Bride of Retribution: Aloof Billionaire's Dominant Game-Chapter 455 - 248 Self-respect is not given by men, it is fought for by oneself.
Glorious in defeat?
To compete with such a powerful man, indeed, it’s not shameful even if you lose, after all, many have lost to him.
But she stubbornly wants to win, wants to see the world from the same height as him.
The respect a man gives to a woman is never voluntarily given; it’s something a woman fights for herself.
Because in her years navigating the world of fame and fortune, even the seemingly courteous men show excessive favoritism to beautiful women, yet respect is extremely scarce, perhaps due to their inherent nature, or perhaps those women who trade beauty for a comfortable life aren’t seen as deserving of respect.
So Charlotte Miller doesn’t want to be such a woman, doesn’t want the world to pigeonhole her as Atlas Hallow’s woman.
She wants everyone to know, her name is Charlotte Miller, she is an independent entity; even though she loves deeply, she still possesses a complete will not reliant on any man, she is worthy of the world’s most outstanding men.
After finishing the conversation, Charlotte Miller felt a bit relaxed inside; her luckiest thing is having a mom who never put too much pressure on her.
Upon entering the room, she quickly took a hot shower, gazed at the faint marks left on her body, still feeling the burning sensation of his presence lingering inside, closing her eyes to savor the tremors from heart to body.
That man led her into the world of lust and desire, and is the only one...
She doesn’t know if she will marry another man in this lifetime, but one certainty is: every experience he gave her is etched like a seal onto her body, closely bound to her forever, until the day she turns to dust.
Turning off the hot water, she grabbed a towel, dried the moisture on her body, slipped into a robe, and dove into the bed. She must seize this last bit of time for a good rest.
Tomorrow is a new day, her first official day entering the battlefield, she must invest all her energy.
In her dreams, faint images of Atlas Hallow’s handsome and earnest face rose, saying he’s always there when needed. Annoying man, he even disturbs dreams.
At six thirty in the morning, before the alarm rang, Charlotte Miller was woken by a wet kiss. She reached out with her eyes closed and pulled Mia Miller’s soft body into the covers, then gently rubbed her little head, "Good morning, Mia..."
"Good morning, mommy..." Mia’s adorable little voice climbed out from under the covers, melting her heart.
She really wanted to snuggle with Mia in bed all day, but that wouldn’t do.
Today is the first day of the battlefield, she needs to get up early and prepare adequately.
Today is a special day, April 1st.
It’s April Fool’s, but what she plans to do today is no joke.
To acquire a significant portion of Hallow Clan’s stocks and thereby enter the board, perhaps even pulling Atlas Hallow from the CEO position, is no easy task.
Back then, the most famous domestic acquisition case took nearly half a year to acquire five percent of the target’s shares before the bidding began.
(So briefly explaining what bidding means: this refers to when investors purchase circulating shares comprising more than five percent or multiples of five percent of the total shares of a particular stock in the secondary market. According to relevant regulations, they must immediately notify the listed company, the stock exchange, and the securities regulatory authorities. An announcement must be made in designated publications by the securities supervisory institution, with relevant legal obligations fulfilled.)
Charlotte Miller thought Atlas Hallow was definitely not easy to handle. Acquiring five percent within half a year to make a bid would already be quite an achievement.
But she hoped for a quicker acquisition; the longer such an acquisition drags on, the more it feels like sinking into a mire.
The little Mia in her arms seemed to sense her mommy’s heavy mood and nudged Charlotte’s chest, seemingly wanting to grab her attention.
Charlotte cuddled Mia, sat up, then kissed her cheek and said, "Mommy is going to work today, you play well with auntie and grandma, and in the evening mommy will take you out for dinner, okay?"
There’s a renowned restaurant in the city that recently opened, quickly gaining fame because the whole establishment is made of glass. At night, beautiful images of blooming flowers are projected onto the glass, and vibrant fireworks fill the room. All of the dishes are made from organic food, making it quite a sought-after place.
Annie Gray booked it a day in advance, wanting Charlotte to take Mia to see it. It’s certainly pretty, and the kids will surely be overjoyed by it.
If Annie says it’s beautiful, then it certainly must be. After work, she can return and take Mia out for dinner.
Although Mia’s health is somewhat weak, it doesn’t mean she should always stay at home, as it would stifle her.
Charlotte got up while washing her face and brushing her teeth, chuckling at how quickly she forgot she’s not home; this is Atlas Hallow’s house, she was only staying here temporarily.
Once her house is fully set up, she can move out.
Why did she decisively move in initially? Well, she was particularly exhausted on the day she returned to the country and didn’t want the hassle of arguing with Atlas Hallow. Furthermore, he is Mia’s biological father, so letting Mia live comfortably really wasn’t a big deal. In these matters, Charlotte didn’t think it necessary to be pretentious.
If a contest is necessary, then let it be for something meaningful, right?
After changing her clothes, she held Mia and went downstairs. Luna Miller was already at the table having breakfast.
Atlas Hallow had hired a talented auntie to prepare meals. Breakfast was traditional Chinese, with soy milk, fried dough sticks, steamed buns, and sesame flatbread.
Mia saw Luna eating fried dough sticks, went over, tugged at Luna’s clothes with a pitiful look, seemingly asking for some of the fried dough sticks.
"You can only have one bite, eating too much isn’t good, okay?" Luna picked up Mia and placed her on her lap, then broke off a tiny piece and put it in Mia’s mouth. The little one enjoyed it so much she drooled.
Charlotte was very gratified to see Mia slowly getting better; she can now try a taste of various things, which is a huge improvement from before.
"Luna, why not join us for dinner tonight?" Charlotte suggested to Luna; these past two years, Luna has changed quite a bit. Though still quirky, she’s less troublesome now, not causing incidents outside anymore.
Charlotte thought back to when she did go to the hospital to watch their daddy take his last breath; perhaps experiencing such a parting of life and death significantly transformed her.
The implant in her nose was removed and her face looked much more comfortable. Apart from a somewhat pointy chin, she is really quite beautiful; she should go outside, perhaps meet someone suitable.
"No," Luna flatly refused without even looking up.
"Auntie, I want to, I want to..." Mia looked at Luna’s arm with her soft voice impossible to refuse, her little face extremely aggrieved as if she was about to cry.
"Okay." Seeing Mia’s demeanor, Luna helplessly pinched her cute little cheek, which counted as agreeing.
Charlotte smiled, drank a bowl of soy milk, ate two little buns, then got up quickly, giving Mia a flying kiss before rushing off to work.
Since Charlotte returned, Howard Enterprise began recruiting proactively.
Charlotte’s office was reorganized; dozens of computers created a curved formation in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, filled with profound curves and obscure data.
Actually, the whole Hallow Clan is a group corporation, comprising several listed companies, some even listed on Nasdaq, although seemingly different they all belong to Hallow Clan.
While the Hallow Clan’s main company is listed domestically, its businesses are varied but all managed by Hallow.
To strike where it hurts, her first step was to enter Hallow Clan’s headquarters.
Hallow Clan’s stock prices have been stable, steadily rising.
After all, the yearly dividends and bonus shares yield favorable returns for investors, though aggressive traders wouldn’t favor such stable stocks; firstly, due to share stability, secondly, no one has enough capital to become the king manipulating Hallow’s stock prices, so its share makeup is extremely scattered aside from the absolute control by the two Hallow brothers, with the remainder almost entirely in the accounts of all the prudent investors.
Creating panic is necessary to make these people throw out their Hallow shares.
But where does panic come from?
