Chapter 98 - 98

"Mr. Juan, I don't understand what you mean?" Ash asked as she pretended not to understand that Manuel was insulting one of her companions.

"Manuel." The older man scolded. "You should greet Miss Ashley's companion first."

Manuel looked at Ian and glared at him.

"Why will I greet that?" Manuel asked as he pointed at Ian.

Ian could see as Manuel's father turned pale. It seemed that Manuel had not noticed that Ash had a fourth companion aside from Ian.

"Scum like him don't deserve respect!" Manuel shouted.

"MANUEL!" His father said as he raised his voice and dragged his son away.

"Well that was odd." Ash said as she looked at Ian and Camilla. "Do you know Mr. Juan?"

Ian nodded.

"An old acquaintance, we don't get along, but I will be professional. If he doesn't want to deal with me then I can leave." Ian told Ash.

"Relax, it won't be an issue." Jake said with a grin. 

He already knew what Manuel and his father were talking about. He had seen this happen many times in the past. As a manager in the Reyes Group, he was practically invisible, but to those big clients, well, they all knew who he was.

Despite having moved to the side, Ian and his group could still hear what Manuel's father was telling him. The older man was so furious with his son that he couldn't keep his voice down. It seemed like he was going to hurt Manuel as he dragged his son to the side.

"Have I not taught you anything?" Manuel's father shouted.

"What?" Manuel asked as he looked at his father with a confused look.

Ian wanted to laugh, he glanced at Camilla and he could see how much she too was resisting the urge to laugh at Manuel.

"How dare you say that to someone who is more important than you?" The older man asked as he raised a hand as if to hit his son.

"Dad, what do you mean?" Manuel asked his father. "It's Ian Lim, how is he my better? And that woman with him, she was the one that beat your daughter up! She beat Mica up!" Manuel was practically in tears as he couldn't believe the words coming out of his father's mouth.

His father simply shook his head and frowned. To Ian it looked like he was trying to calm himself so that he wouldn't hurt his son or do anything that would bring further shame to his family.

"They are just sales people? How can they be better than me?" Manuel asked.

"Shut your mouth!" His father hissed as he struggled to control his temper. "You are making things worse."

"How dad? I'm the VP of our company, we are clients of theirs, if we asked them to send Ian and that woman away, they should!" Manuel insisted.

"You idiot, didn't you see who they were with?" Manuel's father asked, making Ash look at Jake.

Whether or not Jake heard what Manuel's father was saying, he didn't let it show. 

He simply sat casually and texted on his phone. Ian assumed he was pretending not to listen to the conversation.

"Mr. Laurel, are they talking about you?" Ash asked as she gathered the courage to ask Jake.

"Since when have you called me Mr. Laurel?" He asked Ash back with a mischievous smile. "Also, didn't your parents teach you not to eavesdrop, or at least don't make it obvious." He said with a laugh. 

"Dad, who? That bum sitting on the chair? He didn't even get up to greet us!" Manuel hissed at his father.

"Idiot, why do I have such an idiot for a son!" Manuel's father said angrily as he paced a few steps away from Manuel and back.

"Dad, you are not making any sense." Manuel told his father in a firm tone.

"Have you never seen that man before?" His father asked as he gestured towards Jake.

"No, I don't think so." Manuel said as he glanced at Jake. "His fashion choices are off, so I don't think he belongs in the same circle as us."

Ian could see a small smirk forming on the corner of Jake's lips, clearly he was listening to the father and son discussing who he was.

"Really? Will you judge a person just on what he wears?" His father asked. "Don't you see the small signs, the tiny markers showing who made his clothes?" 

"I don't." Manuel said as he shook his head.

"He is wearing Henry's work from head to toe." Manuel's father pointed out. "Do you know how rare that is? Henry doesn't design clothes for just anyone, and how can you not recognize him?"

"Dad, who is he?" Manuel finally asked, lowering his pride.

"That's Jake Laurel, the oldest and only son of the Laurel family." His father hissed. "You not only embarrassed us in front of him, you also insulted him!" 

Ian watched as Manuel turned pale upon hearing the news, he never expected to come face to face to Jake Laurel here of all places.

"What is he doing with employees of the Reyes Group? Especially scum like Ian Lim. I can't even understand what Ian and that woman are doing here." Manuel said as he glanced back at the table.

"They really can't keep their voices down, can they?" Jake said, making sure that Manuel and his father couldn't hear him.

"It seems that his father has no idea that they are talking so loud." Camilla said with a grin.

"Jake, what are they saying? I don't understand." Ash said with visible confusion on her face. 

"I'll explain after. Let's get a coffee or something." Jake said with a grin. "Do you think you can get us a table at that residential building, Ian?" Jake asked.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that Jake was asking if they could have coffee at Solaire Tower. 

Ian simply nodded and took out his phone and texted the restaurant to inform them that he and Camilla would be coming over for coffee with some friends.

Before leaving this morning, he had saved the numbers of the restaurant, the receptionist, and the maids in case they needed anything.

Based on how the past few weeks of work had been, Ian already expected to have a long and tiring day ahead.

Ian and his group watched as Manuel's father scolded him, Manuel seemed to be quite embarrassed for insulting Jake and not realizing who he was.

After what seemed to be five minutes of Manuel's father scolding and berating him, they returned to the table to join Ash, Ian, Camilla, and Jake.

As they approached, Ian, Ash, and Camilla stood up as a sign of respect.

"We are sorry about that." Manuel's father told Ash.

"It's alright sir, I'm sure it's a private matter." She said in a professional tone as she smiled at the father and son duo.

After hearing the apology, Jake stood up and offered them a smile.

"Mr. Laurel, we would like to apologize for how my son acted, he wasn't referring to you." The man said as he and Manuel bowed towards Jake.

"Then I don't think you owe me an apology." Jake said in a cold tone, one that shocked Ian, Camilla, and Ash. 

Normally Jake was a happy and easy going person, he was rarely serious, and even when he was you never felt as if he looked down at you.

The aura he was giving off now was completely different, it was enough to make a grown man keep his head down in fear. 

Jake smirked at Ian, realizing that Ian was observing his actions. 

"I don't understand what you mean, Mr. Laurel." Manuel said in a respectful tone as he avoided making eye contact with Jake.

"Well, you just said that the insults weren't directed at me, correct?" Jake asked as he challenged Manuel to lie.

"Yes sir. They weren't for you." Manuel said in a shaky voice.

Ian wanted to laugh as he heard Manuel, it was as if the man wanted to cry or wet his pants. For some reason he truly feared Jake.

"It was meant for someone else, sir." Manuel added as he stole a glance at Ian.

"Then you should apologize to the person you insulted." Jake said as he glared at the father and son. He was challenging them to refuse his demands, he knew that he had the upper hand.

It seemed that this was the very scenario that Jake was sent to deal with. Marco knew that the Juans would be cocky and would try to abuse what leverage they had against Ian to not only abuse him, but to get a better deal as well.

With Jake in the picture, they wouldn't dare use that leverage.

"Sir, with all due respect, I can't." Manuel said as he refused to do as Jake asked.

"Then you insult me as well." Jake said as he crossed his arms on his chest.

"Sir?" Manuel asked, confused as to what Jake meant.

"They are my staff, my employees, members of my team, so in a way, they are an extension of me." Jake explained. "You not only insulted them, but you insulted me as well."

Ian grinned as Manuel glanced at his father. 

Clearly they were at a loss as to what to do.

If they apologized to Ian, they would be letting their pride down. If they refused they would be insulting Jake.

The question now was, which was more important, their pride or their fear of Jake.