The President's Captive Love

Chapter 2: Giving a Reward

In the middle of the night, while Praewa was enjoying a relaxing soak in the tub, her mobile phone rang.

The petite woman let out a big sigh when interrupted, frowned at the name displayed, and finally decided to answer the call.

"Hello, Sister Prem."

(Oh, thank goodness you're still awake, Wa. I'm sorry to bother you at this hour, but the port in Vietnam just informed us that some goods in the customer's container have been damaged.)

"Can you explain in more detail, please?"

Her expression turned tense. She wrapped a towel around herself, moved to the living room to talk, and pulled out a notebook from her bag to jot down details.

(The fruit from the Fruity Thailand brand had their packaging broken, so when the container was opened, the fruits at the bottom were crushed. The boxes on top are still intact.) Premtida, the head of the Account Executive (AE) department, quickly explained.

"Is it just one container?"

(It's the same for all three containers. It's estimated that about one-third is damaged. I'm very stressed; we've never had this problem before.)

"Please have the team in Vietnam take detailed photos of the damage from every angle. For the undamaged goods, have them transported first. Inform the customer in the morning, and have all relevant teams meet for a meeting at 8 AM."

(Okay, got it.)

"Wa, please gather all the information as well."

(Got it, thank you so much, Wa.)

Premtida could breathe a little easier. Without an intermediary like Praewa to help investigate, she would be the one getting criticized by the customer and might have to take responsibility if she couldn't find the cause.

"Alright, see you tomorrow."

With a problem like this arising, the young woman lost the mood to continue soaking in the hot bath. She sighed wearily before getting dressed and called all the department heads involved to gather more information. It was nearly 1 AM by the time she could finally lay down to sleep.

JRV LOGISTICS

Hundreds of employees filed into the tall office building in the heart of the city, chatting and joking cheerfully, in contrast to those in the meeting room who had to arrive at the company almost an hour early. Each department head had a tense expression as the customer angrily demanded immediate compensation upon hearing about the issue.

"Fruity Thailand has been our customer for 6 years, and we've never had a problem with broken boxes before. But this time, it's happened all at once. I think it might be due to the strength of the customer's packaging boxes."

"If that's the case, then the customer is at fault. How can they demand us to take responsibility?"

"Maybe the depot staff didn't handle the customer's goods properly?"

"Don't blame my department. The customer rented the container. My subordinates are only responsible for driving to the depot. The loading is managed by them."

This led to many more arguments, with neither side wanting to take responsibility.

Praewa, the secretary, in her usual oversized long-sleeved shirt and oddly patterned long skirt, sat massaging her temples in dizziness. Her curly wig and thick glasses did a good job of hiding her irritation.

As the arguments seemed endless, the petite woman couldn't take it anymore and tried to raise her hand to speak. However, the plain-looking woman was ignored, making her want to slam the table loudly, but she restrained herself and instead pretended to knock over a glass of water.

Crash!

The sound of the glass breaking immediately stopped the arguments and drew everyone's attention. She gave an embarrassed smile before standing up to summarize the meeting.

"Alright, discussing like this won't lead to a conclusion. Could the team at the port gather evidence to see if the customer has indeed changed the packaging boxes, as the images do look different? Once we have the information, send it to the engineering team to assess the risk of box breakage if the boxes are thinner. The AE team, please coordinate and summarize the total damages. We'll reconvene in 2 hours. By then, we should have enough information."

Everyone nodded in agreement with Praewa's approach, and no one objected further, quickly going to handle their respective duties.

Before she even started work, Praewa felt completely drained of energy. She gathered all the information and returned to her duties.

Praewa took the elevator to the top floor and prepared documents for the young boss as usual. She glanced at the clock on the desk and was surprised that the young chairman wasn't there as usual.

Creak

The sound of the office door opening startled her. When she turned around, she saw the indifferent face of the person she had been thinking about as he opened the door.

Praewa quickly stood up and bowed in respect to him. Onyx didn't say anything, but his sharp eyes conveyed a hint of irritation and displeasure that she could sense.

"Uh, well..."

"Coffee."

Onyx interjected before turning back into the room immediately, leaving the secretary bewildered by his demeanor.

Praewa shook her head to clear her thoughts. The earlier meeting had taxed her brain, and she still needed to plan the next steps. She got up to make the hot coffee the young chairman wanted.

It's not that Onyx is lazy or uninterested in the company; he simply doesn't tolerate foolishness or mindlessness. He likes people who are thoughtful, know how to handle and solve situations. Therefore, when encountering problems, there must be a solution proposed, and the young chairman will decide again how to resolve it.

Knock knock

"May I come in?"

"Come in."

Upon hearing the response, Praewa bowed her head and timidly entered the spacious office. Even without looking at him, she could feel the chairman's icy gaze, making her shiver as if she had upset him.

"Here's your coffee," Praewa said, slowly placing the fragrant cup on the desk. But today, Onyx spoke up before she could report the daily updates.

"You did it on purpose, didn't you?"

"Huh?"

Praewa in loose clothing looked up, confused.

"The dinner appointment yesterday, you knew, didn't you, that Mr. Paisan was trying to set me up with his daughter?"

"Uh, well..."

"Answer!"

The stern tone and piercing gaze from behind his glasses left Praewa with no choice but to admit it directly.

"Yes, Mr. Paisan requested that I don't accompany you." She lowered her head, responding softly.

"Who is your boss, anyway?"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't let it happen again. It's not your job to match me with anyone."

"Understood."

He fell silent, took the cup in front of him, and sipped, letting the rich bitterness of the coffee seep down his throat.

Praewa glanced at her boss's demeanor again. Seeing that he didn't say anything further, she began to report the schedule to the young man as usual and informed him about the damaged goods issue.

Onyx listened to her quietly, his handsome face remaining impassive, showing no signs of irritation or displeasure. He gazed elsewhere as if lost in thought until she finished explaining. He then placed the cup down and turned his chair towards her, crossing his muscular legs under his slacks in a relaxed manner. Onyx leaned back in his chair, resting one arm on the back and the other under his chin.

"How do you plan to handle this issue?" he asked in a deep, emotionless voice.

"I think we should offer to cover about 30% of the total damages for the customer."

Praewa anticipated his question and proposed her idea.

"Didn't you say the issue was due to the customer's packaging not meeting standards? Therefore, we don't need to help cover the costs. Do you realize you're putting the company at a disadvantage?" His critical words and cold gaze might have intimidated others into apologizing for speaking out of turn, but not Praewa.

"I've roughly estimated the customer's damages to be over 300,000 baht. So we would only assist with 90,000 baht as a gesture of goodwill, before explaining to the customer that the company is not at fault and that Fruity Thailand should handle the issue themselves. Moreover, in four months, there will be a new contract signing, and we are increasing the shipping rates this year. A small gesture of goodwill might encourage them to renew the contract with us."

"..."

"..."

Both parties fell silent after Phraewa finished explaining her opinion. Phraewa discreetly swallowed, aware that her recent demeanor contradicted the persona she was trying to maintain.

The room was silent, except for the soft hum of the air conditioner. However, the overtly assessing gaze of the chairman, who stared at her unblinkingly, made Phraewa start to feel cold sweat trickling along her hairline.

"And let me know what the client says,"

Onyx broke the silence, then adjusted his chair back to the desk and began to delve into the pile of documents.

Phraewa beamed when her opinion was approved. She quickly bowed and turned to leave, eager to resolve the pending issues.

When the meeting reconvened, everything went smoothly, unlike in the morning. As she had anticipated, the client had altered their packaging to cut production costs, but it was substandard. After Prem presented the evidence to the other party, their tone noticeably softened, and they even thanked the company for assisting with the damages despite not being at fault. Phraewa's goodwill strategy seemed to have worked quite well.

The department heads looked more relieved, grateful to the young secretary for her excellent planning and problem-solving skills, earning widespread acknowledgment.

In the afternoon, Phraewa sat through another nearly two-hour meeting with Onyx. He spoke only a few sentences but managed to make the senior executives of the company turn pale, almost making Phraewa consider calling an ambulance.

Phraewa took long strides to keep up with Onyx as he walked back to his office, clutching a large stack of documents to her chest.

Thud!

But then, Onyx suddenly stopped, causing the rushing secretary to bump into his broad back and fall, scattering her files.

Onyx sighed, shaking his head in exasperation, glancing at her clumsiness with a mix of pity and amusement, before kindly saying,

"Get up quickly, and follow me into the office."

After finishing his sentence, the young president immediately turned and walked away. Praewa could only glare, silently cursing his cold demeanor in her mind as she bent down to gather the scattered files and place them on her desk.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Come in."

She sighed, trying to compose herself to deal with her own irritation before pushing the door open.

"Yes, you called for me? What is it?"

"Here."

Praewa was puzzled, looking at the shiny black card the man handed her, not understanding why.

"Why?"

"Consider it a bonus for handling the problem well. Whatever you want, just swipe this card. I'll give you one thing."

The explanation from the young president made her eyes widen in surprise and gratitude. Her slender hand trembled slightly with excitement as she reached for the luxurious credit card he offered.

"A... anything... really?" Praewa asked again as if she couldn't believe her ears.

"Yes, anything... choose wisely. You know I'm not generous often."

"Thank you."

The young woman smiled broadly, clutching the credit card tightly, her heart swelling with an unusual sense of pride from Onyx's acknowledgment. Throughout her time working with him, she had hardly ever received any praise, despite putting in a lot of effort. He would only nod in acknowledgment, but if she made any mistakes, the stern man before her was ready to cut her down with sharp words that made her want to disappear.

Onyx paused, taken aback by the secretary's genuine smile. He felt a strange hollowness in his chest. He must have been seeing things to find the clumsy girl cute and endearing. The tall figure waved his hand, signaling her to leave.

"Return it once you're done using it."

"Okay."

Praewa nearly jumped for joy as she left the room. The irritation from earlier, caused by him making her fall to the ground, vanished.

Onyx shook his head at his personal secretary's clumsy demeanor, reminiscent of a child receiving a gift. His sharp mind speculated on what she might buy after years of working for him. He hoped she wouldn't buy a house; that could cost him a fortune.

The young president had always been aware of Phraewa's dedication to her work, and her capabilities pleased him greatly. Otherwise, her salary wouldn't have reached six figures.

He pushed her to hone her skills to the point where she could meet all his needs without even being told. This time, he decided to reward her for her work as a token of appreciation.

Ding~

The notification sound on his phone went off. The young president picked it up to check, which was a rare occurrence, his usually cold and expressionless face broke into a smile.

'14:53 Credit card charge 249.00'

His secretary never failed to surprise him.