The Unveiled Rose
Chapter 231

Sasha felt much better after receiving the approval. In high spirits, she quickly got off the couch and returned to work. Once she left, I resumed drawing.

After taking two days off for the weekend, I only managed to catch up on a bit of work during the nights when Willow was asleep. As a result, I had fallen behind on my progress. Now, I had to replace a way to catch up. Zane walked over and asked, "Do you want me to hire an assistant for you?"

"No need," I replied, continuing to work. "I can handle these tasks myself. It's not a problem."

Zane didn't press further. Instead, he sat nearby, watching Annalise. To him, she was someone who knew exactly what she wanted and had a clear goal in mind, which he admired.

He gave a light chuckle.

However, there were some downsides.

For one, Annalise had grown to enjoy the freedom of being single and no longer had any desire to get married. That certainly made it more difficult for him to pursue her, but Zane didn't mind that. Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Zane coldly said, "Come in."

Eric stood in the doorway. Normally, he would report directly to Zane in the office. Since Annalise was there, they had moved all work discussions to the meeting room to provide her with a quieter workspace. Zane noticed Eric and got up. The two of them walked into the meeting room.

Eric closed the door behind them.

"Mr. Huxham, the doll you ordered has arrived," Eric reported. "The factory wants to know if you'd like to order more dolls."

"I'm not sure," Zane replied. "I need to discuss this with Annalise first."

Eric explained honestly, "The factory is struggling, and it might shut down. They asked me to contact you because if it closes, no one will be able to make these dolls anymore."

As soon as Eric finished, Zane came up with a solution. "Buy out their factory. Keep the employees on as well."

Eric stared at him in disbelief. "Just for dolls?"

Zane gave him a pointed look. "You should think long-term."

Eric was confused. "Like what?"

Zane casually explained, "Why did we create a comic company and spend so much money on promotion in the first place?"

Eric hesitated before answering. "To make the comic a hit?"

Zane continued, "Yes, and then we can start selling merchandise, like dolls. It's better to own the production process ourselves rather than going through the hassle of negotiating with other manufacturers later." Eric finally understood Zane's real intention.

Zane went on, "Most importantly, we'll have more hit comics in the future."

Eric put on a serious expression and said, "I'll get on it right away."

Zane felt it was time to have Annalise design the key characters from the comic. This way, the factory could begin production early, ensuring they wouldn't be overwhelmed if the comic became a hit later. "Alright," Zane concluded.

...

When Zane returned to the office, I had just finished the artwork for Sunday and was planning to relax a bit before starting today's line drawing.

Zane walked up to me. "Can you spare some time soon?"

I lay on the couch, looking up at him. "Hmm?"

"The company needs the main characters from your comic turned into dolls, so we need you to draw full-body sketches of them and give them to us," Zane explained. "Is it urgent?" I asked.