Silvia brushed her hair slowly in front of the mirror. Just like before they had a lot of events lined up the month after their marriage.
And she promised herself that she wasn't going to let things go the way they once did.
She wore the new dress that was gotten for her and she put on makeup. Something she wasn't allowed to wear in her past life because of the insecurities of her in-laws.
"Silvia-" Presol called but stopped in his tracks after he entered her room. He stared at her for a few seconds and stopped the fumbling attempt he was having with his watch. Silvia turned to look back at him. She understood why he was surprised
Even on her wedding day, she wasn't allowed to wear makeup
"And she keeps surprising me everyday" Presol thought, as he politely knocked on the door and walked in. "I wanted to ask if you had a spare hairdryer to lend. Mine actually got burnt"
"Here" she said, then handed it to him.
It was exactly a week after her new life. And she could feel the atmosphere changing. First off, Presol wasn't all into her business, but he wasn't too far away either. If there was something needed, she could call for him and he would answer.
And she wondered what made his character change
Had she altered anything?
Even if she did plan on leaving him, she had to meet his relatives first. After all, if she did alter a few things then it should likewise affect that.
..............
Silvia got down from the car and gently closed the door behind her. Then Presol followed after. She was nervous yes, because around this time in her past life, Mrs Manah still had the upper hand in intimidating her.
But she wasn't going to allow that this time.
She walked into the Manah Estate with Presol and the door was already opened for them. With maids, waiting at the left and the right hand side.
She remembered the scene perfectly. She would go in with Presol, have a very unpleasant and clearly unwelcomed greeting, then after Presol excused himself to attend to a meeting with a fellow worker, Mrs Manah would intimidate her and hit her on the spot, minutes before Presol came back in.
But now she had other plans. Besides contemplating on what to do with the marriage, she decided that if she was going to stay, she was going to do it right anyways.
She still had a week left before she got a response from the fashion team. Which was more than enough time to change whatever she wanted to.
This wasn't just any meeting.
It was also an extremely important business meeting between Presol and his uncle.
Silvia had never really meddled or known what Presol's company or business was all about. All she knew was that it was enough to keep the bread on the table. In this life though, bread wasn't the only thing that could keep her steady.
She wanted a share of the company
And a part of it.
And who said she wasn't educated?
She had already gone through Presol's Company online. A manufacturing Company of Smart Grids. And fortunately for her, her husband has the highest market sales since the year started
Which meant interfering could bring enough change to start something productive for herself.
They immediately went in and met Mrs Manah sitted on the couch with a cup of tea in her hand. A very young middle aged man sat on a couch opposite her and his face brightened a little after seeing their faces.
"Good afternoon nana" Presol greeted and made his way to sit. Mrs Manah was shooting daggers at Silvia, and she gave her stares back. Enough to make the lady feel uncomfortable.
"My lovely grandson" She greeted back
"Good afternoon" Silvia greeted coldly, knowing that was enough to get on Mrs Manah's nerves.
The bold look on Silvia already brought up the most horrifying expression the woman could produce.
"This is my first time meeting the bride" His uncle said happily, and stood up to hug Silvia.
She politely hugged him back with a warm smile.
This was actually her second time meeting him. David Manah.
David was nothing like the rest of the family, and was the also the sweetest and the richest. David once stood up for her at an event when Mrs Manah tried disgracing her once, and she never forgot that.
He was married with two children and was extremely young. Unfortunately she never got to meet the children because they went abroad soon after. And Presol's family did everything in their power to keep David and his family away from Silvia.
He spoke to her during that period.
And she had never felt so seen. Unfortunately even back then, there was so much she couldn't say .....
"I'm happy to finally meet you too" she said. David politely let go and went back to his seat
"Uncle" Presol greeted.
"Presol my man" he smiled back. Look at you, bagging one of the world's most beautiful baddies. What are you leaving the remaining with?"
Presol laughed. And so did Silvia, that was the first compliment she had gotten in a long time.
Mrs Manah's face twitched.
She was clearly uncomfortable with it but there was not much she could do because everyone was there. How dare she try to go beyond the restrictions that the family had given her?
And nothing irritated her more than the red lipstick on Silvia's lips.
It was too .... bold
"If you ask me..." Mrs Manah suddenly said "her dressing is a bit too bold"
Silvia smiled. The old her would have probably panicked or apologized immediately, right after feeling embarrassed
"Well with all due respect, nobody asked you" She replied.
Mrs Manah instantly felt her face go white. Everyone in the room was silent and Presol and his uncle gave Silvia a surprised look
"How dare this insolent girl insult me? Because you have a filthy exposive dress on, you think you can -"
"Hey nana, it's alright" Presol interrupted
"How dare you tell me it's alright? This girl insulted me"
"Well she wouldn't have if you didn't talk." Presol immediately defended "Seriously nana, no one asked you"
Mrs Manah felt her entire face flush red with embarrassment.
"Presol, you are insulting your grandmother for this girl?"
"This girl ... Is my wife"
Silvia immediately became shocked. She knew Presol didn't interfere in her business, and she guessed that maybe a few of Presol's feelings were altered. But for him to speak up against his mother he had never said anything to, for her ....
Of all people
Probably the last person he'd expect to do anything for.
"Common mom" David immediately interfered. "They have a purpose for visiting and there is nothing wrong with Silvia's dressing. She looks decent. And besides it's all the rage this days. She's extremely young, she deserves to enjoy her marriage with her husband. Do you expect her to be acting 60 at 22?"
Mrs Manah couldn't believe it. She stared at the two in disbelief, then at Silvia
What had she done to her children?
"We know what we are here for and it's not Silvia's dressing" David said as he brought out a blueprint of a design.
Silvia couldn't feel more satisfied, watching the defeated look on her face added another part to her morale that wasn't there before.
Mrs Manah couldn't react anymore. Besides the family meeting, they came around to discuss business. And seeing that only one son was around, she had to represent the other. And she couldn't afford to drive Presol and David away.
Especially since they were cn Silvia's side.
"So what is the design about?" She asked
"It's the blueprint of the new design we wanna create. But it's incomplete, this is just the 40% version" David replied
"Well I thought Peter said he was going to finish it up"
"He's been having issues Presol, apparently, it's been difficult to get the spare parts that would be used for the design. So they are thinoing of altering it"
Mrs Manah sipped her tea. "What about the budget?"
"It depends on the new exterior. They were thinking of working on the outside more than the inside ...."
Silvia didn't know much about Smart Grids or the market value of Electrical Spare parts. But she did learn a lot about business and knew a few things about Electronics after her father's passing. She also knew a lot during her isolated days of marriage.
Sometimes the power would go out and then she'll find herself fixing things that she had no idea about. Till she eventually learned through manuals and the books she would tell the delivery man to help her buy each time he came around.
Presol squeezed his face"So what's the exact problem?"
"We need gallium for the PMU. And I know a place it could be seen. But the main problem is, the suppliers aren't willing to drop it easily. I spoke with our partners in China and the supply is basically impossible to get in the next 7 years due to the high demand. We weren't early"
"So what do the suppliers want? How much?"
"That's the problem kiddo. They don't want money, they want shares"
Mrs Manah stole a glance at Silvia, then gave a satisfied smile. She knew Silvia would probably not understand and that was exactly what she wanted
To mock her
And she was enjoying seeing how silent Silvia was
"How much shares?" Presol asked
"About 30%"
"That's high"
"Exactly. They want to be a part of the project, or they wouldn't leave it"
"Where exactly are they from?"
"The outskirts. Apparently recently they're government has been in partnership with the U.S and they've had their decent share of electricity "
"Well tell those peasants that we aren't giving them anything" Mrs Manah was saying "they want to bite off more than they can chew"
Silvia looked at the blueprint, then rose up her hand, immediately everyone gave her attention
"If you don't mind, can I make a suggestion?"
"Feel free" David allowed
Mrs Manah got angry "What could an illiterate like you possibly have to suggest?"
Presol had to admit that he was also surprised. He heard before his marriage that his wife wasn't the educated type
"Let's hear what she has to say" Presol said. She shot her husband a warm smile
"Thank you " She replied. "If they've only recently gained access to electricity due to lack of a stabilized government earlier. It's still quite possible they lack a lot of things. They most likely want to use the shares for their small country's benefit. How about you give them a 15 to 25% shares with a supply for a whole year and possibly aquintanced generators?"
David's face immediately brightened, and Presol found himself looking surprised
" Why didn't I think about this?"
"Silvia ..." Presol immediately shouted "You're a genius"