The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

Chapter 432

Zane's face softened when he saw me. "His son was the one who stormed up to me and picked on my staff, yet he seems to think it was no big deal. Maybe he's under the impression that he's better than others because of his prestigious family, but in reality, aren't we all

equal?"

He held my gaze, and I nodded as I answered without hesitation, "We are."

Admiration shone in Zane's eyes as he patted my arm. "But don't worry. I'll put him in his place and teach him some manners."

Just as I was wondering what he planned to do about Shane's misdemeanor, he called Eric and asked, "Part of our ongoing contract with the Winslows has been fulfilled, yes?"

Eric reported, "That's right, but their products have fallen behind in the market and have lost popularity. As things are, we're looking to put our collaboration on hold, but we don't have a legitimate excuse."

"We do now," Zane said evenly. "I distinctly remember you telling me there are other companies whose products are of far superior quality than the Winslows'. Is that still true?"

"Yes," Eric answered dutifully.

case, we'll just have to find the most suitable partner among those companies." Zane made the

sounded conflicted as he pointed out, "We've been working together with the Winslows for years. They won't be happy to learn that we've dropped

to

agreed to the plan. "Very well,

drop the Winslows, Zane pressed, "If I recall correctly, we have a few projects

and listed the projects by name, only for Zane to say, "Scrap them. We'll look for other

a need to cut the Winslows off so ruthlessly. However, he considered Zane's farsightedness. Even if his decisions seemed questionable at first, they always turned out right

hanging up, Zane reached for my hand. He

his conversation with Eric. "You scrapped

Zane hummed as his large palm caressed the back of my hand. "Shane is a lost cause if his tantrums are any indication. The Winslows' family business will fall into ruin in a matter of

called Carlisle earlier

to take his son's wrongdoing seriously. If he were a reasonable man and offered to put Shane in his place, I would have highlighted the areas in which Shane

couldn't care less about others." Zane explained solemnly, "If we continued working together

we should cut ties before the real losses kicked in. At least then, we'd have time to look for new

stared at Zane, impressed by his cool analysis.