Without a doubt, Barry was a rather good schemer. He had prepared two sets of equipment, one according to the standards and one that was subpar. The one that was according to the standards would be used to produce samples, which seemed very successful and would make everyone happy. However, in actual fact, that set was not going to be used during mass production. This was the equivalent of a 20-year-old car that could still move about after some small repairs. However, it would for sure be a lost cause should it travel long distances. On the other hand, the set that ran “long distances” for Barry was the subpar set. After all, so long as they were able to go through their customer’s quality inspection, nobody within the factory would check it again. On top of that, it would be packaged when it was done, so there would not be a smell. However, what Barry had not expected at the time was that someone even more meticulous would end up exposing his schemes.If it were not for
Javier was staring intently at Barry, hoping he would be able to see some form of emotion in his eyes. Unfortunately, all Javier saw was coldness. “What’s that got to do with me? Get the f*ck out of my office, you sh*tty driver!”Barry was furious…How could he not be? He had started out doing business by selling beaded handicrafts. He would first con his victims out of their deposits before running away with the money. Meanwhile, he would only spend a few dollars to find someplace to work on the beads that contained formaldehyde. It was exactly because of this money that Barry had been able to slowly build up his business and be where he was at that moment. The sun visors he produced were being sold to a few companies that sold cars to the elderly, so Barry was only earning a few measly dollars from them. On the other hand, his formaldehyde materials had already helped him save hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, he had never once wondered how the victims he had cheat
A new week had begun for Heisenberg Group’s upper management, and Walk was hosting the meeting as usual. After reporting their production schedule and submitting their sales reports, Walt brought up another matter: Visteon Group, the plastic part manufacturer, and the inspection manager of a certain car brand. “All these years, our company has been focused on executive cars. That was until two years ago, when we began marketing our products to public consumers. I’ve been emphasizing over and over that quality is a must and we must offer our customers the best quality. We’re the first brand to develop within our country and we’re most definitely a luxury brand.“However, unfortunately, our sales have always been stagnant, and our product competitiveness just isn’t there. Since we aren’t competitive enough, that is all the more reason for us to ensure that we provide the best quality and uphold our good reputation. We could use our reputation among our customers as a marketing strat
There was complete silence in the room after Quinna gave her speech. After nearly ten seconds of pin-drop silence came applause. It was initiated by the high-level executive who had questioned her earlier. Everyone joined in and started applauding too, including the chairman, Walt Schrader. In fact, he gave her the biggest applause. He had always thought that quality was paramount and it would decide the growth of a company. But he failed to remember that, to an entrepreneur, honesty was fundamentally important. Quinna had just taught him a great lesson. It was brilliant and brutally honest. She had definitely hit the nail on the head with her speech. It was true that companies would often hide and cover up their problems in the face of adversity, including joint ventures. There had never been a vehicle recall in the country. It had only ever happened in foreign countries because if they did issue a recall, people would see it as an admission of wrongdoing. It was not u
Three days later, Quinna held and chaired a press conference. She broke the news about the formaldehyde emission of the sun visors in their new car model, Weider, which had exceeded the emission standards. Weider wasn’t even on the market yet. At the same time, she also made the announcement regarding the inspection manager and Barry Hoffman. "This is Heisenberg Group’s negligence, but it is also a process of making amends. Heisenberg Group is willing to dispose of this entire batch of automobile accessories and own up to its mistakes before the media. We promise to carefully scrutinize every process and phase of production, and we will never sell a flawed vehicle to our customers..." In front of all the media, Quinna exposed every single thing about their new car model, the Weider. The issue of formaldehyde had been a taboo among car companies recently, but Heisenberg Group actually came clean and exposed themselves. Very soon, it was all over the Internet and Heisenberg Group
A fire tornado that had once swept across Heisenberg Group had successfully swept its way to the car model named Chinean. Quinna was on cloud nine because sales had been going through the roof in the past few days. They’d even exceeded the sales of automobiles from Hildegard and Yuzuia, who had always topped the sales chart. But in just a few days, the fire tornado burned its way to the Chinean. It took Quinna some time to finally realize that Javier must’ve been behind it all. He had let Heisenberg Group ignite the fire and watched as the flames grew. Eventually, he had led the fire to his own car, the Chinean. Quinna watched Javier leisurely sipping a cup of tea on the sofa and said, "Not bad, huh. You kept me in the dark too. The entire top-level management of Heisenberg Group was completely fooled by you. You even got Solanki Holdings involved. Your brand is getting all the attention now." Javier was noncommittal. He looked at Quinna with a smile and said, "Have the sal
"Young people are different indeed. They’re bright. "From now on, young people should start running the business. You guys know how to operate a business better. The world is your oyster!" Walt had nothing but good things to say about Javier and Quinna. He genuinely liked young people like them. They were both equally outstanding. It made him feel like something could possibly blossom between them. He then told Quinna, "Quinna, you’re already in your 30s. What are you waiting for? If you miss your opportunity, it’ll be gone!" Quinna was a little taken aback, as Walt had suddenly started talking about her when he had just been praising Javier a second ago. But after careful consideration, she realized that Walt was right. She was already in her 30s and she had certainly hit the jackpot by meeting someone like Javier. If she missed her shot with Javier, she wouldn’t know for sure if she would ever meet anyone as outstanding as he was.But when Quinna thought that she woul
"A child surprise..."Quinna repeated, and her face flushed instantly."We’re not talking about this. I'm leaving. Goodbye!"Quinna grabbed her purse and was ready to leave. Javier quickly got up and ran after her.He wrapped his arms around her tiny waist. "Come on, you’re a Vice GM, and this is your turf. You should pay for dinner."Quinna was rendered speechless. She did not understand why Javier would ask her to pay for the meal.Still, it did not bother her. A few tens of dollars was not a big deal for the Vice GM of the Heisenberg Group.After Quinna settled the bill, they left the restaurant. Javier had his hand around Quinna’s waist until they got into the car.After getting into the driver's seat, Javier said to Quinna, "Quinna, I think you're going to be my woman tonight."Quinna was a grown woman and obviously knew what Javier meant when he said that she would be his woman.She replied sternly, "No way. That’s absolutely impossible. Don't even think about it."Jav
As Bernadetta launched a barrage of kicks against the restaurant door, Mrs. Greene summoned 120% of her strength, holding the fort. The older woman had made a living terrorizing others with absurd accusations and downright unreasonable demands, but this time, she had met her match. Bernadetta James put the “man” in the word “woman”—in that she resorted to violence as soon as things escalated. In the end, it took both Mrs. Greene’s apology and a deal to provide Javier and Bernadetta with three days’ meals, all free of charge, to make the young woman stop. Then—“because I actually have a weakness against people sincerely appealing to my better angels,” according to Bernadetta—she amended the peace offer, changing the three days’ free meals to…a week’s worth. Back in the inn, Javier expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Bernadetta for rescuing him. “I can’t thank you enough for standing by my side when I needed it the most, Bern. But I can thank you a bit more if you refrain from using t
Mrs. Greene opened her flap and unlocked the floodgate, the spit during her tirade so profusive that she could water an old lady’s lawn. “It’s him, officers! It’s all him! He did this to his own camera just to remove himself as a suspect, but we know better than that! He’s the guy who stole my goddamn lingerie!”She turned and trained her finger on Javier. “You vile, disgusting, degenerate piece of sh*t! Ptooey!”‘Back at you! I'd rather spend the night with my left hand than with you!’ By this point in the morning, Bernadetta had arrived at work. Her heels clicked onto the floor as she sauntered toward the commotion. As soon as she heard what had transpired, she laughed, looking clearly amused. She trained her perfectly manicured finger on Javier and piled on. “Oh, it was him. I can testify to that! He stole Mrs. Greene’s bra because he is…the Lingerie Phantom Thief! By day, he is Javier Kersey. At night, he is Jo Ker, the Bra Stealer!” Javier threw his arms up in exasperation
Javier shook his head. By the time his vision was back to normal, the dog was gone. It had escaped! “What kind of hell spawned this little sh*t?!” Javier wondered to himself aloud. “Was this really an effect of the world changing? Is this an example of mutation because of the Storm? Or is there something else at play?”Baffled and unsure what to think, Javier returned to the dorm and told the residents to open the door. Inside, he found Florence huddling the frightened kids closely. She was white from fear, and yet in the presence of vulnerable kids, she had assumed the role of the protector without a second thought. “Hush, it’s alright! It was fake. Someone pulled a terrible prank and put on this white sheet and…” Javier made up a fib to explain the haunting away exactly because the truth could land him in a mental institution. No one would believe him—and for good reason too!Javier drove Florence back to the Yuzuian restaurant, where the latter’s electric scooter was. While
A resentful wail—interspersed only by sobs that sounded more like someone was being strangled—was echoing in the middle of the night while Javier and Florence could not see even a single soul out there? Animated by the power of “hell, naw!”, Florence dove into Javier’s arms for protection. Her hands were clasped firmly on either side of her head, hoping to block out the ghastly demand in her ears. Her eyes were squeezed so tightly shut that even a crowbar could not pry them open.Javier himself was just as terrified. He would have felt better if he could see the source of the voice rather than just hear a woman sobbing about getting her head back. At least he would know what he was up against! But just hearing it without any visuals at all?! Nooooope!Then, Florence hugged him in a “help-me!” sort of way. She was soft and supple—damn, that sexy figure in combination with her silky-smooth skin sure was welcoming. She was warm, and damn did she smell good! Nothing competed with fea
The dog barked in protest as it pointed its paw at Javier with the intensity of a mob before executing a monarch. The flames in its eyes were so bright that they could incinerate Javier into ashes in milliseconds. In the end, though, all that protest was for naught. Constance tied it up in the parking garage, while Javier watched in glee. Ah, sweet, sweet revenge! The stupid dog had thought it could set him up, had it? That would teach it!The look the Pomeranian shot him almost felt like a threat: ‘Just you f*cking wait, hooman!’‘Wait for what? How much can a stupid b*tch like you do to me?’ Javier scoffed in his mind. Now that the four-legged pest was gone, Javier turned back to Constance and talked about the new orphanage. As it turned out, despite the old woman’s sentiments for the building she had founded, she was a lot less obstinate and unreasonable as she might appear. “I mean, I don’t object to it completely. I know the new place is gonna be better, but…” She faltered a
Florence called half an hour later to tell him where they’d be having dinner. After leaving the inn in Bernadetta’s care, he hurried to the venue. Florence had picked a newly-opened Yuzuian restaurant. Javier had never liked Yuzuian restaurants, but since Florence had invited him, courtesy stopped him from asking the woman to change their meeting venue. He found Florence quickly enough and sat across from her. They placed their orders, and Javier began his performance: He started sighing and doing his best to look forlorn. It intrigued Florence enough to ask what was wrong, and Javier told her about his unfortunate beef with Constance that day.“It’s so unfair, man! Why would I bully a dog for no reason?” he moaned. “I’m sure Aunt Constance misunderstood. You’re a knightly, heroic, kind man! How could someone like you possibly get off on hurting a dog? I’m sure Aunt Constance was just too worried about the dog’s welfare to think things through. She didn’t mean it. I can vouch for
Herschel was dressed quite sharply today. It was the full ensemble—black leather shoes, black slacks, a white collar, and last but not least, the good old oil-slicked hair. The typical look of a high-ranking office worker, just as Javier had requested. Ordering him to get in his car, Javier asked, “You brought all the stuff I told you to?”“Yo, I would never forget the stuff my boss told me to bring. I’ve got all the preparations down pat. You can check ‘em if you don’t trust me,” Herschel replied. He fished an ID and some documents out of his leather bag. “See? All the documentation a journalist in the most important room of a news agency would have.”After a round-check and some instructions, Javier sent Herschel on his way to complete his mission. The man was strangely reluctant, though. “Boss, you told me you decided to work in that inn, right? Does that mean, you know, that you’re gonna call me ‘boss’ while you’re there?”Javier had almost forgotten he had mentioned this. It
Javier’s suspicion turned to Constance Hellman’s white Pomeranian. He turned to the director’s office and met the dog’s eyes. With its paws on the windowsill, it hoisted itself up to look out of the window. Seeing the dog cracking a lopsided grin and baring its fangs—beaming as smugly as a teacher’s pet who had managed to subdue everyone through the power of being the boss’s favorite—made it look both amusing and chilling. It would have been had the dog not caught Javier’s gaze, suddenly dropped the smile, and put on a face that seemed to be saying, ‘I’m just your average dog! Nothing to see here!’And then it feigned—yes, feigned—a yawn as its one last measure to cover up the fact that it had been laughing smugly to itself. ‘What. The. Actual. F*ck?!’ Javier thundered in his mind. ‘B*tch’s a natural actress! What’s it doing here instead of being interviewed on a talk show after becoming viral on TikTok?’In combination with Russell’s report, the incident inside the director’s of
As Javier was befuddled, Constance rushed in from outside and picked up the white Pomeranian gingerly to carefully check its injured leg.“Oh, baby, what’s the matter? Did you hurt your leg?”The white Pomeranian whined in pain and began twitching upon hearing Constance’s concerned question. This upset Constance so much that she admonished him sternly. “Mr. Kersey, I thought that you were a loving person, but I can’t help doubting your motive now.“I’m skeptical about you taking good care of the kids here when you’d even hit a cute dog!”Javier felt extremely offended. When had he hit the dog? He hurriedly explained, “Madam Hellman, I didn’t do anything!”Constance asked angrily, “You didn’t do anything? Why would it suddenly limp now and whine so pathetically? Why did it hurry over to me? Give me a reasonable explanation!”Javier was in distress as well. “How would I know? It was fine when I was carrying it just now, but it wanted to get down on the floor, so I carefully placed