Chapter 63
The next day, SoftGlow Biotech made financial headlines. Industry insiders predicted that its establishment would bring major changes, breaking the long-standing monopoly of a few brands and ushering in a healthier competitive dynamic.
They'd attached a photo from the company launch. I was smack in the middle, all smiles and sunshine. Charles, shoved to the side, had been cropped out completely—like he never existed.
However, the Brown Group also got some coverage, since SoftGlow Biotech's current location used to be the Brown Group's address. Our processing contract wasn't exactly a secret either—I'd let it slip during an interview, and it got reported in full.
The Brown Group's fall to contract manufacturing status drew quite a few sighs. Of course, the most direct impact was their stock price hitting a new low again. Watching the shares in my account keep growing, I couldn't help but smile.
Right now, if I wanted to, I could rename the Brown Group to SoftGlow Biotech at any time.
But showing my hand this early would take all the fun out of it. When a cat catches a mouse, unless it's starving, it always plays with it slowly until the mouse can't move anymore. So I hope when he receives my gift tomorrow, his emotional reaction won't be too extreme.
I hadn't even gotten to the office yet when my assistant called: "Ms. Wilson, Mr. Brown from the Brown Group is here. He looks pretty unhappy. Should I let him in?"
"Make him wait," I instructed and hung up.
Of course I'm going to see him—how else could I watch him lose his composure?
I was in great spirits. I even stopped at a roadside café to grab an iced Americano, sat in my car savoring it slowly, then drove to the office.
As soon as I entered the office building, Bianca came out of her office and followed me upstairs into my large office. "Ms. Wilson, Mr. Brown looks pretty upset. Is it about us having the tech department people report in the other day?"
I waved my hand at her with a smile: "Don't worry about it, I'll handle it. Which conference room is he in?"
"Small conference room number five. The receptionist brought him coffee—he's probably had three cups by now." Bianca covered her mouth and laughed, a rare playful side from someone usually so composed.
I laughed too, then told Bianca to get back to her work while I slowly made my way downstairs to conference room five.
When Jasper saw me come in, he quickly managed his expression, stood up, and came over: "Ms. Wilson, the processing plant has produced a batch of products. I heard there were some minor issues with quality control, so I came to ask about it so we can make improvements."
I handed him the report: "The problems aren't major. The technical staff can solve them quickly."
Jasper's mind clearly wasn't on this. After hesitating, he revealed his ulterior motive: "Ms. Wilson, since we have a good relationship, I'll be direct. Recently, the Brown Group has had a bunch of technical and R&D staff resign. We thought they might have been targeted by headhunters, but I heard... they're now working at SoftGlow Biotech?"
I didn't argue: "Yeah, is there a problem?"
The smile on Jasper's face was strained: "Actually, there's an unwritten rule in our industry. When people leave, they sign confidentiality agreements—they can't work in the same industry for three years. I'm sure you know this. If they violate the contract..."
I raised an eyebrow and smiled at him: "Mr. Brown, you're talking about employees who were fired by the company, right? But as far as I know, your company didn't require them to sign a non-compete agreement in advance. When they resigned, you didn't bring it up—wasn't that to save money? They're free, they have the right to choose where to go. Our company recruited them normally. You can't say that just because they left your company, we can't hire them, right?"
The smile on Jasper's face was barely holding: "This is an industry rule. Even without a written contract, Ms. Wilson, you shouldn't have actually taken them on. If you do this, you'll probably get shut out by others in the industry."
I smiled at him: "Maybe I'm just back in Lumaria and don't know the rules yet. But now they're already on staff, and we've completed all the necessary procedures. Mr. Brown, you're not asking me to fire them right now, are you? You know, professional R&D people are hard to find. Training new people from scratch would cost way more than this."
Jasper caught on to my deliberate misinterpretation. Unwilling to take the hit quietly, he hesitated for a moment before firing back. "Ms. Wilson, I'll be honest with you. From when you chose this office building and kicked our company out, to announcing our factory would do contract manufacturing, and now our technical staff all resigning to work at your company, rumors are flying around the industry. I really had no choice but to come see you."
I still played dumb. "What do you mean? The Brown Group used to be one of the top three tech companies in Emerald City. What rumors? How can I help you?"
Jasper looked dejected: "Ms. Wilson, stop joking around. You know the deal with our company. We're faking it till we make it because if word gets out, we're screwed for future deals. Cash has been tight forever. One wrong move and the whole thing comes crashing down. We're tied together on this, so if we go belly-up, you guys are gonna feel the pain too."
He was showing me his most genuine side for once.
I casually glanced at my freshly done nails and responded with a carefree smile: "Don't threaten me with that. Actually, I can offer you a solution—sell me the factory. That might keep the company running."
Jasper's face went ashen, his expression agitated: "If we sell the factory, what's left of the Brown Group?"
I shrugged indifferently: "I won't belabor the point, but right now we can still get something for it—who knows what'll happen down the road? Of course, you could always cash out your shares, too, but then the Brown Group would be history."
The forced smile had completely disappeared from Jasper's face. He looked at me seriously for a long time before finally asking: "Ms. Wilson, I really want to know—why have you been targeting the Brown Group from the very beginning? I'd like to know, have we offended you somehow?"
I still had a smile on my lips, looking at him calmly: "How can you think that? We don't even know each other. What deep grudge could there be?"
Jasper frowned at me, as if trying to find a familiar trace in my face. But he looked for a long, long time, and I was still just me. These features didn't overlap with any memory, and combined with that DNA report from before, it convinced him I wasn't her.
"Do you know Emma?"
That was the only thing he could think of—that Emma and I knew each other.