Standing Right Next To You - Chapter 376

“What do you think that you are doing, Talia?” The new man who had entered the room interrogated when he saw his daughter sitting on the couch.

The man who was supposed to be the owner of this office was standing at the side with his head bowed while the intruding woman who had no work in this part of the building was seated in comfort.

Talia Zheng pouted at her father who had indirectly questioned her for appearing in this room.

“Aren’t I Zheng Group’s liaison with the Ming Enterprises for this project?” She muttered in an aggrieved tone while batting her lashes at the man.

Henri Zheng, the current patriarch of the Zheng family, the CEO of the Zheng Groups, and also Talia Zheng’s father sighed when he saw his daughter’s adorable face.

‘She is such a good child but when it comes to that man she becomes crazy.’ He shook his head as he recalled the previous behavior of his child.

Talia was his firstborn child so the love in his heart for her was immense but at the same time, he knew that this same love had spoiled her rotten.

He had given to her everything that she had ever desired so she never learned what it felt like to be denied something.

The first she was denied something was when that man, Reuben Ming had declined her feelings which she had expressed after much contemplation.

‘That was the beginning of her stupidity to chase after him.’ He scoffed at her as he stepped towards her.

Talia was worried that she would be yelled at in the presence of this mere servant of their company which would be tragic for her dignity and pride.

Thankfully, nothing of that sort had happened when she noticed that her father took the seat beside her in silence.

He then looked up at the man who remained standing at the side with his head bowed.

“This is your office, Wang so what do you think that you are doing? Standing there like a statue instead of working at your desk?” Henri Zheng jested as he pointed at the desk by the wide windows.

Peter Wang, the man who was Zheng Groups’ representative in the project with Ming Enterprises nodded in surprise and moved towards his desk.

He was expecting his boss to kick him out to have a secret conversation with his daughter but none of that had happened.

‘Well, I am glad he is here!’ Peter exclaimed as he shot a glance at the woman with trepidation apparent in her eyes.

This heiress was someone he feared as she was scary in his books.

Given the orders from his boss, he did not hesitate to return to his work and tried his best to keep a low profile while the father and daughter spoke to each other.

Making sure that Peter had gone back to his work, Talia turned and smiled at her father to get on his good books.

He was a doting father but in recent times, the stress of the company which was dwindling and her repeated missteps in chasing Reuben had caused him to be harsh with her.

“Why are you here?” Henri repeated his former question as they sat on the couch in someone else’s office room.

Talia raised the file in her hand to indicate why she had arrived her.

Ever since her encounter with Reuben and the wretched woman who had stolen her place beside him, she was bent on proving her worth to her loved one.

The thought of the mocking face of that wicked assistant, while he informed her about the successful signing of the project without her presence, was still vivid in her mind.

The statement that Mathew Kim had made was the proof that she was not worthy of being associated in the signing and that they were just fine without her.

‘I have to prove them wrong!’ She gritted her teeth every time she thought of the insult she faced on that day.

Not only had her plan to destroy Lina’s reputation at the tea party been wrecked thanks to the timely intervention of Mrs. Moira Huo and Wayne Luo but also the fact that Lina was getting closer to Reuben with each passing day was a great thorn in her chest.

Her hatred for Lina was equivalent to her desire to show everybody that she could be someone that was needed for the project between the two companies.

With this intention in mind, she had headed to Peter Wang’s office as soon as she arrived at the Zheng Groups building.

Henri was informed every time his wife or children made an appearance at the office but today, even after waiting for long he could not see his daughter making her way to his office room.

Upon further investigation, he was told that she had headed for Wang’s office instead of coming over to look for her father like she would usually do.

Therefore, the father had feared that she was causing a scene over at the employee’s office and had rushed over only to find her reading the files.

Though the scene was beautiful to him as a father, there was also anxiety that she was here for the wrong reasons.

“I have never seen you touch a single file before so what’s different about this one?” He questioned as his eyes traveled to the file.

This file would be considered as their Zheng Group’s saving grace after their recent decline in the industry.

His trusted employee, Peter Wang had to assemble a group of talented new recruits to put together a project that had succeeded to catch the attention of the Ming Enterprises’ CEO.

‘I was right to put him in charge of this.’ He reckoned and was proud of the wise decision he had made.

When Talia had heard of the progress of this project, she had thrown a massive tantrum and demanded that she should be included in this project.

“You know why, Daddy…” Her soft and shy whisper reached his ear, bringing him out of his thoughts.

“Reuben…” He muttered back and saw her blushing nod.

If it wasn’t a contract with the Ming Enterprises then Talia would not have looked at it twice.

But the reaction was different because it was something related to the man she was madly in love with.

“Talia, the only reason why I allowed you to be associated with this project is that you promised not to go overboard with your behavior.” He reminded her of the promise she had made when she begged to be added to this project.

She had lured her father with the promise of getting closer to Reuben and getting back on his good books.

She had also explained that one the CEO of the big company was satisfied with her well-behaved manner, he would be lenient towards them and also consider taking on more projects from Zheng Group.

Though Henri had his doubts about her ulterior motives in this proposal, he was tempted by the profits she was placed before him.

“Reuben is the one we need to be friendly with and not Uncle Felix.” She had said at the time of their conversation, proving that she had thought about this in detail.

Felix was the past while Reuben was the present and future of Ming Enterprises and also the golden thigh they needed to grab onto to secure their future.

This was the tipping point for Henri, making him agree with her idea of joining the project to get closer to Reuben.

“Don’t go overboard.” He repeated in a stern tone following which he patted her head.

Talia’s head was lowered and her wicked smirk was hidden from her father’s eyes which was evidence that she had other plans in her mind.

She was well aware of the previous threats that Reuben had given to her father when she had gone overboard with her actions of chasing him.

This was the reason why her father was so worried that she might do something to displease the other CEO.

‘What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.’ She thought and was sure that he would be impressed once her plan worked out

After the previous plans had failed, she had learned her lesson on what worked and what did not.

Therefore, this time she would succeed at all costs.

Succeed at getting closer to Reuben and succeed at ruining Lina Yang’s reputation in his and everyone else’s eyes.