Chapter 160
âAlright, hereâs the deal if all goes well, we can ink the contract today,â Patricia chimed in, âLetâs lock in the plan before someone else snaps up our talent. Once we nail down the plan, whereâs he gonna go? Later on, just throw a bit more commission his way, smooth things over, and all will be well.â
Don looked at her for a good while, as if making up his mind about something big, and finally nodded in agreement.
âOkay, fine. If youâve got your eye on something, Iâd have to pull down the moon for you if thatâs what you wanted, right?â Patricia cracked up. âYou sure have the gift of the gab. If Brandon had half your sweet talk, I wouldnât be worrying my head off all the time.â
Don just smiled and didnât reply.
He headed over to Patriciaâs office that afternoon and they got the contract signed.
Truth be told, the main contract was already signed when Brandon approved the project design. Brandon held the reins of the project, but to avoid a head-on clash with Daniel and Patricia, on the surface, they were still in charge for the time being. Hence, there was also a side contract prepared to sign with them, and it stipulated that in case of any disagreement, the terms of the main contract would prevail.
Patricia, being familiar with the folks involved, didnât scrutinize the contract too closely, assuming it was based on the original agreement, so she signed and stamped it without much fuss.
Walking out of Patriciaâs office, contract in hand, Don gave it a flick with his finger.
âThe last person who didnât rate our designer has grass growing over their grave thatâs nearly two meters tall now, and here you
come.â
Don shook his head with a chuckle, wondering whether to credit Sophiaâs stealth or just chalk it up to the othersâ frailty â one by one, they were all lining up to get a face slap from her.
Brandonâs case had been an accident with no malice intended. He hadnât even planned on mentioning the designerâs name. Today, though, there was a bit of intent behind it.
Previously, Don was indifferent towards Patricia, even somewhat reserved out of respect since she was, after all, Brandonâs mom. But today, Patricia, with her know-it-all, been-there-done-that attitude, and her talk about how itâs common for small-time companies to just hang a directorâs title on anyone Don wasnât too fond of that.
Although Patricia was a bit rough around the edges with her words, she didnât nitpick too much over the design proposal.
Maybe she was just too fond of Sophiaâs work and feared that giving too much feedback might scare her away. After signing the contract, Patricia shot Don a WhatsApp message, telling him to proceed with the construction according to the original plan, no changes needed.
Patricia didnât have any objections, but Brandon was a different story.
After leaving Patriciaâs office, Don made a beeline for Brandonâs to discuss any tweaks he might have for the Zenithan-style resort project design.
Brandon was ready and pulled out the proposal from his desk, tossing it to Don.
Don looked it over, and while the general direction remained the same, there were numerous small but tedious details to be adjusted, including some aspects of the building layout and color schemes, requiring back-and-forth communication and fine-tuning.
After reviewing it, Don couldnât help but close the proposal. âHow about you just talk to Sophia directly? Some of this stuff might not be clear why itâs changed. It really needs some face-to-face discussion.â
Brandon, flipping through a report, didnât even look up. âNo need, hand it to her, sheâll get it.â
Don looked at him skeptically. âDoes she really get where youâre coming from, or is it that you donât want to deal with her?â
Brandon, still preoccupied with his paperwork, replied, âThe condition for her taking on this project is that Iâm not involved and thereâs no work-related contact between us.â
Don got it. He hadnât been fully aware of why Sophia was reluctant to interact with Brandon, but after seeing Patriciaâs attitude. towards Sophia that day, he could totally understand Sophiaâs side of things.
Patricia, deep down, had zero respect for Sophia, and it was blatantly obvious.
She couldnât even be bothered to keep up appearances.
Don figured Daniel was probably the same, just a bit more subtle than Patricia. Otherwise, Patricia wouldnât have the audacity to
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look down on Sophia.
âHave you ever seen how your parents interact with Sophia?â Don asked abruptly, changing the subject.
Brandon stopped what he was doing and looked up at Don.
Don grinned. âWith your busy schedule, Iâm guessing you havenât really noticed.â
âPatricia was at your place today?â Brandon quickly connected the dots and asked with a frown..