Shortly after, the other party’s representative arrived.
The representative was a Frenchman, but his assistant and two bosses were not. One of the tall men appeared familiar to Isabella, but she wasn’t sure if they had met before.
The man recognized her. He said with a smile, “Hello, Isabella.”
Looking into his warm and smiling eyes, Isabella finally remembered who he was.
It was Luke, her father's former student who used to work at the court. He could be considered her father’s apprentice, but Luke had moved to Switzerland because of his family business and hadn’t returned since.
“Hello, Luke.” Isabella smiled back at him.
As it was a business negotiation, the two of them couldn’t reminisce about old times. They could only have a chat in private later.
Isabella sat by Mr. Stock, listening to the other representative attentively and translating for Mr. Stock. Then, she would translate Mr. Stock’s reply for the other representative.
This was a huge test of her listening skills. Not to mention, due to the difference in languages, some parts might end up lost in translation. Isabella tried her best to interpret the negotiation as concisely as possible so that both sides could understand each other.
Midway through the negotiation, the men were in high spirits and began to deliver toasts. Isabella accepted all the alcohol on Mr. Stock’s behalf. However, she was still on her period, so her face turned pale when she drank the cold drink.
Luke glanced at Isabella, then whispered a few words to the representative. After that, the number of toasts reduced. Isabella was relieved that she could finally catch a break.
Within an hour and a half, the negotiation wrapped up successfully and both parties signed the contract.
Seeing as there was nothing more that she could do, Isabella informed Mr. Stock that she was going to the washroom. She wanted to have a cigarette but realized that she had left her bag in the room, so she just washed her hands and left.
In the corridor, she bumped into Luke.
“Thank you. I will come to you if I need help.” Isabella dismissed the idea of borrowing money and changed the subject. “I heard that you got married soon after you went to Switzerland. How’s that going?”
“Not great.” A wry smile appeared on his cold face. “My wife was too wild, and I couldn't get her under control. Sometimes, three men would come looking for her in one day. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I filed for divorce.”
“......”
Isabella hadn’t expected to hear that. She was taken aback. “Didn’t you have a child with her? What happened to your child after the divorce?”
“I was afraid that she would be a bad influence on my daughter, so I gave her half of my assets in exchange for full custody. When I returned here, I brought my daughter with me too. I plan to stay here for some time.”
”Seeing Isabella’s frown, Luke appeared a little embarrassed. He laughed and said, “Isabella, don’t feel bad for asking. It’s not a big deal. If things don’t work out between a married couple, it’s only natural that they get divorced.
Isabella smiled and said nothing.
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