Chapter 43

In order to win a battle, you should train your soldiers.

So I am planning to teach anything I could to Ava so she could assist me with anything. I hope I can add more employees I trust soon as well. I feel uncomfortable knowing everyone in the company is my dad's people. But for some reason, I felt a connection with Ava. We might have different backgrounds but I can see a little bit of myself in her, and I want to gamble my trust on this girl.

"Ava, would you like to come with me and inspect the progress of the team?" I asked her and she eagerly accepted. It is good to know that she is willing to learn, otherwise, it will be too disappointing and I might have to look for a replacement. I don't want ornaments by my side.

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We both entered the room to inspect the progress of the project.

"Hi Mr. Brown, how's the progress?" I asked. He is the head of the Planning and development team whom I'm currently working with, and I can see that he really deserves his position. No wonder the company was able to come this far.

"So far it's good, I asked the engineering department and we might be able to release a prototype soon, but currently we can't finish the testing yet since we don't have a product model to integrate with," he explained. Since we have not found a suitable partner company yet to produce the robot or whatever product that will suit it on which we will program, we are stuck.

"That's actually what I was about to discuss with you. I asked someone to give me a list of prospective companies with whom we can work with. Here." I said and handed him the documents.

"I've checked it with Ava and we both chose the one located in South Korea. What do you think?" I asked him.

He immediately studied the portfolios and after a few minutes of browsing, he nodded in agreement. "This is quite risky but I think it might work," he answered.

"They look promising considering their progress within the past few years, though as you say, it is a bit risky as they are still new in the industry. Regardless, I'm planning to go talk to them and propose a deal by next week. Do you think that time frame is possible?"

"Yes yes, I think it's possible. Come here and take a look." I went with him as he run the program on the computer and showed me the initial prototype.

"Oh, I think it's good to go. I hope it will work with their product and hope they'll agree. Can you assist me in preparing the necessary things I could bring with me on proposing the business deal with them?"

"Sure, you can come back later, I'll encrypt this first and save it on your laptop after, I can give you this as well so you can present better," he said and showed me a mini device wherein if you push the power button, the digital prototype would show up and you will be able to control it like a real robot. "This is cool, I did not know you have already come this far. But looking at the size of it, won't it be dangerous if it was stolen or lost?" I inquired because the data it holds should not fall into other people's hands.

"Don't worry Ms. Addie, I got your fingerprint from the biometrics used here in the company so only you can open it. And I have my own as well. Also, the data is still coming from our computer and this is just the output." He said proudly, it was an honor to work with such people. I guess I just panicked for no reason at all.

"Okay then, thank you, Mr. Brown," I said and we went back to my office.

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"How is it? Do you think this project would succeed?" I asked Ava who was silently observing the whole process beside me.

"Yes Ms. Addie, I think you leading the team would make it possible," she said. "Don't butter me up Ava, are you doing it so I can hook you up with Noah?" I teasingly asked. "Ah Ms. Addie, no. I was just, uhm, I..."

"So you don't like him?" I asked again.

"I do but please don't tell him.

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And it's not like he'll notice me" She shyly said and I patted her. "Noah is a nice guy. I think you'll get along well with him.

Also, don't undervalue yourself." I don't think Noah would mind her status, if he gets to know her, I bet he'll like Ava too.

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"Ava, I just realized I still have a major problem regarding this project," I told her upon settling back in the office. She looked at me confusedly so I explained "Have you heard about my brother?" Ava shook her head and I told her about everything relevant about Aiden. "That's my problem, I don't think Dad would agree about me traveling to Korea for this project, he might think that I'm using this as an excuse to visit my brother. Considering also that the last time I went there, it was a total disaster."

"Ms. I don't think he will find a reason to disagree. If you present this idea like how you always do, he won't have a choice but to proceed with it." Ava answered.

"Well, that might be true. But what if he will agree about the company we'll collaborate with but would ask someone else to make the deal instead of me? I shouldn't mind but since it's my first project here, I would really prefer if I'll be the one to finish it. Do you think that's selfish of me?" I asked Ava.

"Hmm, I don't know someone who can do it any better than you ma'am so I don't think it's selfish at all if only you have the ability to execute it. They can't ask some of the directors or executives cause they don't exactly have firsthand knowledge about the project. Directors only care about the profit anyway, while executives have their own responsibilities. There's Mr. Brown who leads the team, but he can't deal with business partners, he's mostly indulged with their experiments and only interact within themselves." Ava explained further. Compared to me, she's more familiar with the people in our company so I'm relying on her for such matters.

"Thanks, Ava, I'll go talk to the Chairman now. But can you check first if he's free?" I instructed Ava. Thanks to her, I would now know how to answer my dad if ever he has some suspicions.

"Okay Ms, I'll go check now."

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As soon as I meet Dad, I explained to him our plans, and as expected, he is quite suspicious of my intention so I answered the way my conversation went earlier with Ava. Good thing I am prepared.

"Okay then, but how long do you think you have to stay there?" my dad asked after finally agreeing with me.

"I'm not quite sure. Later this day, I will send an invitation for a business proposal with their CEO. It might take days before we will come to an agreement. I'm still not familiar with how he does business with potential partners or investors so I'll make my stay there an opportunity to learn more about him and their company. If ever we'll agree, I'll bring the team with me there for testing and modifications on the prototype. This might take months, or weeks, depending on the compatibility with their technology" I explained further.

"You have to leave your secretary here for the meantime so she can report to you from here then. You can't just leave as you have responsibilities here as well. After I'll find another who can do such a job, I'll send her to you since there will be too much work there after the agreement and you'll need a hand," he instructed. One thing about my Dad, he would actually show he cared about you when you were doing things that he wants you to do.

"Sure sir, thank you. I'll be taking my leave then, I still have to meet Mr. Brown so I can have a copy of their current progress" I said then turned to leave. I did not expect that I will be able to convince Dad easily, and I need to give credit to Ava for that.

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"Ava, do you know someone reliable here whom I can trust with?" I asked Ava since I don't wanna let my dad decide on whom will be reporting to me. Besides Ava, I would be the one picking my people.

"There is one ma'am that I know but I think he's currently assigned to the PR department" Ava answered.

"PR department? Why would you refer someone from there? Their job would totally be different from yours. I meant someone to work under me that can help you." I explained further as she might have been confused.

"I think he would be capable Ms. We had our internship here almost the same time but he was a bit old when he started. Apparently, he had to provide for his family so as early as high school, he had been having part-time jobs that's why he graduated late. He's already in his late 20s now but he's actually good at his job. And since some other departments don't want to take him since they prefer someone younger, the PR team ended up taking him even though they already have enough staff"

"Who is he? I'll have you train him about some of the things we're working on so by the time I'll have an agreement in Korea, you have to join me there and he will be responsible for reporting to me from here"

I don't have time to search for someone and by how Ava described him seems like he is quite capable. But I need to make him loyal to me.