Chapter 13 Who Gave You the Courage

• “President Brown, you really have to show up this time. It’s already a mess outside. I’m afraid it would only get worse if you drag it out.”
• Luna’s face was pale from all the running, for she had come to report to Alice as soon as she saw that the situation outside was taking a turn for the worse.
• Alice frowned, puzzled. She trusted that the people in her company would never start a fight under any circumstances, since it would only add to the problem.
• “Luna, what exactly is going on? Please be more specific. Who is fighting with who? Is it serious?”
• “President Brown, I-I don’t know them either, but just now that bunch of people outside started calling you names and were preparing to barge in.” As Luna explained, she lightly patted her own chest.
• I have been working at Ascent Group all this while, and I’m sure that the employees would never throw hands. Today’s situation is really a first.
• “But then a man rushed out and blocked their path. He was really strong too; he just picked up one of the men like a little chick. Oh right, President Brown, I think I also saw your parents; they seem to be here too.”
• As soon as Luna said those words, Alice’s heart raced. Why are my parents here? Don’t tell me he was the one who started the fight.
• Alice felt her face turn cold as she threw away all consideration. She gathered some people with her and made for the entrance. As they neared the commotion, they could hear shouting and cursing.
• “They’re fighting! The Ascent Group’s people are throwing hands!”
• “How dare they mistreat their customers just because their company is huge! As if selling fake products isn’t enough, they’re now hitting people! Have they no heart?”
• Alice’s gaze went beyond the crowd and fell on a man. He was still grabbing one of the troublemakers, whose face had gone as white as a sheet. Is he trying to kill him?
• “Let go of him, Harvey!”
• Alice knew that figure all too well; she was even troubled by its actions. Never mind you not being able to help, but now you’re even adding fuel to the fire.
• As soon as Alice made her appearance, the crowd made way for her. The middle-aged woman with the pustules immediately rushed over and pointed at Alice, screaming, “That’s her! She’s the president of this company, the one who sold fake products that made me look like this! Hey, everyone, don’t you think they’re horrible? They’re not only selling fake products, but they’re now trying to kill people! Do they not care about the law?”
• At this, the crowd around them began to sound their agreement.
• “Becoming the president of a company at such a young age! Who knew how she got the position, maybe...”
• “Did you hear that? She knows that guy who is beating people up; maybe she ordered him to do it. They did say she wasn’t in the office, but she’s here right now. She must be doing this on purpose.”
• “What an evil woman! How shameless can she be to earn money while causing people harm!”
• Hearing the hurtful slander, Alice suppressed the rage inside of her. Right at that moment, she caught sight of Polly and Martin among the crowd. They were not the only familiar faces; even her Uncle Hugo and Uncle Bobby were there.
• It was obvious that someone was trying to make her look bad.
• Alice inhaled deeply and looked at Harvey, her tone cold as she said, “Harvey, who asked you to get into a fight? Don’t you know that doing this would cause trouble for our company and affect us seriously?”
• “They were calling you names.”
• “So what? Is that a valid reason for you to start hitting people?”
• Alice couldn’t understand what Harvey was trying to do. Why did he come here? Her mind was in a mess. Her company had lost the debate the moment Harvey started fighting.
• Does he think that everything can be solved by force? Does he even think?
• Hearing the icy tone in Alice’s voice, Harvey had his expression turned dark. With a flick of his wrist, he flung the man in his hand away, then turned to stare at Alice, speaking word by word, “You are mine. I won’t let them call you names.”
• “You—”
• Alice didn’t know what to say. Only now you’re doing your alpha male nonsense?! Why have I not seen you doing so before?
• However, as soon as Harvey finished speaking, everyone started chattering again, especially the Ascent Group employees, who turned their attention to Harvey as they whispered.
• “So this is President Brown’s husband. I heard he’s a jobless man who relies on his wife.”
• “Yeah, he started a fight and worsened the situation today. He didn’t know how to help President Brown and even made things worse for her. How did she fall for him?”
• “Hush. Maybe President Brown has some hidden reason; maybe this guy has a tendency to get violent.”
• The rumors spread like wildfire among the crowd. Alice had gone completely pale as she walked toward the middle-aged woman and said with an excellent demeanor, “Miss, I’m very sorry for the inconvenience caused by our product. I hope that you will bear with us as we investigate the truth of this matter, and we will give you satisfactory compensation.”
• “Truth? You’re talking about truths now?”
• To this middle-aged woman, Alice’s polite attitude was a sign that she was conforming and weak, so she said in an even harsher tone, “You mean that your fake product wasn’t the culprit? That I’m here to cause trouble on purpose?”
• “No, no. You misunderstood.”
• Alice hastily calmed her down in a soft voice, then continued, “Miss, what I meant was we will look into the reason and give you a satisfactory answer. Can we move to the meeting room to discuss this?”
• “No, we are discussing everything right here.”
• The middle-aged woman behaved in a rude and unreasonable manner as she put her hands on her hips and shouted, “Who knew what would happen if we followed you to the meeting room? Will you send for more people to threaten us? That guy in your company already hit one of us. I’ll have you know that I won’t let you off the hook so easily for the sake of both my face and the act of violence.”
• “Miss, you are mistaken.”
• Before Alice could continue, Hunter had walked forward and pointed at Harvey as he spoke.
• “That guy who started beating up people does not belong to our company. If you have something against him, blame it solely on him. You can just make a report to the police and have him arrested; we will be the witnesses.”
• Hunter would never stand up for Harvey, of course. He looked at Alice in evil delight as he said with ridicule, “Dear President Brown, you also witnessed it with your own eyes. Harvey is your husband, so if he got into a fight and caused trouble for our company, you would have to be responsible for it. Also, you had insisted on developing this beauty product, so now that problems are cropping up, you can’t push the blame on someone else.”
• “That’s right, Alice. We were against the development of this beauty product, but you were stubborn. Now that things turned out like this, you’ll have to bear the responsibilities for future compensations and loss of reputation of our company.”
• Hugo and Bobby walked over to give their ‘sincere’ opinions as soon as they saw an opening.
• “Alice, we already advised you from the start not to hasten things just to earn more. Our company’s products need to pass strict quality checks and tests before they can be released to the market. This matter is getting out of hand. I feel that you’re no longer suited to be the company’s president.”
• “What do you mean by this, Hugo?”
• Hugo was obviously prepared. Even Martin couldn’t sit idly by anymore. They were family, but they had gone too far. They were trying to take advantage of this opportunity to fire Alice and get her off the position as president.
• “Marty, we have to sort this out. Even if we’re related by blood, the company doesn’t belong to you alone. We’re doing this for the sake of the company that belongs to all of us, the Brown Family,” Bobby added oddly on the side, his face tinted with delight.
• “But...”
• “Dad, enough.”
• No wonder they’re all here. Alice knew what they were thinking. She shook her head at Martin, her eyes reddening.
• For four years, she had worked tirelessly for the company and the whole of the Brown Family. Who knew that as soon as she got into trouble, the first to harm her was not some outsider, but her own family, her own Uncle Hugo and Uncle Bobby.
• “Uncle Hugo, Uncle Bobby, I understand what you mean. This was all my fault. I will give everyone a proper solution.”
• Alice’s heart dropped at that moment. She had clear ties with the beauty product and also Harvey, so she had to bear the responsibilities.
• “I hereby announce that from today onward, I—”
• “Stop.”
• Hearing Alice’s voice choking with tears, Harvey was emotionally affected. How could he cultivate anything here if he was powerless to protect even his own wife?
• “Who gave you the courage to mess with my woman!”