The CEO's Empathy Pregnancy Pains

Chapter 9 Sleeping in Meetings

Emily mulled over the report. She'd had Abigail take all the pregnancy tests for her-blood tests, urine tests, ultrasounds, the whole nine yards.

They swapped samples in the bathroom, and there was no way Michael would catch on. But Emily knew this ruse wouldn't last forever, so she had to make her move before Michael figured it out. "Relax, he won't find out just yet," Emily murmured, patting her still-flat belly. 'Hang in there, little one. We can't let Michael know, or you might never get to see the world,' she thought. After a hectic morning, she was wiped. She said goodbye to Abigail and headed home for a nap.

Maybe it was normal to be this tired during pregnancy. After sorting through some design sketches Abigail had sent over, she crashed. Meanwhile, Michael, who'd just walked into the office before noon, was feeling a bit drowsy himself. He wasn't one for naps, so he brushed it off. Having already lost half the day, he had Andrew Anderson, his assistant, rally all departments for a meeting as soon as he got in.

Andrew was a rockstar assistant, especially sharp in business matters, which made him Michael's go-to guy at the company.

Seeing Michael back, Andrew went straight up to brief him. "Mr. Smith, Mr. Brown from EverBuild Construction Group is waiting for you in the small conference room."

Michael's brow furrowed. "EverBuild Construction Group? What is it? Can anyone just waltz in to see me?" His sharp gaze zeroed in on Andrew.

Andrew knew this was a sign of Michael's irritation but pressed on, "It's Mrs. Smith's father."

Michael let out a bitter laugh. 'Great, just when I'm already pissed at Emily, now her dad thinks he can push me around?'

"Did he say what he wants?" Michael asked.

"Seems like he's here asking for an investment," Andrew replied coolly. In other words, he was there to ask for money. Michael snorted and gave Andrew a look. "Do I really need to spell it out for you?"

nodded before heading out. Not long after, security escorted

conference room was dead silent. The top brass from various subsidiaries and department heads were all there, sitting up straight as soon as Michael walked in,

Michael had a natural

silence. "Why's everyone so quiet? A week ago, I told you about Phantom Beauty coming to check out the project. Has your design department come up

we're working on the design sketches and aiming to lock down the collaboration

him, his voice cold and commanding. "I want

him, and everyone silently hoped Joshua would be okay. Joshua felt a shiver run down his spine.

way out of his league. But he

from Phantom Beauty, none were super urgent. So after grilling them about that, Michael leaned back and just listened to the other progress reports. No one saw the

But after a long silence, people started thinking Michael was just resting his eyes. He had a habit of doing that and still catching every little flaw in your

to lightly tap Michael, only to find

like wildfire through the company. Michael was in a foul mood all day. He'd always been like a precision machine, never making mistakes and not tolerating any. Falling

at Andrew after slamming a folder down on his desk when he

was confused but quickly made the call. Michael yanked

Ava said Mrs. Smith is sleeping. Do you want me to

again. She was seriously messing with his work. But he had no idea what to do about it. He pounded

wake up. Then

increasingly unbelievable. The topic was that Michael had fallen asleep during the shareholders' meeting,