Lily looked at the large, steady hand still hovering before her and tried to steady herself. She reached out and took Ethan's hand, intending to use his support to stand up, when Ethan suddenly exerted force and pulled her toward him.
Lily was immediately yanked upright, and because of the momentum, she fell straight into Ethan's chest. The tip of her nose was surrounded by a masculine scent of cologne. It was imperceptible from afar, yet the moment she drew close, she could clearly feel it.
Ethan caught her, but did not touch her indiscriminately. He merely asked, "Are you alright?"
Thump, thump.
Lily's heart went completely out of rhythm. Even so, she was certain that her reason remained perfectly clear. Yes, her reason was still very clear!
Lily stepped back, her high heels striking the floor with two crisp sounds.
She looked at Ethan and lowered her head. "Thank you for helping me."
Ethan smiled. "It's nothing. What's your name?"
Ethan's assistant, Robert, could not help but feel astonished. He secretly glanced at Ethan, then looked back at Lily.
Alright, he had to admit that Lily was very beautiful. But Ethan usually looked at everyone with only half an eye. Why had his temperament suddenly changed like this? Love at first sight?
Sensing Robert's gaze, Ethan could not help finding it a little amusing.
In this world, his assistant was also a minor villain. In short, he was the henchman of the main villain, namely Ethan himself.
The assistant was constantly trying to get Ethan to wake up, making repeated attempts to show him Lily's true face. But under the influence of the Will of the World, the assistant's efforts were naturally no more than drops in the ocean.
Lily seemed a little shy as she said softly, "My name is Lily…"
Before Lily could finish speaking, Ethan had already checked his watch and said, "The meeting is about to start. I need to go. Robert, take Lily to the infirmary to have her checked."
Before leaving, Ethan did not forget to add that reminder to Robert.
Robert was surprised, but he responded quickly. "Understood, sir."
Robert's usual job was to stay glued to Ethan's side. Naturally, that was because Robert was outstanding. He had never imagined that this outstanding assistant would now be tasked with escorting a woman his boss had only met once to the infirmary.
Robert's scrutinizing gaze toward Lily became even more obvious as he began to weigh her position carefully.
Ethan was truly far too strange, far too unlike Ethan. Who knew, perhaps this woman might even become the future mistress of this company?
Lily had not expected Ethan to have Robert escort her to the infirmary either. She suddenly felt that Ethan was not quite the arrogant, overbearing demon who looked down on others and liked to bully them, as the rumors claimed.
Ethan sat in the conference room, yet his mind was somewhat elsewhere.
Having only just regained his memories, the waves of pain in his head had not yet subsided.
He began to reorganize the events that were destined to unfold.
In this world, the reason he became an obstacle to the male lead was that their industries overlapped. Both were involved in food research and chain-store management.
Ethan's company, Efood, was the dominant force in this field, virtually monopolizing the entire City S. In the script, the male lead was said to have accidentally awakened the knowledge of the God of Cooking, obtaining countless recipes and techniques. He kept experimenting and failing, yet never gave up. With the formulas in hand, the male lead's company gradually began to show promise. However, with Efood standing like an immovable mountain, the male lead's company could never surpass it.
Moreover, the script even claimed that Ethan deliberately made things difficult for the male lead out of fear of his talent.
Made things difficult? Ethan could not help but recall his actions over the past period with a hint of amusement.
He had simply increased employee benefits, aggressively recruited talent, developed more new dishes, and rolled out customer-attraction strategies and promotional methods that a small company like the male lead's could never afford.
He did not see that as obstruction or suppression. On the battlefield of business, that was nothing more than ordinary competition.
Yet the male lead's "golden finger" was indeed formidable. He still managed to secure a stable customer base, and even gained massive publicity because his dishes happened to suit the tastes of a famous celebrity.
But he wanted more than that. He wanted to shine like the sun, and the great mountain called Efood that blocked this sunlight had to disappear. That was why there was the plan to send his lover into the rival company to seduce the opponent.
Ethan looked at the group of people arguing noisily below.
It was true that Efood collapsed because its business secrets were leaked. However, deep down, Efood was no longer what it used to be. As its dishes gradually became commonplace and lost their uniqueness, their flavors no longer delivered the same explosive impact as before.
If this continued, even without the male lead, Efood would decline in five or ten years.
The real things that would kill this company were the exhaustion of recipes and a saturated market.
The people below were still arguing endlessly, pushing responsibility back and forth, when the tabletop was suddenly struck hard.
They all jumped in shock and almost immediately fell silent.
Ethan's sharp gaze swept over them, cold and reptilian, like that of a bloodless predator.
Everyone knew that Ethan had a terrible temper. Since he had not said a single word just now, they had all assumed he had decided to ignore them.
At that moment, the second-largest shareholder after Ethan finally spoke up, slowly and deliberately. He was an elderly man who had been with Efood since the days of Ethan's father. He had remained silent until now, only turning his eyes to Ethan as he said, "The Culinary Crown competition of City S, held once every two years, is coming up soon. We didn't participate last time, and right now there's a lot of public opinion saying we're on the decline. Chairman, we need another trophy to rebuild the Efood brand and make it fit with today's society."
City S was known as the City of Cuisine. Vast in area and rich in resources, nearly fifty percent of the world's top chefs hailed from City S.
And The Culinary Crown was precisely that prestigious competition capable of changing a person's life. Winning on that stage was without a doubt the ultimate endorsement of a brand and of supreme flavor.
In his previous life, Efood had also participated, with Ethan and Efood's team of chefs leading the charge. But they had lost in the finals to the male lead, as if it were a declaration of the male lead's future rise over Efood.
It was from that moment on that Ethan officially came to hate the male lead, becoming a true villain.
In this life, Ethan was certain he would not repeat the same mistake. Even if the other party was the male lead, the male lead's company was currently in no position to threaten him. Things would only turn worse if he participated in The Culinary Crown. Right now, what he should focus on was rebuilding their brand, not going there to serve as a foil that elevated the male lead's reputation.
The shareholder was still droning on. "Back then, your father defeated all the top chefs of City S with just a single stir-fried dish and became a legend. You are his successor—"
"Enough." Ethan suddenly spoke.
The shareholder's eyes widened as he looked at Ethan, thinking that he had finally agreed to participate in The Culinary Crown to restore their honor.
But Ethan said instead, "Stop thinking about The Culinary Crown. Efood has gradually fallen behind, its flavors no longer appealing to young people. Right now, we need to focus on creating new dishes that are simple, yet easy to go viral…"
Ethan spoke at length, and the others all found his words reasonable. It felt as though the day Efood would once again reach the peak of glory had truly appeared right before their eyes.
"Then we'll be counting on you, Chairman!"
"As expected of Curtis's son…"
Praise rang out without end. At the very least, he had managed to stabilize these old foxes for now.
One by one, the group left the office. In the end, only that shareholder remained behind.
He supported his lower back and smiled at Ethan. "I was too short-sighted, Ethan. Perhaps I really am old now. What you said just now also felt very reasonable to me. It's good that you can think this far ahead. I believe that with your talent, you will succeed."
Ethan looked at him. Frank always talked a lot, but there was no denying that his heart for Efood was sincere.
In his previous life, after Efood collapsed, Frank had also suffered a sudden heart attack and died.
Ethan looked at Frank, raised his chin, and said with an air of nonchalance, "Just trust me, old man."
In this life, he would stop everything.