The Billionaire’s Aloof Wife

Even though Wright Corporation was one of the leading enterprises in the financial industry, there wasn't a financial investor who could lead their team because most talented and ambitious people already had theirs.

In this regard, Philip had no talent for financial investment. Hence, he tried poaching other people, but it was fruitless.

This stalemate lasted for several years until Alvis' assistant called them the day before yesterday, stating they wanted to cooperate with the Wright Corporation.

Upon learning it, Wright's executives were ecstatic. After all, Alvis was almost a legendary figure in the financial industry. Consequently, they immediately arranged a meeting with him in Tesanera City's largest hotel.

Since Alvis wanted Leila to be in charge of the new project, she and the president, Philip, went to the airport and waited for Alvis' assistant—the person who would represent Alvis.

Dressed in a black suit, Leila imposed dominance amongst her crowd. Her eyes fixedly stared at the exit gate. Shortly after, a slender figure emerged and entered her sight. It was Mandy Carter.

A faint smile blossomed on her lips. She sidled forward, and instantly, Mandy saw her. Their eyes met, and they both smiled, seemingly in a tacit understanding.

Leila glanced at her father and immediately schooled her expression to keep her true thoughts under wraps.

"I'm sorry I made you wait a long time, President Clark." Mandy smiled apologetically. However, if they looked closely, one would notice no sincerity in her eyes.

"No. It's just that we came too early." Philip waved his hand and beckoned her to get inside the car.

Mandy nodded, and the three of them left the airport.

In a few minutes, they arrived at Red Haven Restaurant. The three of them alighted from the car and headed inside the restaurant.

The manager immediately greeted them. "Good afternoon, President Clark. This way to your reservation," he said and led the way, and the three entered the private room.

As soon as they were seated, Leila gave Mandy a knowing look. Then she faced her father and said, "I'll go to the restroom."

Philip nodded, and Leila went out. After glancing at the tightly closed door, he looked at Mandy eagerly. "How many years has Miss Carter been with Mr. Alvis?" he asked.

"Five years," Mandy perfunctorily replied.

"Miss Carter, would you be interested in working at Wright Corporation? Being an assistant wasn't impressive enough for a talented person like you. Coincidentally, Wright Corporation lacks talents like Miss Carter."

Mandy shook her head and smiled politely. "I don't have plans to jump ship for the time being," she frankly answered.

"If you change your mind, Wright Corporation's doors are open for you. I can offer you any position you want except the president. And if need be, I could appoint you as a project manager. So think about it," Philip cunningly poached and grinned.

"By the way," he paused and whipped out a checkbook from his coat's inner pocket.

He wrote something on it as he continued, "I don't want to embarrass you by bringing up this matter without much sincerity. Here. Take this check as a gift of friendship from me to you." Philip smiled and slid the check over to Mandy's side.

Seemingly understanding something, Mandy lowered her gaze and looked at the check. "What do I need to do?" she asked, interested.

"Miss Carter doesn't need to do anything. Just say you know nothing when someone asks you," Philip said vaguely.

As Mandy observed Philip's facial expression, she vaguely guessed something was up with him, but Philip had already composed himself before she could grasp the whole intention behind his words. In the end, she could only say, "I'll think about it."

"Miss Carter must know that you can't have money and love simultaneously. It might make you happy if you choose to love, but that's nothing but a fleeting moment. It will pass, and you'll eventually regret it. However, if you choose money, it will make you glamorous and honorable for a lifetime. I believe someone as beautiful and clever as Miss Carter must know how to make choices," Philip carelessly said.

Mandy tilted her head and asked innocently, "So, which one did President Clark choose? Money or love?"

"Young lady, if you have money, people will throw themselves at you to give you love," Philip spoke firmly.

"Well, that makes sense. Alright. I accept your proposal," Mandy agreed.

A broad grin immediately flashed on his face.

"Miss Carter is surely wise. It seems I have an eye for people." Philip laughed condescendingly.

The next day, at the Wright Corporation.

Leila stepped out with a briefcase in her hand as soon as the elevator door opened. She donned a khaki suit and exuded the air of a leader.

"Manager Wright, President Clark said you must hurry to the conference room. There are guests inside," Philip's assistant said nervously.

"Okay. You can go back to your post." After saying this, she hurried over and walked into the conference room.

Leila swept her gaze at the people sitting around the long table. She saw Philip, Uncle Johannes, Mandy, the other directors, and Sunshine.

'What? That's Sunshine and Zachary!' she exclaimed inside her head. But her face was still placid. Then she took a seat.

When she arrived, all eyes were on her. A pin-drop silence engulfed the conference room, and tension arose.

"Mr. Clark, let's get started," Zachary suddenly said. Although he was a guest, he was the corporation's principal investor. Thus, he had a say in everything.

Philip cleared his throat. "I invited everyone to have a meeting only because of one thing—" He then threw a bunch of documents on the table. "I didn't expect someone to be brazen and take advantage of this cooperation with Alvis to embezzle huge amounts of public funds by using their power!"

"What?!" Everyone exclaimed.

"Who did it?" Mr. Scott aggressively asked.

Philip shot Leila a disappointed look. His eyes glared at her resentfully, as though he was furious at her for failing to meet his expectations.

"Today, when I looked at the contract, I discovered that three billion dollars were missing! Apart from myself and Assistant Carter, Manager Wright is the only one in charge of this project," he spat angrily.

Then he turned to Mandy and pointed at the papers on the table. "Assistant Carter, have you seen this document?"

"No. I've never seen them," Mandy said indifferently and shrugged her shoulders.

As soon as they heard her, the directors and shareholders stared daggers at Leila. None of them could hide their desire to tear her into pieces.

"Lei, why did you have to do this? You'll eventually inherit this company, so why did you have to steal the company's funds? Dad planned to hand over the company to you in a few years, but this matter deeply disappointed me." Philip paused and took a deep breath. Tears brimmed in his eyes, and they became red-rimmed.

"Lei, Dad loves you, but what you did is wrong. It would be best if you surrendered yourself. I'll make up for the loss of the funds. Don't worry. When you come out, you'll still be my good daughter." Tears trickled down his cheek, which moved the board of directors.

"Leila, what kind of merit have you accumulated in your previous life to have a good father like him?" Johannes looked at her with disappointment, then glanced at Philip. He couldn't help the newfound respect for him from welling up.

"Even though you're still young, you shouldn't have done this. Last time, your father let it slide when you almost tarnished the company's reputation. But now, you even went as far as to do this!"

One after another, they kept admonishing her. However, the concerned party looked at them calmly as though this matter had nothing to do with her. A sneer was plastered on her lips as she looked at them askance.

Philip looked at Leila and felt this was rather strange, seeing the latter was calm, but he didn't give it further thought.

To complete his 'seamless' acting, he grimaced and reprimanded her. "What kind of attitude is that? I'm already wracking my brain to help you deal with the mess you made, yet you treat me with disrespect! If it wasn't for me, do you think Alvis would think highly of you, an inexperienced young lady?" he scoffed, and as to not miss a beat, he added, "Do you think you're that talented? He chose you to be in charge of this project because you're my daughter! It seems you've grown shameless and went as far as forging documents and embezzling funds!"

Leila lifted her head, and a dark light gleamed in her eyes. She slowly smiled as she tapped her fingers on the table.

When Mandy saw Leila's action on the sidelines, she immediately knew she was furious. The calmer she appeared, the more anger brewed inside her. That small gesture clearly showed that she had lost her patience.

She couldn't help but look at Philip with pity. Her lips curled up into a mocking grin.

Leila's voice was somewhat frosty as she said, "It seems Mr. Clark wasn't as brilliant as I thought you'd be. Framing me of embezzlement after winning a case over it, have you not had anything else up your sleeves?"

Philip subtly froze. The sarcasm laced in her words slapped almost everyone inside the room.

"Between you and I, you're the one who had misunderstood something, Mr. Clark." Leila aloofly reproached, adding, "If you're that curious, then I'm happy to tell you about it. I'm in charge of this project simply because I'm Alvis!"

As soon as her words fell, almost everyone doubted their ears. It was like someone dropped a bomb in front of them, making them go deaf.