Chapter 409: It’s Good To Mess Up Once Again
"It’s not that I don’t want to help you. My hands are tied. I know that you are facing such a big crisis and I shouldn’t terminate the contract with you at this time. But the company does not only belong to me. I’ve to think about my staff’s welfare and livelihood. I can’t help you this time. I’m sorry."
"Mr. Shawn, Mr. Shawn!" Wendy yelled several times, but it was obvious that the line had been cut.
Wendy closed her eyes and massaged her temples.
Zen asked, "Is it not going well?"
Wendy shook her head: "They are still very angry. Obviously, he is unwilling to wait for the next batch of goods. Even though I mentioned compensation, it’s of no use. It seems that they don’t believe in us anymore, and are worried that the new goods might be problematic as well."
"What should we do now?" Zen looked at Wendy and asked tentatively.
"What else can I do? I guess I’ll just do my best. You can’t give up without trying.
After all, I was groomed by HG, and Mr. Woods saved my life. I can’t just give up without a fight." Wendy deliberately made this little speech for Zen.
Then, she started making calls again. Seeing that Wendy was busy, Zen didn’t want to disturb her further, so she whispered, "I’ll be next door. Call me if you need anything. I’ll be here in a jiffy."
Wendy nodded in response.
As soon as Zen returned to her office, she took out her cellphone. Sure enough, she related everything she saw and heard to Christian. After the text messages were sent, Zen’s hands trembled slightly.
She felt guilty for betraying Wendy. She shouldn’t have made use of Wendy’s friendship and sympathy. However, she dared not disobey Christian’s instructions.
Zen had always thought that Christian wanted her to hang around Wendy because he liked her and wanted to watch her every move. But today, Christian’s request was a little strange. He asked Zen to tell him about Wendy’s reaction to the crisis HG was currently facing.
Why does Christian need to know Wendy’s attitude towards HG? Zen couldn’t figure it out but felt something was wrong.
After Zen left, Wendy continued to make calls, but her thoughts were obviously not on these clients. She would like the trouble to get increasingly out of hand.
As long as everyone was unwilling to wait for half a month and demanded liquidated damages in accordance to the contract, then even HG will be in jeopardy, not to mention Christian’s bidding project.
Wendy now had two choices. The first was to reveal her true identity, sever ties with HG and Timothy, and tell them that she already knew everything and would not help them save HG’s clients. In this case, without her help, HG would definitely lose a large portion of its clientele and plunge into a financial crisis.
The second option was to continue pretending to retain the clients, but try to worsen the situation using underhand methods. In this case, she would have the opportunity to be part of the HG board of directors. She would also have the opportunity to figure out Christian’s background, and then find an opportunity to collect evidence of his crime.
Christian has been in Rheinsville city for many years, but Wendy doesn’t know anything about him except for his links to HG Enterprise and DR Group. Just how powerful was Christian Lucas? She had no idea.
...
If Christian still had the ability to get back to where he was, Wendy would lose a good opportunity to fight Christian after revealing her identity.
HG Enterprise would go bankrupt. But if they couldn’t deal with the mafia backing Christian, he could continue to depend on shady businesses with the underworld.
There was no way she and Christian could coexist. She would always be in danger as long as this problem was not resolved. Though dangerous, this was a good opportunity to bring Christian down once and for all. Now that she had come this far, her goal was not merely to deal Christian a devastating loss, but to destroy all the mafia forces behind him as well. If Christian continued to do what he was doing, she couldn’t imagine how many more would be hurt.
Wendy was no martyr for world peace, but everyone, including herself and Michael, as well as their families, would be threatened as long as the Christian was still going strong.
For the sake of herself and her two children, she could only keep going.
After making up her mind, Wendy took a deep breath. Then, she continued with making calls, with the other hand holding the laptop.
She went to the bathroom in the lounge. She didn’t know if Timothy would look at the CCTV footage in her office, but she must be cautious wherever she is. She must not allow Christian and Timothy to find any evidence that she was an undercover.
Not only that, she must prove herself clean during this HG crisis. Wendy was on the line when going to the restroom, which was enough to show that she was so busy with work that she didn’t want to waste any time, and would even make use of her restroom breaks to make calls.
The restroom could not be monitored. As soon as she entered the restroom, Wendy opened the secret mailbox on her laptop while talking to the client. She quickly edited a message and wanted to send it to Yonina.
Her fingers paused when she saw Michael’s private mailbox.
Her relationship with Michael was now less tense. If she sent the message to Yonina, Yonina had to tell Michael herself. Yonina was also working under cover, and she telling Michael could add more risk. And now, to Christian, the relationship between Yonina and Michael has become somewhat ugly because of the bidding proposal. It was not as easy as before.
Pursing her lips and thinking about it for a while, Wendy sent the email to Michael instead. Wendy waited for a reply, but she did not receive any even after a long while.
"Ms. Swift?" The person on the other end of the line had not heard Wendy’s voice for a while and had been calling her several times.
Wendy realized it and shook her head. What was she waiting for?
It should be three or four in the morning in Lake City, how could Michael reply to her email?
Shutting the laptop, Wendy smiled and said, "Sorry, Mr. Vincenzo, what did you just say? Could you say it again, please?"
"I don’t think you are sincere at all. Since you’re so busy, please take some time to deal with the cancellation of the contract."
Mr. Vincenzo had heard the typing sounds from the other end of the line and could sense that Wendy was not paying him full attention. This reeked of insincerity, so there was no need to discuss further.
Wendy took this opportunity to exit the restroom with her laptop and cellphone, deliberately apologizing with an anxious expression upon her face, "I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. We’re really sincere about resolving this matter. Would you give us another chance, Mr. Vincenzo?"
The line had been cut.
Wendy looked uncomfortable, but deep inside, she was very happy.
It’s good to mess up once again.
...
The display of Timothy’s computer was playing the CCTV footage of Wendy’s office.
Wendy could be seen making phone calls since returning to the office. It looked like she was indeed working hard to help HG retain its clients. She was working even when she went to the restroom.
Timothy felt a little relieved. Just then, Rosa walked in with some fruit. Upon seeing Timothy’s computer screen, she frowned and asked, "Why are you watching Corrine?"
"I’m just taking a look," Timothy said. He looked down at the fruit in front of him and popped one piece into his mouth.
Rosa didn’t want to talk shop. This was a crucial period for the company, and she didn’t want to annoy Timothy. But she could see that during the few years Wendy had been working for HG Enterprise, she had worked very hard for the company.
After thinking about it, she chose to speak up for Wendy.
"You don’t doubt Corrine, do you?"
Seeing that Timothy didn’t respond, Rosa sighed and continued, "I think you can doubt anyone, but you shouldn’t doubt Corrine. Over the years, you can see how she has brought the company to greater heights. It’s fair to say that without Corrine, HG wouldn’t be where it is today.
"Furthermore, Corrine has no reason to betray HG. After all, what would she get in return? I’ve also sent the list of clients to Corrine. She was very cooperative, and she’s really worried about HG. I believe she will do her best to retain the clients and deal with this crisis. I think we should trust Corrine."
"You seem to think you know a lot," Timothy said sullenly as he set his fork down and raised his head to look at Rosa. He regretted what he said immediately when he saw that Rosa was upset at his reaction. He sighed and softened his tone, saying, "I don’t suspect her, it’s just this crucial period. Corrine is our greatest source of support. I have to see what she’s doing."
"But didn’t we promise Corrine that we wouldn’t be monitoring her?" Rosa was indeed a little surprised at Timothy’s snappiness earlier on. He seldom lost his temper with her. Even if there was something to worry about the company, he would not vent his frustrations on Rosa.
"I can’t do anything about it," Timothy said. "HG is experiencing such a big crisis for the first time. It is fair to say that the entire company is depending on Corrine."
Noticing Timothy’s softened tone, Rosa felt a bit sorry for him. She took a step forward and reached out to touch Timothy’s head, comforting him. "We will get through this, I believe in you and Corrine. There’s no obstacle that HG cannot overcome. We’ve got this."
"Thank you, Rosa," Timothy closed his eyes and said tiredly.
Although Rosa was Timothy’s secretary, Timothy kept many things from her. To be precise, he never let her know anything else apart from matters related to HG Enterprise.
He was also afraid that something would happen to him one day, and he didn’t want to implicate Rosa and Jill. Timothy no longer had a way out, so he could only survive or die together with Christian.
Christian was right. This time, the bidding was a chance for Christian to retreat from the scene, and it was also Timothy’s only chance of doing the same. But just when they were about to succeed, this huge crisis caught them off guard.
...
Wendy had been busy since she got off the plane. At least, it seemed that was the case. When Zen brought a meal to her office at about nine or ten o’clock at night, she saw Wendy sitting in front of the computer with an anxious expression on her face.
Zen set the food in front of Wendy and said, "Please eat something first."
"I have neither the appetite nor the mood to eat," Wendy lowered her head and replied.
"At least eat a little." Zen unpacked the food and handed the cutlery to Wendy. "I heard that you once fainted due to hunger and the intensity of your work. Now, since I’m your assistant, I cannot let you get so busy to the point where you don’t even get to eat."
Wendy stopped working and raised her head to look at Zen. She thanked Zen and began eating.
Zen felt a little relieved upon seeing Wendy eat. No matter what, Zen didn’t want to see Wendy starving.
Wendy ate only a little and very quickly returned to her laptop. She was indeed a workaholic.
"It’s getting late, you should go back first. I should be staying up all night to work. I have to think about which clients to see tomorrow. Your baby is almost five months old, right? You shouldn’t stay up late with me."
"Okay, I’ll watch you finish your meal and then I’ll go back," Zen said. "By the way, even if you don’t go back, take some time to call Leah and Jake. These two children have been wondering when you’d be home."
Zen did not mind working overtime or working hard. But she was pregnant, and there was indeed no way for her to accompany Wendy and stay up late all night.
"Okay, I’ll call them later." As Wendy spoke, she had already finished half of her meal.
Once Wendy finished eating, Zen cleared the table. She wanted to say "Take it easy" before leaving, but decided against it in the end. How could Wendy take it easy when HG Enterprise was facing such a big crisis?
After Zen left, Wendy felt deeply relieved. She sat on the office chair and lowered her head. She picked up her cellphone and continued to browse the news page.
By this time, the news about HG’s predicament had spread. In just two days, all the major media in Rheinsville City were talking about it. The headline that Wendy was looking at said: HG produces fake goods and inferior products. Partners seeking damages and refunds.
The article talked about the problems with HG products and contained interviews with those who bought the second series of the Moonlight range of clothing. Wendy clicked on the link for the interview and watched the video. The first person being interviewed was a woman in her thirties.
"I believe in HG, and I’ve always liked the designs by Corrine. The Moonlight products I bought before this were really beautiful, and the material was good. Many people complimented me when I wore them. This time, I pre-booked the new products more than a month in advance, and I’d spent more than $2,000. This is what I get? Does HG take consumers as fools? Even if I overlooked my displeasure at this new mode of advance booking, I cannot accept the price. It is a lot more expensive than the previous line of products.
"Let’s put the new sale mode and price aside, because I don’t even think the quality of these products had passed the test, look at me..." the woman rolled up her sleeves as she spoke. Her arms obviously had erythema caused by allergies.
She continued, "I developed allergic reactions after wearing this set of HG clothes.
I’ve been to the hospital and the doctor said it was probably caused by substandard fabrics coming into contact with the skin. I called HG’s customer service number, but I’ve been unable to get through. If something like this happens, HG owes us us an explanation."
