The atmosphere in the dining room was quite solemn. The two of them did not talk and Samantha just kept silent as she tried to secretly observe Grandfather Cho. The old man had a head full of white hair, and he had wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. The more that she looks at him, the more that she can see Daniel"s resemblance to his grandfather. They had the same long nose, both of them were tall and both of them had charisma.Grandfather Cho quietly ate his meal and the satisfaction was actually evident on his face despite him trying not to show it. Although he did not compliment Samantha"s cooking, she was already happy with this realization so she continued to mind her own business and ate in peace.
After some time, he finished his meal and placed the utensils aside. "It needs more salt." He commented, making Samantha look up to him.
"Um… I learned that because of diet restrictions, you cannot eat salty food, so I adjusted the seasoning." She explained as she was only making sure that what she prepared will not harm his health.
Upon hearing, Grandfather glanced at her curtly and cleared his throat before he wiped his mouth with the table napkin. "This child and her reason. Tch."
And without saying anything, he stood up from his chair and walked out of the dining room. Samantha wanted to go after him but she did not want to push her luck that day, it was already a good sign that she was allowed to enter his mansion. So she decided that she is going to continue earning brownie points[1] until Grandfather Cho will soften his heart to her.
.
When she was at the door, Mr. Jiang came to see her off. It was not the first time that she had met Grandfather Cho"s a.s.sistant and so they were not technically strangers with each other. A few days ago, Samantha reached out to Daniel"s mother to get his contact details and then she got in touch with him to ask about Grandfather Cho"s favorite food. Mr. Jiang already knew the situation about her being the granddaughter of Grandfather Cho"s then love rival. And for him, the old man was indeed being unreasonable. That is why he decided to help out Samantha.
With a gentle expression, Samantha smiled at the middle aged and spoke, "Mr. Jiang, thank you for your help. I have to go now. Will you tell grandfather that I will come back in two days?"
"Yes, Young Madam. I will let him know." He replied. He had already decided to be the bridge between the two since he found Samantha quite endearing, as to why his master was being difficult to her, he can only sigh.
Standing by the window on the second floor, grandfather Cho watched as his granddaughter in law Samantha got inside her car. Truthfully, he did not dislike her. But he was still bothered about her being the granddaughter of that man that he hated. "My wife, do you hate me that I am being like this? What can I do? I cannot dictate my feelings." He spoke to himself as if he was talking to his late wife.
Samantha drove her car away from the mansion and headed towards the city, feeling a little satisfied about achieving a part of her mission.
..
Trident
It was already almost two in the afternoon and Samantha had arrived in her office not too long ago. "Chen, can you send in the files that I asked from you yesterday?" She asked her a.s.sistant from the work phone on her desk. She didn"t plan on going to work that day but she dropped by to pick up the doc.u.ments that she requested from Chen.
"Yes Madam, I will bring it in right away." a.s.sistant Chen responded.
A minute later, Chen arrived inside Samantha"s office with some folders in her hand. When she placed them on her table, Samantha asked while skimming through the pile of papers, "How"s the testing going?"
"The team has been in Cho Corporation since morning. I was informed that it is taking them longer than expected."
"For how long?"
"It might take them a few days just for the first testing phase."
"I see… Looks like I need to go there and see for myself. Who"s leading the team?" Samantha had already started to clear her desk and grab her things to leave.
a.s.sistant Chen followed her towards the elevator, "It"s Kristoff who is leading the team. I will give him a call and tell him that you are coming."
"No, it"s okay. They are probably very busy. You don"t need to tell them." She added before leaving her office.
.
Samantha arrived at the Cho Corporation in an hour. When she got in the lobby, all eyes were on her. Seeing her all dolled up that way, made her look really amiable. But it was not only because of her appearance that they were staring at her.
Reaching the front desk, Samantha asked where her people from Trident might be staying at that moment.
"Good afternoon, Young Madam. They are all stationed on the tenth floor." The receptionist answered politely before her eyes darted to all the men following behind Samantha. The men were all wearing an outfit of what looked like a restaurant"s server uniform. "The Tropical Spice" was printed on the right side of their s.h.i.+rt.
"Thank you. They are all with me." Samantha gestured to the people behind her so that they will be allowed to enter the building, in which the receptionist can only nod her head while she prepared for all of them to have a temporary access.
The Tropical Spice is one of the famous restaurants in the area but not everyone can dine in this place as it was for members only. The restaurant was part of a huge resort chain where only members are allowed and these members are the elites of the upper cla.s.s in the country; Samantha"s mother is one of the members.
Seeing that their lady boss has brought the men from that restaurant and asking about her people from Trident, they all thought how nice it must be to be working under someone like her as she took care of her employees generously.
..
CEO"s Office
A knock on the door was heard before it opened and in came Daniel"s secretary. "President Cho, Young Madam is on her way to the tenth floor." She said.
With a bewildered expression, Daniel looked up, wondering why his wife had not told him that she was coming. "What"s on the tenth floor? What is she doing there?"
After his secretary explained, he got up from his chair and grabbed his coat as he headed out.
On the tenth floor, the employees have gathered outside of the huge room with gla.s.s walls where Samantha had just entered with a group of men from The Tropical Spice. They were all curious about what"s happening as they peered through the gaps of the blinds.
When Daniel reached the tenth floor, all the employees" eyes widened. Just a moment ago, they saw their lady boss arriving and they were quite excited to see her. But when they saw their boss, they panicked. Not knowing what to do, they only stood frozen on the spot, afraid that their boss will reprimand them for slacking.
Ignoring the stares of his employees, Daniel Cho had an unreadable expression as he opened the door of the huge room. When the door swung open, he saw that everyone was eating inside. "Is there a party in here and I"m not invited?"
Noticing the arrival of her husband, Samantha beamed at him. Her smile almost reached her ears. "You"re here." She spoke with delight before she winced in pain, bringing her hand to her neck and rubbing the sore spot as she staggered to hold something near her but all she caught was air.
Her vision was spinning and before she knew it, Daniel suddenly jolted forward and caught her in his strong arms. "Samantha?" He called as he tried to hold her steady.
[1] Brownie Points: an imaginary award given to someone who does good deeds or tries to please.