A Replacement Bride

Chapter 351

Mason was breathing heavily, and he looked like he could eat someone alive. "What is it? You had an issue, yet you're blaming others for running checks on you, huh?"

William didn't seem too bothered by his father's comment and simply changed the topic. "Don't you find it odd, Dad? Why have we been so unlucky recently? They found issues in the past two or three projects that they checked. Specifically, the projects at Jade Lake and the holiday resort on the outskirts of Northside were both projects that I handled well. It got past all the inspections, and all that had been left was the final acceptance check. Why would they dig these projects up for reinspection?"

Mason frowned upon hearing William's words. "Are you saying that someone's messing with us?" Mason was immediately distracted by this thought. He had considered this possibility in the past, but everything had happened so quickly, and he had too much on his plate. He was too exhausted even to contemplate this matter.

"That's right," William uttered firmly. "This whole thing is too fishy, and it's all happening at the same time. I'm sure someone is messing with us. We have to find the culprit behind this, or we'll be dead meat!" he exclaimed.

Mason clenched his jaw as his expression turned grim. "Well, what good would it do for us to know who's responsible for this? That doesn't help us to resolve our current situation!"

William didn't seem to have fully comprehended the severity of the matter. "You never know! After all, the Morans are one of the most powerful families in Kyoland. Who would dare mess with us? This person is probably hiding because they are afraid our family will try to get revenge. If we manage to hunt this person down, we can teach them a lesson and bring our family out of the troughs. I think this plan would work," he uttered with a scoff.

"It's not that simple!" Mason growled. Right then, his phone rang. It was a call from his assistant. He felt his head pounding at the sight of the call, and the corner of his eyebrow twitched a little before he picked the call up. "What is it this time?"

The assistant sounded more flustered than before. "We just got the news, Mr. Mason. The partners who ended their contracts with us have just officially started a partnership with W Co.!"

Mason froze upon hearing his assistant's words. He lowered his hand, which he had pressed against his forehead. "What did you just say?" The look on his face had turned sour. His assistant had no choice but to repeat himself. After hearing his assistant's words the second time, Mason leaped to his feet before he slammed his phone onto the ground. The phone shattered into pieces.

Melise was shocked by Mason's sudden change in demeanor, and she was too stunned to do anything for a while. "What is it, Dad?" William widened his eyes. "You were right. Katherine must be the one who's messing with the Moran Family this time!" Mason uttered through gritted teeth.

William was stunned to hear what his father had said. "Was she the one who did this? How could this be? How did she manage to—"

"Have you forgotten about the fact that she's the CEO of W Co.? Of course, she can manage to do this!" Mason's face had an eerily grim look on it—it felt almost as if he was about to summon a storm.

William came to a sudden realization then. "That explains it! She was the one who ruined Project Matix! Now, she's using the same tactics again. She's trying to ruin the Moran Family!"

"That b*tch!" Melise finally understood what was going on. "We haven't even dealt with her after what happened previously. How dare she sabotage us again?!" she cried furiously.

Mason clenched his fists so tight that his knuckles began to crack. This b*tch! She keeps trying to mess with the Moran Family. I'm not going to allow her to ruin us! That being said, I guess karma is real.

We've been engaging in these immoral acts for so long, and now, we'll have to pay for it. Mason reached out to all of the local and international connections he had, but even after a full day of work, he didn't manage to get a single thing done.

Furthermore, the bad news kept knocking on the Moran Corporation's door. Firstly, a few companies came over to have their debts settled, and some companies requested penalty fees for breaching their contracts. Then, Mason received the news of the company's shareholders withdrawing their investments and the higher-ups leaving for another company. Even low-level workers started quitting their jobs. Some workers packed up and left without even asking for their final month's salary!

Moran Corporation had once been grand and reputable, but one day was all it took for the entire building to be emptied! In the meantime, W Co. also made a grand announcement of them taking over the projects that had been terminated by Moran Corporation. W Co. offered to compensate for all the losses just to solidify their relationships with all their partners and to work better together in the future!

W Co. had a good reputation, to begin with, but these actions only made them seem more trustworthy. The public cheered for their actions, and they successfully portrayed the image of a respectable and admirable organization! W Co. managed to steady their business even though they had just shifted to target the local market.

Throughout all this, W Co. also managed to announce its online operations. They highlighted that their business would commence in Hovington the very next day and that many famous entrepreneurs would be there for the opening ceremony! Mason's face was drained of color when he saw the news. He lost all his energy, and he felt like a headless chicken that had been utterly defeated. NôvelDrama.Org is the owner.

Mason had just received another call from his assistant, and he found out that all of the liquid assets the Moran Family had were not worth much and that there weren't a lot of buyers. The only company that was willing to purchase their assets offered a really low sum for it, and the sum was nothing in comparison to the penalties that the company had to pay for breaching all the contracts! Furthermore,

the assistant told Mason that the buyer hadn't bothered to conceal their identity. The buyer was someone from W Co.!

…

Meanwhile, Joaquin was in a hospital in Hovington. He was peeling an apple for Noah while they chatted, "Aren't you afraid that Mason might not sell it?"

Katherine was sitting by the side of the room, munching on a pear with a relaxed look on her face. "Don't worry. I'm sure he'll buy it," she uttered firmly.

"How are you so sure?" Joaquin smiled.

Crunch! Katherine's pear was extremely crunchy, and its juice splattered all over her cheeks. She swallowed her bite before responding in a wise tone, "Well, I revealed my identity to put more pressure on Mason. It's my way of telling him that I will be the sole buyer of his assets and that no one else will have the guts to buy them from him. If he doesn't sell it to me, he'll never get to sell it to anyone, and he'll never get the money he needs.

"The penalty fees have a daily interest, and the longer he takes to pay up, the more he'll have to pay. Do you think he'd be dumb enough to continue resisting me? He's not an idiot. He knows he's forced to sell his assets to me, even if he doesn't want to do it. He doesn't have a say anymore."

Joaquin found some admiration for the woman when he saw the twinkle in her narrowed gaze. He pressed his tongue against the ceiling of his mouth for a while before he spoke, "You offered a lower price because you didn't want to benefit the Morans, but aside from that, you're also trying to make them go bankrupt, right? You know that the sum of money you're offering will not be enough for them to pay their penalties. You're still exerting pressure on the Moran Family because you want Mason to completely give up on the corporation."

Katherine didn't deny his claims. Instead, she threw the leftovers of her pear into the trash before she took a wet wipe from Joaquin to clean her hands. "Well, I've never enjoyed driving others into a corner, but I feel the need to do it with Moran Corporation. I guess I'm avenging my grandmother."