97 One condition

"We should start the discussion. I believe the other party has prepared his offers which will not disappoint the Board of Directors." Melissa said with a playful tone while looking at William.

The other men at her side laughed at what she said, but their laughter sounded like the greedy laughter of hyenas eyeing the meat of a long lost lamb.

However, William ignored the laughter and maintained his calm. He decided to let his friend deal with everything. He will not say anything, they have already discussed everything beforehand. He decided that if Melissa was not willing to accept the offer, then they would leave the meeting. His desire might but strong but William's morals as a person would not be swayed by Melissa. He would not let her control his life using the cure for his mother's disease as leverage.

William hated how other people use emotions, benefits or blackmail to control someone else' life. He was one who detested schemes against other people in order to succeed in one's career. This was why he had started to detest Melissa's attitude. He had also gotten a good idea on how Ford's wealth came to be. It may not be considered as illegal as they were able to find loopholes in the law, but they can be considered as a grey area. It was not something illegal but it was not something an upstanding person would do. Let's just say that they preferred benefits and income instead of human relations and moral standing.

His friend who was called Evan handed out portfolios to each and everyone in the meeting. He explained his power point presentation in a well-organized matter. It showed the benefits for the people inside the meeting and the benefits for the people with the same kind of condition. Evan and William knew that they need to give enough benefits to these people in order to persuade them into giving what they want. If they could have it their way, then William wanted to publicize the research to everyone in the world. However, that was only wishful thinking as these people preferred profits over the benefits to humanity. They were businesses, not a bunch of saints who work for the good of people.

They might try to say that they are holding onto the research and not releasing it due to it not being 100% complete. However, this was merely them trying to appease the public while squeezing out any amount of income or benefits for their use. This was nothing more than propaganda to avoid the discerning eyes and waves that it will cause the media once this was released.

The two head of both sides were awfully quiet. William was sitting there while listening to the whole discussion between the two sides. There was some back and forth between the two, but the person he was waiting for was not making her move. On the other hand, she looked as though her eyes are sparkling while she looked on with interest at William. She was not even listening to the proposal, only looking at William's body language.

It did not take long before Melissa lifted one of her eyebrows in annoyance as the reaction she was waiting for did not appear. William was like a stone-faced statue with no movement or emotion at all. This brought out Melissa's ire as she started tapping her fingers on the table. The person who was arguing with Evan, William's lawyer suddenly turned quiet when he heard the tapping sounds coming from Melissa. All of a sudden, both sides turned quiet and all eyes are on Melissa.

Melissa didn't seem to care as everyone's attention was now on her. She was still focusing on one person who was still not moving. She stopped tapping her fingers and clenched her fist instead.

She was annoyed.

It was not going as she has planned which made her irritated. Her face was frowning while she thought of something. She suddenly had an idea as she said, "Okay, I agree."

Everyone could not help looking agape as she said those words. Such simple words but the meaning behind it was heavy. The lawyers heaved a sigh of relief while the Board of Directors was confused as everything moved swiftly. Evan was starting to pass the copy of the contract of what they have discussed, while William could not help but looked inquisitively at Melissa.

Melissa nodded in delight when she saw William was now looking at her. He was not focused on her words which made her heart palpitate in happiness.

"But I have one condition." Melissa lifted her forefinger. Her face blossomed into a smile as she only had one person in her eyes.

Original novel by Chuchuwachuwa.