The Billionaire's Promise
Chapter 188: Are You Not Jealous?

Chapter 188: Are You Not Jealous?

"I thought you are going to discuss your proposal? You can discuss it while we are having lunch." Erik frowned when he noticed Katherine looking at his hand. Based on her look, Erik could guess that she wanted to ask but hesitated.

Katherine cleared her throat. She started to discuss the marketing plan she crafted for the Galaxy Theme park. Erik frowned as he continued to listen. It was obvious that Katherine did not put a lot of effort into the plan. She was talking nonsense.

"Your plan has a lot of flaws. You can work with Roy to improve that and then schedule a presentation next week." Erik put down his cutlery and drank a glass of water. He was done eating. Katherine on the other hand was only halfway through her food.

Erik took his cell phone from his pocket and checked his messages. Then his hands became busy as he tapped on his cell phone. He was texting someone.

Aryana: How is lunch?

Erik: Good. I don’t have much appetite.

Aryana: How is Katherine’s presentation?

Erik: Sloppy. Even a high school student can do better than her.

Aryana: I guess she is not prepared. It is just an excuse so she can date you. smiling emoji

Erik: Are you not jealous?

Aryana: My lower body is still aching now. With what you did to me last night, why should I be jealous?

A smile appeared on his face when he read Aryana’s message to him. He did not reply anymore. The scene of what happened in the kitchen after they finished cleaning the dishes appeared in his mind. It was her fault after all. Why would she wear something that could easily be pulled up and had such a low neckline that showed her ample bosom when she bent down? Besides, both of them were busy in the last few days and they hadn’t done that for a long time. Erik had missed her, and last night, he had his fill.

Katherine has never seen Erik smile before. He always looked stern and aloof. The smile made Erik look gentle and she was mesmerized by the handsome face before her that Katherine looked at him like a lovestruck fool.

She imagined herself caged in his strong arms and her lips nibbling those thin lips of his. She lowered her gaze and it rested on his chest. Erik has taken off his coat and placed it on the chair so he was only wearing his long-sleeved shirt. Katherine could tell that the chest muscles beneath the white shirt must be strong and firm.

Katherine’s gaze went back to his lips. She has a strong desire to taste those lips and to have his tongue inside her mouth and also in her most secret place.

Erik suddenly felt uncomfortable. He looked up and he meet Katherine’s gaze which was full of lust and unbridled desire. Erik felt disgusted by the way she was undressing him with the way she looked at him.

He gazed back at her fiercely. His face grew colder by the minute.

Katherine looked away. She realized that she did something wrong and wanted to apologize.

"I am sorry Erik. I am just carried away at how handsome you are when you smiled." She spoke coquettishly.

"Please call me President Lee, when we are discussing business matters, Miss Lustre," Erik said coldly. "If you are done eating, let us head back."

’What a shameless woman. She looked like she wanted to swallow me whole earlier.’ He muttered under his breath.

Erik stood and took the coat from the back of his chair. He slipped into it and carefully smoothened the creases while waiting for Katherine to stand up.

Katherine wanted to spend more time with him but he was already standing up and he looked impatient. He kept on twisting the ring on his finger.

Katherine stood up and gathered the courage to ask him. "Erik, I mean President Lee... that ring on your finger, is that a wedding ring?"

Erik regarded her with a piercing gaze. "What do you think?" then, he turned around and left for the elevator. Katherine was almost running to keep up with his long strides.

"We all know that you are single, so that is not a wedding ring." She said while panting.

Erik just chuckled. When the elevator opened, he stepped in without waiting for her to get in first. ’This woman doesn’t deserve a gentlemanly act.’

"Thank you for the lunch Eri.. President Lee. I did not know that there is a good restaurant at the top of our building."

Erik just hummed and did not pay attention to her anymore. He was checking his email messages. When the elevator dinged, he got off without saying a word. Katherine clenched her fist. She did not know how did he offend Erik. Was it wrong for her to look at him with admiration?

When Erik arrived at his office, Camille told him that his father and Cassie were waiting inside his office.

Erik sighed. ’What an unlucky day.’

He gave his father and Cassie a polite nod before sitting down on his chair in a lazy manner.

"Erik, we are having problems with Timeless Beauty." Cassie passed him a stack of printed paper.

Erik casually leafed the pages. He was not bothered at all.

"While the sales are good, it is just a break even." His father was a bit apprehensive. "Do you have a way to turn this around? After all, we own shares in the company." Henry Lee invested a lot of his personal savings and he would lose a lot if the company did not make money.

"Have you heard about CoChi?"

Cassie stiffened.

Henry Lee has a blank expression. Apparently, he has not heard of CoChi.

"CoChi started with the e-commerce platform. Even up to now, they don’t have a physical store yet. They kept their expenses to the minimum and so they made a lot of profit."

Erik leaned back on his chair and studied the two people sitting on the other side of the table. They did not intend to say anything but wanted him to continue. Cassie clenched her fists tightly and her palm started to hurt.

’So even Erik is talking about CoChi?’ she thought bitterly. ’Will he think that I am incompetent?’

"Their market is not limited by geography. They also allow their customer to do minor modifications to the design, making their customers feel that they co-own the product and thus they develop an affinity to the brand."

"Are the CEO behind CoChi?" Henry Lee asked him.

Erik snickered before shaking his head. "Fashion is not my forte."

"Then, how do we resolve the issue of Timeless Beauty?" Henry asked impatiently. He only wanted to make money.

Erik looked at Cassie. "What happened to your plan of coming up with a team to focus on eCommerce?"

"I.. I ... haven’t recruited yet." Cassie stammered.

"You should prioritize that. Get a professional to put your products in U-Shoppe and focus on online promotion."

Erik glanced through the report again.

"Have you ever thought that your store is overstaffed?"

Cassie did think that she hired a lot of people as she wanted to offer the best customer experience.

Erik seemed to have read her thoughts. "Putting a lot of people doesn’t necessarily mean that you are giving the best customer experience. You need to find a balance." Erik sounded like a professor teaching a college student.

Cassie looked down feeling embarrassed.

"I remembered you had a good business plan. There might be something wrong with the execution."

"Well, this is only my first time handling business. I am thankful that I have you to coach me. I’ll try to correct the problems and will work harder to earn profits so I can make my shareholders happy."

Erik frowned. There was something with Cassie’s mentality. How could he previously think that Cassie has good business acumen? Maybe someone else prepared the business proposal.

"Before thinking about your shareholders, you should think about how to make your customers happy. They are the ones bringing the money after all. The happier the customers, the more money you get and the bigger chance for you to earn profits." Erik acted like a CEO scolding his subordinate for a lousy performance.

Cassie’s face flushed. She was embarrassed. She felt so small in front of Erik.

Henry envied him for he was so good at dealing with business. When Gaeya Corporation was given to him by his father, it was Erik’s mother helped him manage it. His first wife’s family was also in the real estate business. When they got divorced, he almost got Gaeya Corporation to the brink of bankruptcy. It was only saved when Erik was forced to become the CEO at a young age and he used his mother’s inheritance to inject funds into the company.

Did Erik inherit his business acumen from his first wife? No, it must be his genes. George Lee was a legendary figure in the business so Erik must be this good in business because it was his blood running in his vein.