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Although the name of the Gray Wolfe Corporation carried a lot of weight in both Sam and Noelle's hearts, that wasn't so for Emilia at all.
She knew that even if this corporation had a mighty momentum now, in the previous timeline, the Black Tiger Corporation had ended up replacing their top position without much effort. And this wasn't because of Black Tiger's excellence, but Gray Wolfe's faults instead.
The exact detail of what exactly led to their downfall wasn't something that Cynthia had been able to look into while reviewing the timeline, but one thing they could be sure of was that shortly after the Black Tiger made their White Deer go bankrupt, they rose to become the number one in the world.
While Emilia could also take a similar path and simply focus on Black Tiger first, she preferred not to let a chance that presented itself pass just like that.
After all, not grabbing the meat presented in front of her was the same as leaving it up for her future competitors, and there was no way to be sure that things would really go the same way as the previous timeline.
As far as she was concerned, the fall of the Gray Wolfe's momentum must have had something to do with the discord between the 'siblings', and might also have involved the number two corporation in the world - the Golden Eagle.
To be a good fisherman and take full advantage of their future conflict, Emilia knew that she had to first get herself involved with one of the parties, or she would be too far from the pond to even send her fishing line in.
This way, even if she wasn't able to make the White Deer stand at the spot of number one in the world after she was done dealing with the Black Tiger, she probably wouldn't be too far off from her goal.
Of course, she couldn't stick herself to a crumbling pillar like Alexander. But he didn't know that.
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Although Mr. and Mrs. White were still leading the White Deer Corporation in major projects, they had already made their intent to pass everything on to Sam more than clear. This much was clear even to outsiders, which was why no matter how 'favored' Emilia seemed to be, most people knew that the real power was all in her older sister's hands.
Of course, as long as Sam also continued showering this little sister in her favor, it wouldn't matter, but who is to say what would happen in the future? It only took one man to split two sisters apart, changing them from loving companions to mortal enemies.
This kind of plot had played out in front of people's eyes more than once, and most were sure that if that kind of thing happened — unlikely as it was — Emilia was bound to lose everything. And even if such a scene never played out, would the two sisters remain so close after they got married and separated? There was no way that would be the case.
This was what most people in the Oriana country's high society thought, and the same went for those few outsiders who bothered to and were capable of looking into such matters.
Alexander Gray was no exception.
Although he no longer had the manpower and resources of the Gray Wolfe at his disposal as before, he still kept an eye on people of the same level as himself whenever he could.
Naturally, Samantha was included in that list, and Emilia was not.
Had it been before, he wouldn't even take a second look at such a girl. After all, no matter how pretty she was, it would get boring after a few weeks of sleeping with her, and Alexander had already been through that process more times than he could count to put in too much effort.
But after being 'rejected' like that in front of one of his lapdogs, Alexander couldn't calm the anger in his heart until he had this girl begging for his love as he kicked her away, her expression full of regret and longing.
Just imagining that scene made him feel a little drunk.
That was why, despite his 'friend' insisting not to meddle with such 'bigshots', Alexander still went forward with the plan to ruin this little girl who dared to hide from his sight.
As for the older woman who dared to lay a hand on him? Heh, wouldn't her face be the most hilarious when she was persecuted by the very person she was protecting?
Alexander was already thirty-one, and had been through more ups and downs in his life than the little girl could imagine, and was fully confident in being able to win her over the next time they met.
Of course, such a meeting could not be left to chance.
If he let this anger simmer in his heart for too long and let it delay the progress of Callahoun's, even those bumbling fools who were delusional enough to think they could compete with him might start seeing some hope. Even if he was stuck with the worst starting point, Alexander would never let those bastards look down on him.
This was why, shortly after Jake gave him that report, Alexander pushed his meetings back and decided to take care of this disobedient little doll first.
Anyway, if those investors knew the best place to put their money, he knew they wouldn't be going anywhere. And if they did not… it was their own loss.
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At first, Jake had been terrified when he saw his friend had no intention of heeding his warnings.
Seducing the young princess of the White Deer Corporation in the city where their influence was the strongest… wasn't that the same as seeking death?!
Unfortunately, Jake understood his friend's nature well after spending three years together, and once he made up his mind, nothing could stop him from doing what he wanted.
Jake had liked Emilia the moment he saw her, and just thinking about the little beauty he dreamed of cherishing for the rest of his life being ruined in his friend's hands made him grit his teeth in regret.
Why was this man so bullheaded?!
But then again, had he not been like that, would he have been able to make Callahoun's rise up so fast? Jake didn't think so, and he could only sigh that everything good also had its bad points.
He made the right bet in investing all of his inheritance money in Alexander's business, and seeing the Callahoun's growth made him so happy that he could even laugh in his dreams.
But at the same time, betting that Alexander would let the girl he liked 'be with him' had been the worst idea in the history of all his ideas so far.
Alexander didn't care about the gloomy and terrified expression on his friend's face as the two of them waited not far from the Imperial Academy's gates.
It was already past the time when the students started leaving, and the dark-haired man leaning back on the blue sedan drew more than a few curious looks, but no one dared to approach him.
After all, not to mention that he seemed to be more than a decade older than most students, who would knowingly seek trouble from the mafia-looking guy smoking cigarettes outside school?
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Emilia already knew about Alexander waiting outside her school, probably to make a 'deep impression' on her this time, but she didn't go out in advance, and waited for her regular time first.
Of course, she had to take a few precautions and instruct both Penny and Dixie to not break the man's legs when he acted pretentious in front of her, or her plan would fail before it even started.
Although they were confused at first, Emilia assured them that no matter how much of a scumbag he was, there was no way he could lay even a single finger on her with Noelle by her side.
However, when they actually got to the school gate, Emilia discovered that although she had reigned in her passionate little knights, Alexander's ability to seek trouble clearly exceeded her expectations.
Mrs. Macmillan's face was red from rage as she pointed a finger at the dark-haired man's nose. "Smoking in front of the school gates, how daring! What kind of influence do you plan to have on our students, huh?!"
Alexander could only stare dumbfounded at the lecturing female teacher in front of him, the already burnt out cigarette butt slack in his mouth. 'T-This woman... how dare she... how dare she talk to me like this?!'
Of course, his lack of response only made Mrs. Macmillan more furious. "You look like you're already old enough to have kids on your own, yet you do these kinds of things?! Have you no shame? What are you even here for, even?!"
After looking at the man up and down suspiciously, Mrs. Macmillan couldn't help but take a step back, her eyes wide in realization. "D-Don't tell me you're a kidnapper or something? Security! Security!!"
Some of the guards at the gate quickly rushed to their location when they heard Mrs. Macmillan's shout. "What's going on?!"
Before Mrs. Macmillan could speak, however, Jake finally couldn't bear anymore as he rushed forward to explain the situation. "This… miss, security bros, this is a misunderstanding! Misunderstanding, I say! My big bro is only here to apologize for causing a misunderstanding with one of your students before, we didn't expect to cause another. Really, we don't mean any harm!"
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