solution.”

“My boss, Mr. Higginson, leads the development team. So unless you let us handle it, there will be no other solution.”

“I’ll think about it. What else?”

“About the profit sharing and distribution of products, our company wanted 60%.”

“Isn’t it too much? We should have 50/50,” Kyle asked.Content rights belong to NôvelDrama.Org.

“That’s what we want,” Daryl replied. “About the expenses, since we will do all the job, you will have to spend more.”

“Don’t you think that’s ridiculous?” Jace exclaimed. “You will be profiting more from this, but you can’t even have an equal share of expenses! That’s absurd!”

“That’s why we reject your proposal,” Daryl replied confidently. ‘You are crazy, M.’ he thought.

The truth is that Emerald didn’t want to continue their collaboration with Jace because she started to feel uncomfortable. It was only for the thought that they would have to face each other in a meeting. She got scared when the realization of being together and seeing each other all the time once they did the project hit her.

“You know what? I need to talk to your boss.” Jace said, “Is he here?”

“He’s busy and won’t be able to talk to you,” Daryl said, but Jace got up from his seat and walked out of the meeting room, followed by confused Kyle and Daryl.

“We are on the 10th floor, so I assume your boss’s office should be here, too,” Jace said as he started to look around. He stopped at every door and read the sign.

Daryl, on the other hand, was getting nervous because Emerald was on the same floor talking to an unexpected visitor and might have caught them doing something inappropriate.

“Mr. Higginson, please stop. This is not good, and my boss will only get mad if”

“Shut up,” Jace said, stopping him to finish his sentence exactly when they stopped in front of a door with the CEO Office sign.

“Daryl, what’s going on?” Creep asked, making the assistant sigh in relief, thinking he was there to help him.

“Mr. Higginson wants to meet M,” he replied.

“Mr. Higginson. I’m sorry, but M didn’t want to continue this project.”

“M?” Jace asked curiously.

“Yes, our boss.”

“You called him M?” Kyle asked.

“Yes.”

“Hey, babe.” Elise came out of nowhere, smiling sweetly to her husband. Then her eyes landed on Jace; with wide eyes, she exclaimed. “Oh my gosh, they look the same”

“Elise.” Daryl stops her.

“What do you mean? Look what?” Jace asked angrily, creasing his forehead. He started to think everyone in the company was making fun of him.

“I’m sorry. A slip of the tongue.” Elise replied before she turned her back to them. After that, Jace quickly opened the CEO’s Office door, and Creep and Daryl couldn’t stop him.