Chapter 74

Joseph didn't utter a word, his intent clearly expressed. "Darling? Won't you pay any attention to me?" Melissa, noticing that Joseph had no desire to indulge her, had no choice but to bravely place herself in front of him, and coax him with a sweet laugh. "Haven't you had enough?" Thinking that Melissa was deliberately mocking him, Joseph turned to leave. However, just as he took a step, Melissa grabbed his arm, "Don't leave! I need to ask you for a favor!" Joseph slowly turned around, gazed into Melissa's sparkling eyes and furrowed his brows with confusion. Melissa, asking him for a favor? That was a first. "Why do you think I would help you?" Joseph arched an eyebrow, unsure of what she was plotting. Melissa took a deep breath, her eyes full of anticipation as she focused on Joseph. "You have to help me. It has been my wish all this time!" "Oh? Do tell." Joseph was intrigued at what new scheme Bei Melissa had up her sleeve. After all, he didn't necessarily have to assist her. Melissa let go of Joseph's arm. Her eyes shimmered with a spec of melancholia, reflecting the past. "I heard that next Monday, Humphrey Group plans to hold its grandest press conference in three years for all major media outlets. I'd like to attend." Melissa planned to put on an act in front of Joseph, but as she started to talk, she genuinely touched a tender chord within her heart and her voice choked up slightly. "Because Humphrey group was once my father's company. I haven't been back to the country in six years and have no idea what the Humphrey group has transformed into. Therefore, I'd like to attend the press conference." Even though Joseph wasn't aware of the strategic calculations going on in Melissa's mind, he knew he couldn't immediately oblige. He had to probe further into the situation before making a decision. "Then go. Didn't grandma give you a car?" Joseph pretended not to understand Melissa's words, she wasn't asking for his permission. Melissa frowned impatiently, stuttered and said, "But there is some misunderstanding between Nancy and me now, and I can't seek her help. As for Liam...I can't go as his ex-wife, and even less possible as his future sister-in-law...So, I need an invitation." Finally, Melissa expressed her ultimate goal. What she wanted was to get an invitation to the press conference for Murphy so he could sneak into the scene as a journalist. "Why would I have an invitation from the Humphrey Corporation! My Clarkson Corporation doesn't even bother with such small companies." Joseph said indifferently, his company only cooperated with international ones, he didn't bother to pay attention to those small companies that hadn't entered the top 500 in the world. When Melissa heard Joseph's arrogant tone, she was furious inside, thinking to herself, 'why act so aloof? Your Clarkson Corporation was built by your ancestors from scratch, you're only a small manager. My father started from scratch, he's much stronger than you.' In order to achieve her goal, Melissa had to swallow her anger and tried to act like a little woman, like a kitten, gently shaking Joseph's arm and said, "You must help me on this, young master, I'll even reduce half of my reward, isn't that okay?" As Joseph listened to Melissa's request, he gazed indifferently out the window. He was quite surprised, wondering what could make Melissa take such a hard step, giving up half of her reward, that was not a small amount of money. "Melissa, what are you trying to do?" Joseph felt something was not right. He lowered his head and stared into Melissa's eyes, trying to see through her scheming heart. Facing the skeptical look from Joseph, Melissa had no choice but to play her trump card. In only five seconds, Melissa's eyes were full of tears. Hered it was, acting the part convincingly, so convincing herself was the only way to make others believe her. "I just want to recapture the feeling of my childhood, like when my father patiently answered questions from reporters at press conferences, and I, with my backpack on my back, waited for him to end the meeting and take me home... I just wanted to take a look." Sincerity and nostalgia filled Melissa's eyes. She felt as if her emotions were on the verge of overflowing if she let them linger for a couple more minutes. "Are you sure you're not doing this to meet Liam?" Joseph voiced his concern and confusion. He looked into Melissa's eyes, no longer able to maintain a cold tone. "No, I just want to see my father's former company, all for my father!" Melissa's tone was unwavering, the tears in her eyes about to spill down. Afraid that Joseph didn't trust her enough, she hastily added. "If I wanted to see Liam, I wouldn't need to go to Humphrey Group, I could just stay at the Clarkson house and have plenty of opportunities to see him, right?" Joseph hesitated for a moment and then said softly, "Alright, but you'll have to do me a favor." Blinking back her tears, Melissa quickly asked with excitement "What favor?" "Follow me." Joseph beckoned to Melissa, mysterious expression on his face. Melissa followed Joseph up the stairs to his room, feeling an inexplicable unease in her heart. She had a gut feeling that he was up to no good. Indeed, Melissa's sixth sense was right. Joseph threw himself onto his bed, kicked off his indoor slippers, closed his eyes, and lazily said "Come help me take off my socks." What? Take off his socks? Doesn't he have his own hands? Melissa opened her mouth in surprise. She wondered if she had heard wrong. Was Joseph deliberately teasing her? Given that she needed to ask him for a favor, she had to swallow her pride and help him remove his socks. Annoyed, she yanked off Joseph's socks and tossed them on the floor. "There you go." Melissa was just about to leave when Joseph spoke again. "Clean my socks, including the ones from yesterday and the day before. They're all on the washing machine in the bathroom." Joseph lounged comfortably with one leg over the other, hands resting behind his head. He watched as Melissa reluctantly walked into the bathroom. She gingerly picked up his socks with her fingers, as though dealing with a piece of delicate artwork, to combine them with the ones from yesterday and the day before. Melissa tossed all three pairs of socks into the washing machine, only to be halted by that rascal Joseph. "Wait a minute, these socks cannot be machine-washed. They must be hand-washed." Joseph, turning over leisurely and drawing out long vowels, instructed in a relaxed, slow manner. Melissa was livid. She walked to the bathroom entrance, rested her hands on the door frame and said exasperatingly. "Hey, you have all these servants in your house. Why don't you get them to do it?" "There's indeed no shortage of servants in the Clarkson family household. They each have their own assigned responsibilities; some maintain the mansion, some clean the courtyard, some trim the lawn. There is no need to trouble them for such a triviality." Joseph deliberately set out to give Melissa a hard time. He had wanted to do this for quite a while already.