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?"

out. Not long after,

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

the heir to Smith Corporation and the head of the Smith Family, Michael had a

the silence. "Why's everyone so quiet? A week ago, I told you about Phantom Beauty coming to check out the

seat. He quickly replied, "Mr. Smith, we're working on the design sketches and aiming to lock down the collaboration with Phantom Beauty." Joshua had a background in jewelry design.

fixed on him, his voice cold and

okay. Joshua felt a shiver run down his spine. At 40, he usually had a warm, friendly

was way out of his league. But he had no choice but to nod reluctantly. "Alright, Mr. Smith, I'll get those design sketches to

were a bunch of projects on the agenda for today's meeting, but aside 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

at Michael, hoping for some feedback and approval. But after a long silence, people started thinking Michael was just resting his eyes. He had a habit

up to lightly tap Michael, only to

foul mood all day. He'd always been like a precision machine, never making mistakes and not tolerating any. Falling asleep during a meeting was the biggest screw-up and humiliation of his

to," Michael barked at

was confused but quickly made the call. Michael yanked at his

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

it was because of Emily again. She was seriously messing with his work. But he had no idea what to do about

p.m. When she woke up, she felt a bit groggy. She sat on the bed for a few minutes to fully wake up. Then she heard her phone buzzing like crazy. She picked

unbelievable. The topic was that Michael had fallen asleep during the shareholders' meeting, and the messages were filled with Abigail's snarky comments