The assistant did not expect William to sell the factory at a low price and then curse him out. It took a while for the assistant to snap out of his daze.He quickly put away his phone and approached Yousef, who was smoking by the French windows. With great respect, he said, "Sir, we failed to acquire Nirvana Factory."Yousef's hand paused as he took a drag from his cigarette, and his expression quickly turned grim. After a few moments of silence, he said, "Then we need to come up with a new plan. I must bankrupt the Stones this time! I want Liam to know the consequences for crossing me! Let's see if he'll still be as lucky this time.""Yes, sir. We'll bankrupt the Stones this time!" promised the assistant with a sinister nod. He then handed some documents to Yousef. "Sir, we have also found out that although the Stones successfully bought the factory, the equipment there is insufficient to meet their production demands. So, they will need to purchase another batch of equipment."Y
Marcus quickly explained, "Mr. Yale, you've misunderstood. The company we want to deal with is not from the state capital. Let me be direct with you, Bristow Group wants to deal with the Stone family."Hunter became even more puzzled. He asked with a frown, "The Stone family? I do have some recollection of their company, but it's just a small company. Is there any competition between their company and Bristow Group?"While it was common for companies to compete with each other for market share, the Stone family's company was just a small company in Drunham City, incomparable to Bristow Group from the state capital. These two were essentially unrelated, so how could they suddenly become competitors?Hunter's expression turned serious. As the vice chairman of The Connoisseurs, it would be unreasonable for him to arbitrarily suppress a local company without a valid reason!Marcus explained, "Mr. Yale, all you need to know is that's what Mr. Bristow wants. As for other reasons, it's be
"What? He wants you to seize Stone Group?" One of his friends was stunned beyond measure, staring at him with a look of disbelief. Truth be told, Hunter was just as baffled as they were. "I don't know why, either. What do you guys think about this?"They all turned to stare at him, smiles creeping onto their faces after they had gotten over their initial shock. "It's splendid news! Stone Group isn't that big of a company, anyway, so you won't be getting in much trouble. Bristow Group, on the other hand, is one of the largest and most successful corporations in the capital. Do you have any idea how much power they hold within them? Besides, didn't they say they'd establish a new company in Drunham City to replace Stone Group and have you appointed as manager once you'd pulled off the task? This is amazing news! You're basically getting a promotion—and a giant one at that!""Indeed, Hunter. Between Stone Group and Bristow Group, it's a no-brainer. Even an idiot would know which to ch
Celena had skimmed through the contract and was about to pen her signature on the bottom when all of a sudden, Gerald excused himself to take a call. When he returned a few minutes later, his entire demeanor had turned visibly hostile. Celena was not too bothered by this, because she thought Gerald's mood had soured due to the phone call, and it had nothing to do with her at all. She smiled and said, "Mr. Liddell, I've looked through the contract, and I'm very satisfied with it. Let us sign it now."Gerald's entire body stiffened. Then, a rather sheepish smile spread across his face as he said, "I'm so sorry, Ms. Stone, but we cannot sign this contract."Celena froze, then asked in puzzlement, "Huh? Why not, Mr. Liddell?"To which he replied, "Ms. Stone, I'm so sorry to break this to you, but as of a few minutes ago, someone else has bought out all of the machinery you wanted for double the price. As you know, we are a small, struggling company, so you can't expect us to say no to
As soon as he got off the phone, Hunter raised his glass and declared, "Everyone, this calls for a celebration! Celena Stone has just left Grummings and will be on her way to Mr. Quinn's next!" A chubby middle-aged man with a beer belly stood up, grinning. "Don't you worry, Mr. Yale. I've already made the necessary arrangements with my staff. Celena won't even be able to get a footstep in my door, much less get her hands on my machinery!"Everyone else stood up, grinning from ear to ear as they raised their glasses for the toast. "Splendid! Don't worry, Mr. Yale, we've taken care of everything.""Aside from Mr. Liddell, the rest of us are all here, and no one will be around to even meet with Celena!""Your orders were clear, Mr. Yale, and none of us here will even dream of doing business with her!""Indeed, with everyone else sitting here, who's even going to meet with Celena when she comes knocking?""What a great idea it was! Here, here, everyone!"Cheers and wallops echoed
As naive as Celena was, even she could tell that something was wrong and was beginning to panic. If she could not get her hands on the machinery by the end of the day, the factory would not be able to operate, and the entire process would be delayed. The worst part was, once the Stones caught wind of this, they would certainly use this as ammunition against Celena at the next company meeting. Celena was outraged at the thought of this, but she knew there was nothing she could do. She decided to return to their offices with Lottie and report the incident to Yafe. Yafe was absolutely furious to hear of this and immediately blamed Celena without even bothering to listen to her explanation. As predicted, he brought this up at the company meeting and used this as an opportunity to scold Celena in front of everyone else. "Celena, you useless git! The company hired you to solve problems, not create even more! Don't you know how important these machines are? Don't you know that we won'
Celena had been trying to put on a brave front, but the moment she laid eyes on Liam, she could not hold herself together anymore, not unlike how a child would act in front of their parents after a long day of being bullied by their peers. After all, Liam was, aside from Jovie, the only other person she trusted in the world. Liam finally understood what had happened. He took the box out of Celena's hands, pulled her into his arms, and gently stroked her hair in reassurance. A warm, comforting hug was the best way he knew how to show her his love and unconditional support. "Alright, alright. Don't you worry about this, okay? I'll handle this, just like how you should've let me in the first place. Don't cry, my dear. I'll take care of this, okay? Look at you. Your makeup is running. Jovie's going to tease you if she sees you like this."Celena buried her head deeper in Liam's arms and continued sobbing, until eventually she hit him playfully on the chest and whined, "Stop teasing
Although she had interrogated Liam many times about this, he refused to say a word.Meanwhile, Liam sped away from Stone Group on his little scooter and headed towards the offices of LJC Group. LJC Group was the company that Liam had founded after he consolidated the shares that used to belong to Cole Enterprise, his family's business. When the Coles met their end seven years ago, Cole Enterprise had been divvied up and sold to various shareholders. Years later, Liam would eventually repurchase these shares behind the nom de plume of Mr. Miller and consolidate them to found LJC Group, the name having been derived from initials of his, Jovie's and Celena's names. Cole Enterprise had been the work of his father's blood, sweat, and tears, and it was rather comforting to finally have them back in the rightful hands now. Most of the employees working at LJC Group used to work at Cole Enterprise, as Liam had kept them on out of nostalgia. However, after many years of growth, the compa