Adisorn let a thin, soft smile play on his lips. To the woman standing before him, he looked like a vision of gentle, heart-stopping reassurance.
"President Miling," he murmured, his voice velvety and warm. "Is there something you wished to consult me about?"
Miling bit her lip hard, her eyes shimmering with raw, unshielded pain. "KCC is being merged... I know the Chairman's word is final, but..." Her voice began to tremble. "We poured our souls into KCC's survival. And yet... the CK Group sees us as nothing more than a burden to be discarded."
Adisorn listened in serene silence, letting the quiet absorb her distress before he opened the game with a cold, hard dose of reality.
"Ms. Miling..." He leaned in slightly. The faint, masculine scent of his cologne drifted toward her, subtle and intoxicating. "I understand your dedication, and that of every KCC employee. But sentimentality is almost always at odds with the truth. KCC was once the crown jewel, the primary engine of this empire. But that is a ghost of the past. Today, CLS is the wing that will carry CK Group into its golden age. Therefore..."
He locked eyes with her, his gaze radiating a lethal, irresistible charm. "Merging KCC into CLS is the only logical way to save the collective whole. It is a painful truth, but one you must accept."
His brutal honesty, delivered through such a handsome facade, pierced her heart. Her tears finally spilled over; his beauty offered no comfort against the weight of his words.
"Is there really no other way?" she asked, her voice a fragile thread of despair. "A way where KCC doesn't just... disappear?"
Adisorn tilted his head, slowly shaking it to dismiss her hollow hopes with a soft finality. "Impossible."
Miling's last shard of hope shattered. "Then what should I do? I truly cannot accept the Chairman's decision like this."
Adisorn blinked slowly, then offered a faint, glacial smile that was as alluring as it was dangerous.
"But it's not all bad news," he said, his eyes sharpening like a honey-coated blade. "If you trust ZX Capital to handle this M&A, you won't just be a spectator watching your life's work crumble. You might find yourself standing above CLS in the future."
Miling blinked in confusion, her breath catching as she met the gaze of the man who had suddenly handed her a lifeline.
"What... what do you mean?" she asked breathlessly, held captive by his wicked charisma.
"Do you want me to help you?" Adisorn asked, his eyes projecting a magnetic force she couldn't resist.
"You... would help me?" she whispered, her voice unsteady. "What do you want in exchange?" She looked at him tentatively, searching for his price.
Adisorn leaned down a fraction more. "I simply... want to work with a leader who has a heart," he replied, his smile making her heart skip a beat. "And I believe you are the only true leader worthy of continuing the journey within the CK Group."
His warm, reassuring words acted like fuel, igniting a fierce, newfound hope within her soul.
The click of high heels echoed sharply against the marble floors of the grand hall. Miling marched into Dr. Li Ming's office with a resolute expression, no longer fearing the confrontation. The Chairman looked up from his mountains of paperwork, surprised to see the President of KCC appearing in the afternoon with such a commanding presence.
"I am here to propose the roadmap for the merger," Miling stated, her voice ironclad. "I demand that ZX Capital manages the entire M&A process exclusively—for the sake of transparency and the ultimate benefit of the CK Group."
A heavy silence descended instantly. Dr. Li Ming narrowed his eyes, staring at the daughter of his rival, who had suddenly risen to wave the flag of the very investment group he had just finished negotiating with.