Page 57 of Falling for My Ex Next Door

“Of course,” I beckoned to Jackson, and he manipulated the device. Soon, the required data was displayed on the projector before us.

“There, our returns in the last quarter alone were a staggering 13% above S&P 500, and we are currently outperforming our competitors by a margin of 8%.”

“Impressive,” he nodded, his eyes glued to the charts and graphs projected in front of him.

He was quiet for a moment, and when he finally spoke, I knew I had done very well once again.

“I have to say, Mr. Bradley, you have certainly piqued my interest. The results indeed speak for themselves. I’ll still need to review the details, but I think we have a deal.” He extended a warm handshake.

I smiled, pleased. “Excellent. I also look forward to working with you, Mr. Da Silva.”

“You don’t look well,” Jackson observed after the meeting ended, but he didn’t press it. I was glad he didn’t. The memories from last night’s anniversary party still hurt like a sore thumb.

Last night, as I was lost in thought, I remembered when I called Clara’s mom to tell her that Clara was in the hospital, she mentioned a bank loan and an offer for the coffee shop. She said it was causing Clara a lot of stress. Although her words puzzled me, I didn’t ask any questions at that time.

“Jackson, can you investigate a connection between a bank loan and an offer for a coffee shop for me?”

“Yes, sir. Where is the coffee shop located?”

“It’s in the city center. Here are the details.” I wrote down the address and handed it to him.

“I will start digging right away,” he assured me.

“Thank you,” I replied, feeling a sense of urgency and anticipation.

By noon, I got an unexpected visit from my father. I had stepped out, and by the time I returned, he was already sitting comfortably in my office.

We never spoke that much, so I didn’t expect him to visit for a long time.

“Fiona spoke with me after the party last night,” he was referring to the proprietress of Goulding Holdings.

“They would make it up to us, she said.” He continued.

“Hm.” I nodded.

“Well, your mother mentioned that girl was present yesterday.”

“Who?” I was confused.

“Remind me of her name again, your old girlfriend.”He said.

I thought he sounded quite condescending.

“Clara.”

“Clara,” he nodded, and then he sighed.

“Are you two back together?”

“Now, we are not talking about that!” I rose to my feet, annoyed.

“Remember, you needed to leave her to get the company back on track. She’d have been a distraction.” He groaned.

Why did he always have to see it in that light?

“She could have been a strong force, a beacon of strength if you’d given us a chance.” I retorted.

“Look, Jacob-”

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