“That’s great! Please, do that! And I’ll also try to provide him with as much information about Arthur as possible. Thank you, Warner. It’ll be a great help!” Grabbing his hands, I flashed him a grateful smile.

He squeezed my hands. “Anything for you.”

Once I was at OC Textiles, I headed directly to my office. I needed to call Tobias and ask him about Arthur. The more I knew about him, the better. And at that moment, only Tobias could help me without asking much.

“Emerald!”

Matt’s voice halted me in my tracks. Turning around, I found him jogging to me.

“Hey! What’s up?” I asked.

“A sudden board meeting came up. You need to be there. I’ve already informed the boss,” he said, huffing.

“Even though I attended every board meeting, I can’t today. I’m busy right now. Go, tell your boss.” I turned to leave.

“Wait!” He stopped me again. “You can’t miss the meeting, Em. As a board member, you have to attend.”

I frowned. “I joined the previous meetings just because your boss ordered me. I’m not a board member, just an ordinary employee like you, Matt. I think you’re mistaken.”

“What are you talking—” His eyes widened. “Oh, you don’t know?”

“Know what?”

He scratched the back of his head, averting his eyes. “Uh, nothing. My mistake. I thought you were really a board member since you attended each one in the previous month.”

A warning bell rang in my head.

“Don’t lie to me. You’re the CEO’s PA now. You should know who’s an actual member of the board and who’s not. What is it? What are you not telling me, Matt?” My gaze on him was hard.

His eyes flickered around as if looking for an escape.

“Matt! Out with it!”

“H-he will fire me. I swear, I didn’t know you weren’t aware of it.”

“Don’t worry, he won’t know anything. I won’t expose you,” I said, probing him to spill.

He shifted on his feet, looking at his right and left.

“Matt?”

“You promise you won’t tell anyone I told you this?”

“I promise. Now tell me.”

He sighed, his shoulders slumped. “You’re not just an ordinary employee, Emerald. You’re a member of the board.”

I tilted my head in confusion. “But someone only becomes a board member when…”

He nodded. “When they have a share in the company. And…”

“And?”

“And you own most of the shares of this company. The boss made you the equal owner with him in the business. Everything Achilles Valencian owns also belongs to you now.”

FORTY-THREE: TWO CONDITIONS

You got to be kidding me! An equal owner of everything he owned? That’s ridiculous! Why the hell would he do that?

Only Achilles insane Valencian would be able to answer that.