Chapter 84 The Future Project

Five years later...

The city had changed considerably. Stephen drove his car to the cemetery situated in the suburbs, with a bunch of flowers. As he got off the car, he saw John standing in front of Emily's tomb, with his assistant standing beside him.

Stephen walked up to them.

Seeing that Stephen had also come there to visit Emily, John turned to his assistant, "Wait for me in the car."

"Okay, sir." The assistant followed his instructions immediately, turned around and left.

Stephen approached Emily's tomb and placed the flowers he brought in front of her tombstone. Her photo had discoloured, turning yellow under the sun but Stephen did not care too much for that.

"You come here to visit her too", commented John.

"Yes", Stephen nodded and turned to John, "how you doing these days?"

"Fine, as always. How are you?" John replied politely, just the way he would to his best friend.

"Always the same, " Stephen answered monotonously.

John paused for a short while, and then continued to ask with concern, "My uncle... did he do anything to you recently?"

John clearly remembered that Jackson had been instigated against Stephen five years ago. For some unexplainable reasons, Jackson had been opposing Stephen, no matter what he did, giving him no chance to exhibit his abilities so much so that Stephen only managed to run a bar now, and in that too, the business was not doing good.

Taking a deep breath, Stephen questioned, "Who can stop him from doing whatever he wants?"

Stephen did not want to say too much to John. Though their relationship was not so frigid, John was still Jackson's nephew, and during the past years, Jackson had been doing all those things to him just out of spite for Cherry's leaving him. He had endured Jackson for a long time, only because he cared a lot for Cherry. He was willing to tolerate everything for her, regarding her as someone who made all the efforts worth it.

John couldn't help but tap Stephen on his shoulder, "That's what my uncle is like. You should have seen it long ago. Maybe, this will change when he looks back at what he has done."

Stephen knew that John comforted him out of kindness, so he made a wry smile towards John, "That's okay. How would I be called a man if I cannot deal with this kind of frustration?"

These words made both Stephen and John laugh together.

"Do you come here to visit Emily?" Stephen asked.

John nodded, turning his gaze to the Emily's paling photograph, "Yes, now that Cherry has left this city, I should take the responsibility of visiting Emily on her behalf. Their relationship, while they were together, was too good to describe in words. It is an honest truth that Emily holds a special place in Cherry's heart."

Stephen stared at the tombstone, said, "yeah, Emily was a dedicated person, I saw it when she worked for me."

After standing for a while in front of the tombstone, Stephen and John left together.

On the way, John asked Stephen suddenly, "Do you intend to take part in the Future Project this time?"

"Of course! Why would I miss such a good opportunity to earn money?" Stephen's answer was direct. The Future Project was the biggest busin

When her boyfriend betrayed her, all light and joy was gone from Cherry’s life. Deserted, bereft of hope, she married a man that she had barely met, but she had never expected him to be her ex-boyfriend’s uncle.

Cherry thought that she had finally found her happiness, but she had no idea about the dark secrets that were bound to unfold and haunt her forever...

anxious. He couldn't believe the little girl could refer to such petty things while they were about to talk about something so serious!

Selina glared at Derek impatiently, and then turned to Jackson, "What do you want to drink?"

"Latte." Jackson only had one word to say.

Derek continued his silence, his thoughts always in sync with Jackson.

Selina also understood what they meant, went up to make two cups of coffee on the other side of her chamber and brought them back to Jackson and Derek sitting on the sofa.

"Are you done with today's work?" Jackson asked as he sipped his coffee.

"Yes, just waiting for you two to talk about the Future Project", said Selina.

Jackson and Derek was very quiet. After a while, Derek turned his gaze to Jackson, indicating for him talk first.

Jackson looked at Selina, and asked coolly, "What's your opinion?"

Selina spoke, thinking deliberately, "Assessing the current situation in the business arena, almost every enterprise is fighting fiercely for the Future Project. But it can't be seen as a bad thing for us because if we get the Future Project, we will get the chance to acquire a number of small companies. The Future Project will not only help us earn money but will also do good in promoting our brand. The acquisition of these small companies will bring in an unforeseen income as well."

Derek nodded, thinking how right Selina was in what she said. It looked like his sister's business acumen was growing comparable with that of Jackson.

"Amidst this fierce competition, is there an opponent for us?" Jackson asked.

Thinking about it for a minute, Selina shook her head, and said, "There is no opponent for us as of now. Even some of the biggest firms do not stand a chance in terms of qualifications in comparison to us. However..."

Selina seemed to be reminded of something, but she did not speak it out loud.

"What?" Derek asked impatiently.

Jackson looked at Selina, nudging her to continue with her words.

"The Shen Group may take part in the competition, and..." Selina turned her eyes towards Jackson, "it is the same with Stephen."