Chapter 5 5

"Ethan brought me here!" Olivia said, her voice cutting through the room with a cold edge as she looked at Yara.

From the bottom of her heart, Olivia despised her cousin, and the feeling was entirely mutual.

As she spoke, Olivia took her seat at the very first chair to the right of the head of the table. Despite being the general manager, she didn't sit at the head because today’s emergency meeting was to be presided over by her grandfather, Old Master Yeqi Vance.

Ethan ignored the glares of the relatives and moved to sit in the chair right next to Olivia.

"What do you think you’re doing? Is this a place where a shabby, countryside loser like you is allowed to sit?"

Yara, who was long accustomed to mocking Ethan, certainly wasn't going to miss an opportunity to humiliate him in front of the entire family.

"Exactly. This is a corporate meeting. What qualifications do you have to sit here?" Yara’s husband, Garrett, added with a look of utter disgust.

This couple truly proved that birds of a feather flock together—both were equally shallow and snobbish. Of course, Garrett had some status to back up his arrogance, considering the Garrett family was recognized as a third-rate family in Royal Port.

Yet, Ethan acted as if he hadn't heard a single word and proceeded to sit down calmly anyway.

"Ethan, are you deaf? Didn't you hear what everyone just said?"

"Get out of here right now!"

At that moment, Evan Vance, Olivia’s second uncle, barked with a face purple with rage.

He turned back to Olivia and snapped, "I honestly don't know what you were thinking, Olivia. It’s one thing to marry a useless failure, but bringing him here to make a scene and embarrass us..."

"Uncle Evan, if Garrett is allowed to be here, why shouldn't Ethan sit here?" Olivia asked, trying her best to suppress her rising anger as she questioned her uncle.

"You... this is downright rebellious! How dare you speak to your elders in such a manner?"

"I’m just speaking the truth, Uncle. No matter how useless Ethan might be in your eyes, he is my husband now. Why shouldn't he attend a family meeting?"

The fire in Olivia’s chest was becoming impossible to contain.

Her words caught Ethan entirely off guard. This was the very first time Olivia had openly referred to him as her "husband," and a strange, comforting warmth washed over his heart. For the sake of those two words alone, Ethan swore he would protect this woman no matter what.

Yara sneered, "Olivia Vance, do you have no manners left? How dare you raise your voice at my father!"

She mocked further, "Ethan is a failure, and you aren't any better. You two really are a match made in heaven!"

"Haha..."

The moment Yara finished her sentence, a wave of cruel laughter echoed through the conference room.

"Alright, that’s enough quarreling! Have you no respect for decorum?"

Just then, a middle-aged man sitting opposite Olivia barked sharply, instantly cutting through the noise.

The speaker was Charles Vance, Olivia’s eldest uncle.

Aside from the patriarch Yeqi, Charles held the most authority in the family. His status was further elevated because his son, who was currently studying abroad, was considered the prime candidate to become the future heir of the Vance family.

True to his influence, the moment Charles spoke, no one dared to utter another word.

"Olivia, I’m not trying to lecture you, but do you not realize how critical today’s meeting is?" Charles said, his voice sinking. "Why must you bring him along just to deliberately ruin everyone's mood?"

With Charles’s reprimand, mocking stares locked onto Olivia once more, while Yara and Garrett looked thoroughly smug.

Faced with her eldest uncle’s criticism, Olivia didn't dare to argue back. She could only lower her head, her face burning with embarrassment.

Ethan merely swept a calm glance over the faces of everyone seated at the table, a faint, disdainful smirk gracing the corners of his lips.

At that moment, the conference room door pushed open again. Upon seeing the man who entered, everyone in the room stood up instantly.

"Father..."

"Grandfather..."

The man was none other than the helmsman of the Vance family, Old Master Yeqi Vance.

He possessed a powerful aura of authority. After scanning the room with a cold gaze, he walked straight to the head of the table and sat down.

"I could hear your shouting from all the way outside," Yeqi barked coldly the moment he sat. "Utterly disgraceful!"

Yara immediately seized the opportunity. "Grandfather, it wasn't us trying to argue. For such an important meeting today, my cousin Olivia actually brought that loser Ethan along. Isn't she just trying to make us all uncomfortable?"

Her words made Yeqi freeze for a moment. He hadn't noticed Ethan initially, but looking over now, he indeed saw Ethan sitting right beside Olivia. This only proved that in Yeqi’s mind, Ethan’s presence was no different from thin air.

"What did you come here for?" Yeqi asked coldly.

"Grandfather, I came to accompany Olivia to her meeting," Ethan replied with a serious expression.

In truth, ever since Olivia had married Ethan, Yeqi’s attitude toward her and her parents had plummeted. In his eyes, if Olivia hadn't married this nobody, the Vance family wouldn't be struggling the way they were today.

"Stand up and go sit in the back!" Yeqi commanded, his face grim as he spared Ethan a brief, sideways glance.

Olivia felt an overwhelming wave of embarrassment. She turned to look at Ethan, biting her lip tightly, and whispered softly, "Would you mind... sitting in the back?"

Ethan wasn't surprised at all. He gave Olivia a reassuring smile, stood up from the conference table, and dragged a chair over to sit against the wall at the back of the room.

"Alright, let's begin the meeting!" Yeqi announced.

"As you all know, counterfeit products have surfaced in our cosmetics subsidiary. Customers who used our products have suffered varying degrees of severe allergic reactions. This has caused an incredibly damaging impact on our corporation and family reputation."

Yeqi turned his stern gaze back to Olivia, his face tightening with anger. "Olivia, as the general manager, you bear the primary responsibility for this disaster. This matter must be resolved before noon today. How have you handled it so far?"

Olivia answered filled with anxiety, "I visited the hospital yesterday to calm the affected customers and handle the immediate situation. At the same time, I filed a formal police report. The relevant authorities are investigating, but we haven't received a final response just yet."

"What use is any of that? That’s entirely passive!" Yeqi snapped. "First and foremost, you should have managed the public relations. If this matter gets leaked and exposed by the media, do you have any idea how catastrophic the impact on our family will be?!"

The moment Yeqi finished speaking, the rest of the relatives nodded in agreement.

Just then, Yara spoke up with a triumphant smile. "Grandfather, please rest assured. The moment the incident occurred, I personally got in touch with the media outlets, and I’ve successfully persuaded them to hold off on exposing anything for now!"

She continued with absolute confidence, "Furthermore, by tomorrow at the latest, I will resolve this issue flawlessly. Not only that, but I will turn this crisis into an opportunity, forcing the media to give our company massive, free publicity."

The stern lines on Yeqi’s face relaxed into a wide smile. "Excellent... you’ve done a wonderful job, Yara. Stabilizing the media and preventing the scandal from spreading is indeed the best approach! But... how exactly do you plan to turn this into publicity?"

Yara offered a sly smile. "Grandfather, let me keep you in suspense for now. You’ll know everything by tomorrow... however, I do have one small request."

Yeqi laughed heartily. "Haha... good, good! As long as you can help the family survive this crisis, you can make whatever request you like."

Yara turned her malicious gaze toward her cousin. "I believe Olivia is completely unfit to manage a company. If we follow her passive approach, it will only bring financial ruin and disaster to the family!"

She concluded sharply, "Therefore, I propose that Olivia be stripped of her position as general manager immediately. With her lack of ability, staying in that role is nothing but a complete waste of corporate resources!"

In an instant, every eye in the room locked onto Olivia, waiting to witness her downfall.