Dylan let out a sigh of relief after successfully coaxing his wife.
It's not easy to appease her. I better avoid angering her as much as possible.
Half an hour later, he was in his office at Coleman Empire Holdings, holding an ice pack to his face as he signed his name on the document Toddy brought in for him.
Toddy was trying his best not to laugh at the sight of Dylan.
"Toddy."
"Yes, sir?"
"Get me something for breakfast. I haven't eaten yet."
"How did you have the energy to start a fight so early in the day without eating breakfast first?" Toddy smirked.
Dylan tossed his pen aside and leaned back into his chair. His dark, glittering eyes were fixed on Toddy as he remarked somewhat menacingly, "Do you want to test and see if I have the energy to fight?"
"I surrender."
Toddy immediately waved the white flag.
Are you kidding? Even if I had the courage of a lion, I still wouldn't dare to fight with my boss.
Who else in all of Orapolis would dare to fight against the one and only Master Dylan, apart from Frank Mendelson?
Frank hadn't gotten into any fights with Dylan before as he knew that he couldn't stand his ground against Dylan.
He only did it now because it involved Kendall.
"What do you want to eat?"
"Something light and simple. My face still hurts, so it's best if it's something soft that doesn't need to be chewed much."
"Like a smoothie or a yogurt bowl? Sure. I'll get my secretary to buy some for you."
Toddy called up his secretary and told her to buy a smoothie and a yogurt bow, after which she should bring the food up to the secretary's desk on the top floor. He would bring the food in for Dylan himself.
"When is Mrs. Coleman coming back?" Toddy asked somewhat casually. "Look at you. You didn't even eat breakfast since she's not around. Married men just can't leave their wives, huh?"
Dylan's expression softened up a lot at the mention of his beloved wife. His stern, intimidating expression was replaced by one of gentle fondness instead.
The power of love is incredible, Toddy thought to himself.
Even my boss' cold and indifferent heart has melted due to love.
Even the hardest metal becomes malleable when under the right condition.
"I told her to stay in Eastfort and have fun for a few more days. I'll go and get her once I'm done with work and have recovered."
Toddy chuckled. "I see. You're afraid that looking like that will scare Mrs. Coleman."
Dylan eyed him and snapped, "Do you think I don't have my pride and dignity? Why are you so concerned about when my wife gets back anyway? That's probably not what you're curious about."
He had seen right through Toddy, but Toddy stubbornly denied it. "Why does it matter to me when Emma gets back? She's your secretary, not mine. I don't care if she doesn't ever come back to the company. I'll even celebrate if she doesn't. My life can resume its peace without having someone bothering me all the time."
Dylan didn't hold back at all as he fired back at his right-hand man, "Miss Finley gave up on you a long time ago. As far as I know, she hasn't brought you breakfast in ages, and she hasn't bothered you in any way. You've regained all the peace you can have."
Toddy didn't see that coming.
"Do you think Miss Finley is dead set on you? You didn't show her any sign of reciprocation at all, despite all the time and attention she spent on you. She doesn't owe you anything, so why do you think she'll continue to wait for you? You turn your nose up at the breakfast she lovingly prepared for you, but there's someone out there who will love it. In the future, you'll just have to watch as she gives that breakfast to someone else who appreciates it."
Toddy continued to remark stubbornly, "That man who's been trying to woo her doesn't even have the guts to show his face. He recently stopped sending flowers, too. Everyone knows she loves me. As long as she's still working here, no one will dare to date her. Who'd want to spend their entire day feeling jealous and worried that their girlfriend might cheat on them?"
Dylan calmly stared at Toddy, which made Toddy feel a little flustered.
Whenever Dylan looked at someone like that, it meant he was up to something that was going to be unpleasant.
"My wife has already started learning how to run a business from her father. She even started signing business deals. Soon, she'll be able to stand on her own two feet, and when the time comes, she'll need a secretary. Miss Finley has done an excellent job thus far, and she's also Kendall's friend. I'm sure she'll be willing to join Kendall as her secretary. I'll pay her salary and give her a raise of a couple of thousand a month, and I'll even give her a car so that it'll be convenient for her to bring my wife around to all the business meetings."
Toddy was floored.
Although he could tell that Dylan was saying all that on purpose, he still took the bait. "Mr. Coleman, you've grown accustomed to Miss Finley as your secretary. What would you do if you give her to Mrs. Coleman as her secretary instead? It'll take me some time before I can train up a secretary like her for you."
Dylan had a heavy workload, so his secretary had to be able to handle a lot of pressure too.
An ordinary secretary wouldn't be proficient enough to become the president's secretary.
"Since no one else can handle the work, you can take over for the time being, then."
"I have more than enough on my plate as it is."
"Toddy, will it kill you to say that you can't bear to see Miss Finley go?" Dylan remarked with a hint of a smile.
Toddy bristled.
"W-Who said I can't bear to see her go? She's not my secretary anyway. I'm just thinking on your behalf. Think about how heavy your workload is. Do you think an ordinary secretary can keep up with you? Even if I arranged for you to have three new secretaries, they still won't be able to handle the work that Miss Finley could do by herself."
"Even now, you still don't want to admit that you're not indifferent toward Miss Finley. You're hopeless, Toddy. Forget it. I can't be bothered to waste my time worrying on your behalf. I'm not the one who'll have a hard time winning the favor of the woman he wants later on. Just don't come to me for help."
Dylan sounded completely heartless as he declared, "I won't help you, not even if you beg."
"My, my. Would you look at that? What kind of a boss says that? What kind of a friend?"
"Miss Finley has liked you for so long now, but you didn't know how to cherish her. Now that she's given up on you, you still don't realize that you should be trying to win her back. Just for the sake of your foolish pride, you refuse to admit that you care about her. Tell me, who do you think will pity you when you have to go through hellfire just to win her over?"
Toddy remained stiff and silent.
He wanted to say he didn't care about Emma, but he couldn't bring himself to say it aloud.
No matter how outwardly stubborn he was, he knew very well what his true innermost thoughts were.
He was used to Emma hovering around him all the time. He realized his disappointment when she stopped chasing after him.
After all these years, Emma had long since become a part of his life.
"Toddy, I'll ask you one last time. How do you feel about Miss Finley? If you truly don't want to be with her, I'll arrange for her to work with Kendall. Kendall does need a capable secretary like her. However, if you admit that you care about Miss Finley, I won't move her. I'll keep her here so that it'll be easier for you to win her over."
After a pause, Dylan added, "Kendall is very fond of Miss Finley. She wants to introduce Miss Finley to her brother, Nelson. If the two hit it off and become a couple, then it'll be too late for any regrets from you. Remember this: no one will wait for you forever."
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Love Knows No Bounds novel (Kendall and Dylan)
Beautiful story....