Love Slave to the Mafia Boss's Passion

Chapter 378: His Vote is for Sale

"Well, if there are no questions. Let’s start the discussion. Ethan, why don’t you try to tell everyone why this is such a great idea…" the boss said as he waved his hand at Ethan to stand up.

Ethan’s face clearly showed that he didn’t expect that he had to make a speech of any kind. Regardless, he stood up and smiled around at everyone at the room. When he started speaking, I was awestruck by how mature he sounded and looked.

Had he always been like this? Probably not.

He’s changed so much from the time that we were together and probably in a way that was better for him and the gang that he now leads and controls. I didn’t focus on what he was saying at all because I was too busy admiring the man that he had become. Sure, he turned out very differently from what I imagined he would be like in our future together during the time that we were together.

However, I doubt that I turned out the way that he had imagined me either.

"Stop gawking at him or I’m going to make sure that this partnership never sees the light of day…" Hayden hissed threateningly from next to me.

His words shocked me, and I glanced over at him to see his blue eyes narrowing at me dangerously. I plastered an apologetic smile on my face.

"I wasn’t gawking at him…" I muttered softly in denial.

"Really…" Hayden said, sounding unconvinced.

Suddenly, I felt extremely worried, and my entire attention was on Hayden rather than anything that Ethan was saying in his little speech. Hayden isn’t really mad, is he? He’s not going to completely destroy the partnership, right?

Hayden’s cold blue eyes shifted from my face down to the papers in front of him before he pushed the paper away from him as if in disgust. I bit on my lower lip and closed my eyes as I dreamt up the worst scenario possible. The Torex managers shifted their gaze towards Hayden, and I felt like I could see the world start to crumble.

Why does Hayden have to be so difficult to deal with and so unpredictable?

Should I say something to him to correct this misunderstanding before it leads to bigger issues?

"Hayden…it’s not like that. I was just thinking that it’s good that things are over between Ethan and me…" I mumbled softly so that my words would be for his ears only.

"Is that so…" Hayden muttered with completely disinterest.

He probably thought that my words were nothing but excuses. We’re married now so what more does he want?

My thoughts were so focused on Hayden that I didn’t realize that Ethan had ended his speech until the boss’s booming voice called for the start of the vote. This was the first time that I attended a meeting that had a voting in place. I wondered how the voting will be done.

"The voting mechanism is simple and completely transparent. I will call for those who are for the proposal to raise their hands and there would be a count. Then I will call for those who are against to raise their hands. We will take a 5-minute break for everyone to decide before proceeding with the voting," the man from before announced.

My eyes widened at the simple voting process that the man just described. So, people just had to raise their hands? That’s it?

It did not occur to me at that time how political this whole thing was made to be because of the way the voting procedure was structured.

"Should I raise my hand to vote for or against?" Hayden asked me with a smirk on his lips.

Why do I feel like I have to wager something for him to vote in support of the proposal?

Hayden probably knew well by now that I wished for this partnership to go ahead. I mean, if it doesn’t, how else are we supposed to experience any peace between the two gangs?

"What do you want to vote for?" I asked as my eyes met his.

"What do you want me to vote for?" Hayden asked in return before he smiled teasing at me.

Is he trying to test me or something? What does he want?

"I want you to vote in favor of the proposal," I replied honestly.

"Hmm…what will you give me if I do?" he asked bluntly.

Has he ever heard of the concept that votes should not be bought and sold? I guess not…

"Selling you vote?" I asked with a wry grin.

"I will…at the right price," he replied without any hint of guilt.

"There’re so many voters here in the room. I doubt your vote will make much of a difference…" I mumbled as I looked around the room at the various older men who seemed busy doing so many random things that had nothing to do with discussion the proposal.

"Hmm…is that what you really think?" Hayden said before he chuckled.

His tone of voice told me that I was gravely wrong. What trick is he going to pull now?

"What do you mean by that?" I asked as I tried to search his face for some clues.

Obviously, I found none at all. Hayden was outwardly very amused, and it was clear that he was enjoying messing with my head. His eyes scanned the room before they returned to rest on my face again.

"Why do you think the voting process is structured this way?" he asked as if prompting me to think.

"Because…it’s fair?" I took a guess, although I didn’t see the point that he was getting at all.

"It’s transparent…too transparent. However, it is anything but fair," Hayden whispered before he chuckled with an evil glint in his blue eyes.

"It’s…not fair?" I asked, confused.

Everyone had one vote. So how was that not fair?

"The boss doesn’t vote by the way; in case you didn’t know that. Everyone else in the room has one vote regardless of position," Hayden began to explain.

--To be continued…