Chapter 195 Patrick’s Banquet
After leaving John's house, Henry noticed that I looked upset and started explaining, "Helena, are you mad because I gave them money?"
I nodded. "Uncle John obviously called you over today just to get money from you. Every time he asks, you hand it over. What does he think we are, an ATM?"
Hearing this, Henry let out a long sigh. He placed his hand on top of my head and patted it, saying, "I accept your criticism. This is the last time, no more next time, I promise."
How could I feel reassured? Henry always said this, but whenever John opened his mouth, Henry forgot his promise completely.
But this matter really couldn't be cut off unless I could expose the evil things John's family did in my past life. So I needed to speed up my plan, and getting Natasha married into the Pemberton family was the first step.
Thinking of this, I asked, "Dad, do you think the Pemberton family will agree to the marriage?"
Henry shook his head and immediately expressed his dissatisfaction with the Pemberton family.
"The Pemberton family are all calculating people. They won't agree to the marriage so easily, unless..."
Unless John could give them huge benefits.
Obviously Henry thought of this too. He looked at me and asked, "How's it going with the Pemberton family's debt?"
"Legal is already preparing the lawsuit materials, but even if we win the case, who knows when they'll actually pay us back."
Mentioning this made me frown too. We'd definitely win the lawsuit, but the Pemberton family had been established in Starwave City for so many years and weren't easy to deal with. If the Pemberton family wanted to delay repayment for three to five years, that was possible. It would definitely be difficult to enforce.
Henry said, "If it doesn't work out, should I step in and talk to the Pemberton family?"
I thought about it and shook my head, "If anyone talks to them, I should go first. After I get back, I'll have legal contact the Pemberton family to inform them about the lawsuit. If the Pemberton family has any thoughts about it, they'll definitely contact me on their own."
Henry nodded, "Okay."
At this point, he suddenly added, "And about the internal investigation - I heard there's been quite a bit of talk among the staff."
Even if Henry hadn't brought it up, I was planning to tell him about it.
"Just some talk, nothing major has happened. But someone's getting nervous."
I then told him about Patrick inviting Giselle to dinner, and asked with a smile, "Do you think Patrick might actually have a problem?"
Henry shook his head, "Not sure. Patrick has worked at the company for many years. It's normal for him to appropriately understand the audit progress. But we'll see what gets discussed at the dinner."
I nodded, "I'll ask Giselle tomorrow at work. The dinner should be happening tonight."
"Okay."
Henry nodded and said, "Even if there is a problem, don't make it public for now. Let me handle it."
I knew Henry had always been lenient with company veterans. Even if Patrick made a mistake, Henry would resolve it quietly.
After getting back, I had a good night's sleep.
The next day at the company, I glanced at Ivan's desk and saw he wasn't there. I wondered if he didn't come because of what happened yesterday.
I opened my office door and walked in, then called Giselle directly and asked her to come over.
"Ms. Lockwood."
Soon the office door opened and Giselle appeared in front of me.
Seeing her, I asked directly, "How did it go? Did you have the dinner?"
Giselle pushed up her glasses and said, "Yes, but Patrick didn't mention anything about the company during the meal."
"Really?"
That was strange. What was Patrick's purpose?
"Some colleagues from the finance department were also there for dinner. The atmosphere was pretty good. Patrick praised me a few times at the table and that was it. After dinner, they all went to karaoke, but I came back."
After Giselle finished, she thought for a moment and said, "I didn't feel Patrick had any hidden agenda. If he did, I can only say the atmosphere was too good."
This Patrick was really hard to figure out. But he probably knew I was keeping an eye on this matter. If he really did anything, Giselle would definitely tell me.
Patrick wouldn't be stupid enough to let me catch him so quickly.
"It's fine, don't feel any pressure. Just treat it as normal socializing among colleagues."
After comforting Giselle with a few words, I asked, "What about those financial accounts? How's the review going?"
"Still checking, no problems so far."
Hearing Giselle's answer, I felt temporarily relieved. No problems was good news. Hopefully Patrick could stand up to scrutiny.
After Giselle left, I got a call from Henry asking me to come welcome Joseph's assistant together.
Hearing that he had arrived, I quickly pressed the elevator button and headed to the company lobby.
When I got closer, I saw Henry talking with a young man. After I arrived, Henry made introductions.
Joseph's assistant was named Edward Harris. He came this time because he heard the equipment had been manufactured, so he wanted to check it out. If there were no problems, he'd be ready to take delivery.
"We should have delivered the goods directly to you. Sorry to trouble you to make another trip."
Henry said this and politely gestured with his hand, "Then please follow me to the workshop, Mr. Harris."
No wonder Henry was being so polite. To be Joseph's assistant, he must be quite capable. Building a good relationship with someone like this might be useful in the future.
We walked to the workshop together. The goods prepared for Joseph were stacked full in a warehouse. Seeing us arrive, the warehouse manager Efrain Hubbard quickly opened a box and took out a sample.
"Mr. Lockwood, Mr. Harris, look, this is the finished product."
After opening it and taking out the equipment, Edward examined it carefully and even tested it hands-on before deciding there was no problem.
He straightened up, looked around and asked, "Everything's here?"
"Yes, if it's okay, we can load the truck today."
Hearing Efrain's words, Edward nodded, "Good, then let's start loading. I'll go with the truck today."
Hearing this, I immediately understood that Efrain planned to escort the goods himself. I was a bit confused whether this was out of distrust or some other purpose.
At this moment, Henry beside me smiled and said, "Mr. Harris is really dedicated and responsible at work. Good, we'll start loading now and try to leave this afternoon. We can deliver it by tomorrow morning."
Only after hearing Henry's words did I understand - it was out of work responsibility.
As we walked out of the warehouse, we ran into Ivan head-on.
He had just walked out of the workshop with York. The moment I saw them, I froze. Wasn't Ivan supposed to be absent from work today? When did he arrive? What were these two doing in the warehouse?