"Talk in private? What is happening? Why can’t I know?" Rosa was getting more bewildered.
Rosa suddenly felt anxious and afraid too.
Since HG ran into trouble, Timothy seed to have changed.
He had beco almost like a stranger to her.
He had always been suspicious of Wendy, even though it was obvious that everything Wendy had done was for the good of HG.
But he kept insisting that Wendy had betrayed HG, even though he did not have any concrete evidence.
Rosa had no idea what had gone wrong.
But there must be a huge secret behind Timothy’s sudden change.
"Timothy, what are you hiding from ?" Rosa’s face was dark, and her eyes were wide. "Why are you accusing Corrine? And why do you have to get out of the room?"
"There are so things that you cannot know yet," Timothy said. He knew he could not cook up a reasonable explanation that would satisfy Rosa at this ti. So he simply said, "But trust , I’m not telling you for your own good."
"And so? What have you done behind my back?" Rosa was becoming more frightened.
"I said I want you to get out, so you get out!" Timothy was already feeling very frustrated and was not in the mood to be patient with Rosa. "Either you walk out on your own, or I will get soone to take you out," he barked.
There was an elent of threat in his words.
Timothy had to threaten Rosa too.
Rosa was very shocked by Timothy’s words.
Timothy looked down and took out his phone. He dialed a number and then spoke into it coldly, "Co in and bring Mrs. Woods out. And then, without my permission, nobody is to co near this room. Rember, nobody!"
Two bodyguards entered the room almost imdiately and stood in front of Rosa.
Rosa took a deep breath. Her eyes were filled with suspicion, sizing up the current situation with fear.
In the end, she chose to leave the room.
Timothy had already brought in the bodyguards. Even if Rosa wanted to stay, there was nothing she could do about it.
After Rosa left, the room fell silent.
Wendy did not say anything, waiting for Timothy to speak first.
"There is no one else in the room now. Corrine, tell the truth. How much do you know?" Timothy looked at Wendy and asked.
"So, I’m not the only outsider. Even Mrs. Woods is an outsider to you," laughed Wendy. "Suddenly, I feel so much better. Your wife has been with you for more than twenty years, and you still treat her as an outsider. How much more so for , whom you’ve only known for a few years."
"Corrine, don’t change the subject. I asked you, how much do you know?" Timothy asked again.
"What are you referring to?" Wendy continued playing dumb. "About HG not having any money?"
And then Wendy scoffed, "You have never let go to board etings, and you also never let look at the financial reports. How would I know that HG did not have money?"
"Corrine!" Timothy slamd his palms heavily on the table.
He had hit the table so hard that the cups shook.
"Must you make spell it out?" Timothy was getting desperate. "All right. Let ask you, do you already know who HG’s real boss is?"
"Who is it?" Wendy refused to budge even though Timothy was already looking very furious.
She intended to play dumb to the end.
...
"I got it," Timothy suddenly thought of sothing. "There was soone who had snuck into my office then, but I never found out who it was. That night, both you and Todd were at HG.
"At that ti, I had no evidence and could not be certain that it was the two of you.
"And I had also thought that Todd wouldn’t go back on his word and would also not want to drag you into this because he truly loved you.
"But now that I think about it, it was then that Todd told you everything, right?
"And after that, you tead up with Michael Lucas to go against HG because you knew that ’he’ needs HG’s money.
"You and Michael are not only up against HG. Or rather, it is ’him’ whom you really want to deal with, am I right?"
Although Timothy was very angry, he did not lose all his cool nor reveal that ’he’ was Christian Lucas.
Because Timothy was still not very certain whether Wendy knew or not.
Or maybe he was not sure how much Wendy knew.
If Wendy had not known that much but he accidentally revealed it, then matters would be worse.
For now, Timothy was still testing her.
But he could be sure of one thing - all that had happened was not a coincidence.
"Mr. Woods, who is this ’he’ you’re talking about?" Wendy blinked and asked again.
"It’s fine if you don’t want to admit it," said Timothy, so angry that he kept nodding his head. "But you had better be prepared for the worst. He is not soone you should cross."
"I still have no idea what you are talking about," Wendy insisted.
"Corrine, stop acting dumb. I was only pretending to scare you when I took Leah and Jake today. Because they are like my own grandchildren, and I’d watched them grow up. But he isn’t like . Once he is sure that you are behind all these problems, not only would your children be in danger, but you would also be in danger!" Timothy stomped his feet, feeling very anxious. "Do you understand or not?"
Timothy still felt like he was Wendy’s teacher.
He had grood her, and he also saw in her a great gift for design.
He had also watched Leah and Jake grow up.
He did not wish any harm to co upon Wendy and her children.
However, they were now on the opposite team. Many things could not be helped.
"Mr. Woods!" Wendy sounded more serious.
Her children would always be her baseline.
But Wendy had not played all her cards yet.
"Since it has co to that, I shall be frank with you then," she said. "I don’t care who that ’he’ you’re talking about is. I also do not care where HG’s money has gone. But let tell you very clearly today. If you dare lay a finger on Jake and Leah, I will make the entire HG go down with them!"
Wendy said in a serious, cold, and threatening tone.
Even a man like Timothy who had been in the cutthroat business world for years was shocked.
Wendy continued, "You should know that HG’s present clients all have good personal relationships with . I have been in charge of dealing directly with most of HG’s clients over the past few years. All I have to do is et those clients; no, I don’t have to make a trip personally. I only have to make a phone call and say that I am no longer working for HG; what do you think they’ll do? Will they co to HG for their money? When that happens, HG will really and truly run out of money."
Wendy’s threat made its desired effect on Timothy.
Christian did not care about the survival of HG because he cared way more about the project he was bidding for.
But to Timothy, HG was his whole life.
He did not wish to see HG collapse for real.
...
"Corrine Swift, I had never imagined since giving you the autonomy that day that you would rise and beco a threat against one day." Timothy Woods was weak in his knees as he stumbled back. "Had I known, I would never have placed all matters concerning HG Enterprise into your hands."
Timothy had wholly trusted in Wendy.
That was the reason why besides the design team, he allowed Wendy to coordinate the dealership matters as well.
With a larger area of authority, the threat in terms of influence would be greater as well.
"Mr. Woods, you do not need to put it that way," Wendy took in a deep breath as she continued, "Wasn’t the reason why you gave more autonomy because you noticed my rising visibility in the design industry and wanted to ride on it to earn more for HG?
"All the initial clients were about to end their collaboration with HG, and if it hadn’t for my designs, they would not have changed their minds.
"It was solely because of my relentless efforts in sourcing for clients globally that established our dealerships.
"If not for , I’m sure that HG would not have enjoyed these two years of glory."
"Therefore, you believe that since it was your efforts that brought HG Enterprise into heights, you don’t feel guilty for destroying the company or for being so ruthless about it?" Timothy asked.
"I’ve never thought of destroying HG Enterprise, nor have I done so," Wendy adamantly denied.
"You haven’t done so?" Timothy threw his head back with a manic laugh. "It’s okay even if you don’t admit it. I have no evidence either right now, so I can’t accuse you.
"You had better watch your back!
"Look out for soone using your weakness against you."
"It’s sothing I have never done, so where this weakness would co from?"
Wendy responded icily.
In the heat of the mont, Timothy was at a loss for words.
He sighed and held his breath as his infuriated gaze studied Wendy’s familiar face.
Just then, Timothy’s phone rang.
It was Christian.
Seeing the ’C’ that appeared on his screen, Timothy winced. His head was spinning.
"Why aren’t you picking up?" Wendy probed snidely. She noticed the display on Timothy’s phone.
Although Timothy hurriedly covered his phone, Wendy had no doubt that it was Christian.
"Whether I pick up or not has nothing to do with you," Timothy responded defensively as he dismissed the caller.
Christian was definitely contacting him for more funds.
With the current situation, Timothy had no money for Christian.
"Corrine, regardless, I’m your ntor. I hope you take that into account as you reconsider things. Do you really want to sit back and watch as HG files for bankruptcy?" Timothy asked, hoping to convince Wendy to back down.
"I have never wished for HG to be shut down.
"I had poured in blood, sweat, and tears for many years for HG to gain a foothold on an international level.
"Why would I want my own hard work to go down the drain?" Wendy responded superficially.
"In that case, help request for an extension of the compensation fees." Timothy had no choice but to bow this low. "All those clients who were in contact with you, can you tell them to push the paynt deadline back by half a year?"
"Mr. Woods, are you kidding ?" Wendy rolled her eyes and snorted, "The contract was long signed.
"Do you expect to tell the client at this point that we will not pay them and we would need them to wait half a year?
"Which client do you think would believe that HG would be able to pull through this crisis?
"If this gets out, all the other clients we managed to bring back would want to end their contracts too.
"By then, HG would be in deeper trouble."
...
Wendy Stewart was speaking factually at this point.
The clients who were initially willing to receive compensation instead of terminating the contract altogether were the ones who had personal relationships with Wendy and, mostly, the ones who believed that HG Enterprise could regain its foothold.
If they were unable to even receive compensation on ti, all would believe that HG Enterprises had reached the end of the road and was better off filing for bankruptcy.
Under these circumstances, who would still be willing to gamble that HG Enterprises would be reestablished and be able to bring in profits for them after that?
"HG is really unable to take out such funds at the mont. If you push HG for money right now, it would be equivalent to cutting off any future projects for HG." Timothy leaned against his desk, listless.
He was on the verge of breaking down.
"This brings us back to the sa point, where has HG Enterprise’s funds gone to?"
Wendy pressed once more.
"Who cares where it’s gone!" Timothy snapped. "Just tell whether you can help or not!"
"I can call the clients, but I cannot guarantee that I would succeed," Wendy said as she whipped out her phone and placed it on the desk.
She stood before Timothy and scrolled down her list of contacts for clients’ numbers in front of him.
When she ca to one, she tapped on the contact and turned her phone to speaker mode.
She wanted to demonstrate to Timothy that these clients were beyond her control by now.
The call quickly got through.
On the other end of the line was Teigen of Havenview City.
Seeing that Wendy had called him, he probed, "Ms. Swift, for you to be calling at this ti, are you going to tell that my compensation has been transferred?"
"My apologies, Mr. Teigen. I wanted to discuss with you the possibility of pushing our compensation date from the agreed one week to six months later.
"The thing is, HG is planning to start a new project, so our money has been placed into that project.
"Be rest assured that when the new project is launched, exclusive distribution rights will be given to Havenview City."
"A new project?" Over the phone, Teigen’s tone changed audibly. "Ms. Swift, are you kidding ?
"You had personally co down to Havenview City to sign the contract for the compensation fees to be released.
"Now, you’re telling that you’re launching a new project?
"Since we’ve known each other for a long ti, let’s be frank.
"Is HG unwilling to compensate my company?
"With HG acting like this, it would be hard for us to collaborate any further."
"You’re mistaken, Mr. Teigen. We are sincerely keen on working with you as always.
"It’s just that we really have a new project on the horizon, resulting in so restraints on our funds.
"Don’t you worry, HG’s products are always the best, so we would be able to receive returns soon.
"When that happens, we would be sure to transfer the paynt at once.
"As long as the new project is launched smoothly, your company can profit from our new products as well."
"Don’t try to fool , Ms. Swift," Teigen replied, irritated.
"We all know the situation that HG Enterprise is in right now.
"After collaborating for such a long ti, let be upfront with you.
"If the compensation fee is not transferred to us today, I hope you would not bla us for requesting to rescind our contract with HG."
"But, Mr. Teigen..."
"Ms. Swift, I have matters to attend to, so I shall hang up now. Goodbye."
Wendy looked straight at Timothy.
She called another client and did the sa thing.
The response was the sa... there was no room for discussion.
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