Chapter 42
Linda Taylor went out of the study with utter excitement, and her gloomy mood disappeared in an instant. After returning to the guest room, she immediately locked the door and could not wait to call her father.
"Hey, Dad, I have good news for you," she exclaimed.
"What good news?"
Henry did not care much about it. As long as his precious daughter did not cause him trouble, he would be grateful.
As for the good news, he did not dare have any expectations.
"Didn't you want to know more about Sebastian's company's detailed plan for the bidding project?" she asked.
"Yeah, how did you know?" he questioned.
"I heard it from Yasmine," she explained.
Hearing his eldest daughter's name, Henry immediately showed more interest and became attentive, "Has your sister asked her husband? Has he told her?"
Linda snorted and said, "She's not so kind. She'd be the happiest if we went bankrupt."
"That's not good news. What a waste of my time to be excited about it."
The disappointment in Henry's tone could not be concealed.
"Dad, why do you only think of Yasmine, never of me? Have you ever thought that I'm also capable of what she can do, and maybe more?" she asked, disheartened. Her father said, "What do you mean? I'm confused."
"I'll tell you frankly. This time, my brother-in-law's bidding plan is to select a partner through the charity auction at the Phoenix Center on July 13th. That is to say, the highest bidder for the items auctioned at the Phoenix Center will be granted the construction rights of this project."
Linda finished in one breath, but there was no response from the other end of the phone for a long time. She thought that her father did not hear her, so she asked uncertainly, "Dad, did you hear what I said?" "Yes, but where did you get the information?"
Henry asked in surprise. How could such important information be known to his daughter so easily?
"Don't you believe me?"
Linda was a little unhappy. She thought that her father would at least praise her.
"It's not that I don't believe you, but it's not a trivial matter. I just want to confirm that the information is true. Otherwise, it will cause economic losses," he explained patiently.
"I saw it in my brother-in-law's study. It's really the bidding plan." Henry asked many questions before finally hanging up the phone. He thought about it carefully and realized that it was possible. The current project under Simons Corporation was to build Hope Primary School, which was a charity project itself. The reason why they kept it a secret was that they were afraid that bidders would bid against each other on the day of the auction, and it would be hard to determine the winner.
He had to admit that his son-in-law was smart enough to use such an unprecedented method. Since ancient times, the best things would always fall into the hands of someone charitable.
If his daughter had not notified him, he would definitely lose the bid. He had never been a living saint, so he would not have spent his money on seemingly meaningless things.
After a night's consideration, he finally decided to give it a go. The business world was cruel. To get something, one must give something away.
If he could get the project this time, the profit would be beyond his imagination. Most importantly, if he could cooperate with Simons Corporation in business, there would be endless income in the future. On July 13th, the weather was clear. Early in the morning, Henry came to Phoenix Center with utter excitement.
He thought he was early, but when he arrived at the center, he found that many people had already arrived. Other than some peers, the others were all officials and dignitaries that he did not know. It seemed that there were not many competitors. He found a seat and sat down with confidence.
The auction began at nine o'clock sharp. The first item up for bid was just an ordinary cultural relic, but there were many bidders. Henry was determined to win, so naturally, he followed closely. "One million."
"1.5 million."
"2 million dollars."
"4 million."
"4.5 million dollars."
By the time the price reached six million dollars, basically no one had followed, but there was one person who did not give up. Henry did not know him, and he was sure that he was not his peer, but this person was fond of the item just like him.
"8 million."
He looked at the middle-aged man sitting in the corner in surprise. Who on earth was he? How dared he snatches it from him? Was the cultural relic really worth so much? If it was not for the Simons Corporation project, Henry would not bother taking it even if it was free.
"Eight million going once."
"Eight million going twice."
He was so anxious that his palm began to sweat. If he continued to follow, even if he could get the construction rights, he might not be able to make so much profit. He struggled and finally followed, "Ten million."
That man stopped following, so Henry won the bid with ten million dollars. It was when he excitedly picked up the cultural relic and came to his son-in-law's company that he heard the terrible news. Sebastian Simons stared at the bronze pottery on his desk and asked in surprise, "What's this?"
"Isn't it a condition to win the bid?" Henry asked in confusion.
"A condition to win the bid?" Sebastian frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"
Henry was stunned and said in a hurry, "Didn't you say the successful bidder at Phoenix Center today would be granted the construction rights for your project?"
"Who said that? There's no such thing," Sebastian denied.
"That's impossible!" Henry stamped his feet and said, "Sebastian, you can't go back on your word. Although ten million is not much, it's still a significant amount for a little merchant like me!" Sebastian's face darkened and he said, "Henry, what are you talking about? Prove to me that I've broken my promise."
Seeing that Sebastian refused to admit it and asked him to show proof, Henry became anxious. He quickly took out his mobile phone, dialed his youngest daughter's number, and asked her to come over immediately. As soon as Linda received the call, she sensed that something bad had happened, and her eyelids kept twitching. Although her father did not tell her the details over the phone, she guessed that it was not good news.
As expected, as soon as she appeared in the president's office, her father said with a livid face, "Linda, Sebastian doesn't admit it now! You said that I can secure the construction rights as long as I successfully bid for the cultural relic at the Phoenix Center. Now in front of him, you have to be honest. Did you see the bidding plan with your own eyes?"
"Yeah, I saw it with my own eyes. Sebastian, how could you..." her voice trailed off.
"Where did you see it? Take it out and show it to me now," Sebastian instructed.
"It's in the middle drawer of your study room. If you didn't take it away, let's go home together and look at it now," Linda suggested.
In order to make the father and daughter give up, Sebastian went home with them patiently. They went upstairs, and the three of them went into the study room together. However, when they opened the drawer, there was nothing. The evidence was gone.
"That's strange. I saw it here two days ago!" Linda frowned and said, "Brother-in-law, you took it, didn't you?"
"How many times do I have to tell you? I didn't put any bidding plan here. The details of the bidding plan this time are still under discussion. If you don't believe me, you can go to the top management of the company to confirm it."
"Then why didn't you say anything when I asked you before?"
Henry's face had already turned pale. What was done could not be undone, but he was still struggling desperately.
"How should I answer you when nothing is confirmed?" Sebastian asked.
The atmosphere in the room was indescribably heavy. After Linda was left stunned for a long time, something suddenly came to her mind and she yelled angrily, "It must be her, it must be her!"
She grabbed her father's arm and said, "Dad, it must be Yasmine. It must be her trap to frame us. I am going to confront her now. I will not spare her!"
"Stop,"
Sebastian shouted sternly, "Have you made enough fuss? What do you think this place is? I haven't even pursued the reason you entered my study room and touched my things, and now you want to cause trouble for my wife, she isn't your sister? Why are you slandering everyone? Your sister is just a teacher who knows nothing about business. How can she set up a trap to frame you?"
After scolding her, he turned to Henry and said, "Henry, I didn't expect you to discipline your daughter like this. I'm so disappointed."
"Dad, I really saw the document. Believe me, I really saw..." Linda confirmed.
Slap-
Henry could not suppress his anger any longer and smacked her. This was the first time that he had beaten his daughter. If it were not for his extreme embarrassment and his losing ten million dollars, he would not have beaten his precious daughter by himself.
Linda was so shocked that she held her right cheek and burst into tears of humiliation. She ran out of the study, quickly packed up her luggage, and went home while crying with anger and grievance. When she arrived at her own territory and saw her mother who doted on her the most, her suppressed emotions exploded instantly. She cried so hard and shouted that she had no face to live on... After receiving a call from her father, Yasmine Taylor went straight to her biological parents' home.
Before she entered the room, she could already hear someone wailing. She took a deep breath and calmly strode in.
When the enemies met, their eyes blazed with hatred.
Dorothy Ryles rushed to her uncontrollably and pushed her hard. She shouted furiously, "You shameless b*tch, how dare you show up in front of me? Haven't you made my daughter suffer enough?" Yasmine steadied herself and asked innocently, "What did I do to her?"
Henry stood up and told her the whole story with a gloomy face. In the end, he asked, "Yasmine, tell me honestly, did you do it?"
"Would you believe it if I said no?" She chuckled self-mockingly and said, "You won't believe me, will you? You've always believed your own speculations."
"What are you talking about? Just answer me honestly. If you didn't do it, I will not wrong you," Henry promised.
"Well, I'll tell you frankly, no," Yasmine said.
"You're lying!"
Linda yelled hysterically, "You set this trap up on purpose. I was so foolish that I fell into it!"
"What evidence do you have to prove that I set it up?" Yasmine challenged.
"If it weren't for your hint that there are important documents in his study room, I wouldn't have gone there. How dare you say that you didn't have bad intentions?" Linda accused.
"It's your own fault that you didn't behave yourself. I've warned you not to mess with people's things in their rooms, but you didn't heed my advice. Now that something has happened, you are blaming me." Yasmine paused, looked around, and continued, "I'm just a person whom you all look down upon. How could I be able to twist you all in my fingers? You said that I set up a trap to frame you. Linda, you really think highly of me."