"Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Brown. I won't accept a blind date like Mr. Tatum. No matter who introduces him to me, if I say no, then it's a no."
Everly would have a proper talk with her mother and uncle later.
Even if she had to get married, her partner would be her decision. Sonny nodded.
Everly continued, "My maternal relatives are always introducing men to me. I've rejected countless men and even had people investigate the men they introduced. Not a single one of them was good."
At first, whenever a relative introduced a man to her, she would have him investigated. Once she found his flaws, she would tell her relatives about them. She thought that doing that would make them give up.
Unfortunately, she was too naive. Not only did they refuse to give up, but they also became even more persistent. They kept introducing so-called excellent men to her. That was when she realized that they were not doing this for her sake at all.
They simply wanted to use her marriage to gain leverage over her. They wanted to make her feel like she owed them a huge favor so they could use that favor later on to make more demands of her.
In the past, Kaden had told her that she could keep in contact with the Zellers, but she should not trust them. In this world, there was no one except him who genuinely wanted what was best for her without ulterior motives.
Even her mother had her own agenda. Maddie always hoped that she would keep helping the Zellers. It was as if Maddie thought that their lives going badly were somehow Everly's responsibility.
Kaden had complained to Maddie more than once in private, saying she was too sentimental and did not know how to distinguish right from wrong.
He also said that when Everly's parents were dating, he had not really approved of their relationship. However, it was love at first sight for Ike, and he loved Maddie desperately. Kaden adored his only son, so in the end, he agreed to their marriage. Maddie was from a wealthy family herself, so Kaden thought that she would mature after getting married, becoming a mother, and managing a household. However...
Knowing what Maddie was like, Kaden did not dare to let Everly grow up under her
care.
"They all have their own agendas, don't they?"
"They do. They want my boyfriend to be someone they introduced. That way, they can play matchmaker, gain benefits from his family, and then use that favor to make all sorts of demands of me.
"My mom has asked me several times to arrange jobs for my cousins at Flemming Group. Their own businesses were either too small or doing poorly, so my mother thinks they have no future and have little room to grow.
"She says Flemming Group has a promising future and plenty of advancement opportunities. As long as I arrange jobs for them, even if don't give them promotions or raises, other companies would be eager to hire them if they spend a few years at my company.
"Some of my cousins are actually quite capable, but I can't set that precedent. Grandpa warned me never to arrange jobs for relatives. Once they get into the company, it's easy for them to grow ambitious, which would put me at a disadvantage."
Kaden had even said that he would force the senior executives to retire before he stepped down so Everly would not have to deal with them. That way, there was no risk of being unable to keep them under control.
Even when she was already running the company and everyone respected her as the head of the company, Kaden still was not at ease.
Those old employees were personally promoted by Kaden, so he understood their thoughts better than her.
They had all watched Everly grow up. If she took over and immediately pushed out all the elders, it would look bad for her, so Kaden was willing to be the bad guy instead.
Most of those senior executives understood what was happening and resigned when Everly officially took over. The company gave them substantial compensation, and they had already earned quite a lot after working at Flemming Group for Sou many years.
Now that they were older, they could retire, spend time with their grandchildren, enjoy their later years, and still preserve their friendship with Kaden.
After a pause, Everly added, "They may be capable, but their character is another matter. Their affection for me is fake. What they really want is Flemming Group."
She had seen through her cousins' ambitions. Even if some of them were genuinely capable, she refused to pave the way for their future.
She believed she had enough ability to keep them under control, but there was no need to involve herself with them in the first place. Why should she exhaust herself trying to suppress them and risk damaging their family relationships?