The Substitute Bride

Her free hours left Sheryl feeling a bit restless, so she wanted to keep herself busy. She headed to the company to see if she could help with anything.

The moment she stepped into the office, Isla called her over for help. "Sher! Good, you're here. I'm going out to negotiate a plan. Come with me. You're the professional. It will be much easier if you're around."

Isla had run the company in Sheryl's stead for quite a few years. After Sheryl returned, Isla had tried to turn the company back over to Sheryl several times, not because she wasn't capable of the role, but because she wanted to give Sheryl back what she owned. Since Sheryl wasn't really ready or prepared to become the head of the company again, Isla wanted to involve Sheryl in everything she was handling, big or small, to help keep Sheryl in the loop of what was happening in the company until she officially took on the position of CEO again.

Sheryl found the job a bit too challenging, and declined, "I don't think I should be there. You're much more experienced in negotiation with the customers than I am. You can do a good job on your own. I can help you with any other cases that you may not have time to deal with."

"Sher…" Isla didn't like that Sheryl refused to take part in the meeting and tried to think of a reason to convince her otherwise. "This case is really important to our company. Please come with me. I want you to be there in case I'm uncertain of anything."

"But…"

Sheryl started to reject again but Isla interrupted her. "There's no 'but' here," she said firmly. Before Sheryl had any chance to reject her again, Isla grabbed her arm and pulled her into the lift. "Don't forget that you're the owner of this company, not me. It's not fair to just throw all the responsibility to me, isn't it?"

"You're very capable, Isla. I can rest assured leaving everything to you," she replied with a sly grin.

Isla felt rather delightful and proud of the trust Sheryl had in her, but at the same time, burdened by having to run the company. She knew that today, her attempt to make Sheryl take over her role failed once again, so she let that matter go for the time being and focused on the business matter at hand. She drove them to the target company.

Waiting for them outside the office was the secretary of the target company's boss. This company was investing in real estate and was linked to Cloud Advertising Company via a personal network. They wanted Cloud Advertising Company to plan a wine party for them where they could advertise for their newly constructed houses.

All the guests invited were either

ard to meet. I've looked through the other companies' proposals and they all seemed alright. I don't understand why he's so fussy about this."

Heaving out a deep sigh, he continued, "Mr. Su just didn't like them, I'm guessing. Every time I sent him a new plan, he thought it was too simple, and I had to go looking for another reliable company. At times, after getting the proposal, he didn't even go to meet the representative from the company I contacted.

It put me in a difficult situation. A few days ago, while I was struggling to find new companies, I happened to hear Mr. Shen mentioning your company and it reminded me of you. That was why I tried contacting you, Ms. Zhao. If even you can't give him what he wants, then I don't know who else I can seek help from." With a wry smile, he went on, "I was so busy with this case that I was away from home for about a week. My wife has been complaining all the while. Please help me, Ms. Zhao."

"Sher, what do you think?" Isla turned to Sheryl and requested her preliminary analysis of the situation.

Sheryl fell into deep thought. She had to admit that she knew quite a few capable advertising companies in Y City, but if none of them succeeded to come up with an acceptable plan for Cary Su, that could only be attributed to their misinterpretation of his requirements. Their proposals may have seemed good, but the direction was probably wrong in the first place.

To make the situation worse, the preliminary plans were presented by Dillon Zhang, not by the representatives themselves, because Cary Su didn't want to meet them. Presentation by a third party would have definitely resulted in some miscommunication, so the chances of these plans appealing to Cary Su were slim.