Love Slave to My Devil CEO Boss R18

“Congratulations! Wow! I’m not sure what to say…” I said as I felt a sense of overwhelming happiness.

“Let’s not celebrate too early. The announcement doesn’t happen until the day after tomorrow,” Ace said before winking at me.

The day after tomorrow?

“That soon?” I gasped in shock as my eyes widened.

Ace just grinned at me as if he had already anticipated that reaction from me. The news was a great one and one that I had been waiting for for quite a while now. Now things seemed to be progressing forward at such a fast pace that I was taken aback. The announcement of the merger would take place the day after tomorrow already and it just doesn’t feel real to me at all.

“Yup. Elizabeth and everyone involved have been working on it for a while so you can expect it to be great. Hopefully this will be good news for everyone,” Ace said while truly sounding hopeful.

Unlike the times before he didn’t sound completely confident, and I could understand why. There was no guarantee that everyone would be a fan of the merger. For the employees, it would mean a very big change that may not benefit everyone. Although I haven’t seen the organization chart of Chase Creatives, I could already guess that there were many overlapping teams that performed the same function between the two companies. A shiver ran through me, and I didn’t dare to think of the worst case that could happen.

“I’m sure that it will be fine…” I murmured more to reassure myself than to comfort Ace.

“Don’t worry. We’re all working to make sure that everyone working at both companies won’t get negatively impacted. Merging the company is going to be hard on all fronts but we still think that benefit is worth it,” Ace explained calmly.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to spoil the moment like that,” I apologized softly.

“Not at all. It’s just like you to be thinking about other people and worrying about them. Then again, these people aren’t really strangers, they are your colleagues and friends,” Ace said understandingly.

“I just hope that everyone will see the merit to this and that everyone can eventually be positive about it and take it well,” I replied.

“That is going to be challenging but it’s a challenge that all senior managers, and of course, Elizabeth and I have decided to take on. You may not believe it, but we discuss the people aspect of things just as much as we discuss the business side of things. Without the people, we can’t run the business especially in this industry where creativity is so important,” Ace explained calmly.

By that time, I had forgotten about the food and all my thoughts of taking cooking lessons in the future. All I could think and worry about was the merger and its implications and the impact that it would have on the related people.

“Everyone will be so shocked. Even I feel shocked now that it feels like it’s really going to happen,” I mumbled. 𝒃𝙚𝙙𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝒍．𝒏𝒆𝒕

“I’m sure that they will be. All managers and team leaders will have to work extra hard to ensure that we get the communication right for this one. It’s going to be a very big deal for sure,” Ace said before smiling.

“Thank you for thinking about everyone and trying your best,” I thanked him honestly.

The only thing that reassured me that things may progress smoothly was the fact that Ace was putting his all into it. Nothing was going to be easy about the merger, but I felt like I could leave things in Ace’s capable hands.

“Let me know if there’s anything that I can help you with. If there’s anything at all, please don’t hesitate to let me know,” I volunteered passionately.

“I will,” Ace said it like a promise.

I wanted to ask him so many questions related to our relationship rather than the merger but decided to hold my tongue. Ace was going through one of the most crucial stages that might make or break the deal and I didn’t want to distract him. Once this merger is decided, I wondered what would happen to our relationship. Would there be changes that I would need to prepare for?

The other thing that I wanted to know so badly was when Ace and Elizabeth could drop the act that they were dating. When the merger is approved and announced, would that be the right time to call things off between them?

I knew that asking him that now would just sound so selfish on my end, so I decided against it. Instead, I just smiled at him to show him that he had my complete support in whatever he decided to do. Although he did not tell me directly, I knew that Ace had carved out a precious portion of his time to attend this cooking class with me this evening and have dinner with me.

“Thank you for today and please do your best,” I said while meaning every word.

“Well, now that you know about it. I’ll make sure that you have some role to play in the prep work,” Ace announced with a laugh.

“I would be glad to help out. Let me know what I can do. I’ll do whatever it takes to get it done,” I said determinedly.

“You sound like a heroic soldier going out to war. Thank you for your support and your patience, Rina…” he thanked me in return.

“That’s ok. I mean, I’m not really doing anything. It’s you that’s always doing all the hard work,” I said while stammering.

“Don’t say that. We’re all working hard in our own way,” he corrected me quite sternly before he showed me a calm smile.

I thought that Ace truly had a way with words as his words tugged at my heart strings and made me feel all giddy inside with warmth and happiness. It felt great for him to acknowledge the effort that I had put in although it probably wasn’t as much or as impactful as all that he had been going through.

--To be continued…

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