Chapter 47 Christopher Returns to Lumaria

Chapter 47 Christopher Returns to Lumaria

Emily's POV

Everyone quieted down. Seeing this, I finally breathed a sigh of relief. I almost thought I was going to die here today.

"We're the new company taking over. Regarding your back pay, we’re not going to walk away from what you’re owed.But before that, I hope you'll calm down. Find the leaders who used to manage you and have them come see me."

"Once we’ve confirmed the numbers, we’ll get those checks to you."

I saw a white-bearded man outside the window shouting,"Don't listen to her! She's just trying to buy time!"If we let them go now, we'll never get our money back."

"Right, exactly! We can't let them go."

Seeing they were about to make trouble again, I quickly said, "Alright, what's your name?"

I asked the white-bearded man.

"Nicholas Jackson."

"Okay, Nicholas, compile all the unpaid wages and send them to me now. After verification, I'll distribute the wages to everyone."

"Everyone listen up, go find this Nicholas. He'll report your wages to me collectively, and I'll return the unpaid wages to everyone as soon as possible."

Everyone crowded around Nicholas, talking all at once.

I could only vaguely hear Nicholas saying frantically, "Hold on! One at a time! I can't hear a word you're saying if you all talk at once!''

I took the opportunity to have Christopher drive into the company grounds.

When the three of us got out of the car and looked at the crowded mob, we all breathed a sigh of relief.

"I must be crazy to trust you. Such a huge mess, and you just took it on like that?" I couldn't help complaining.

"Trust me, if you’re playing for high stakes, you have to look past the immediate chaos. Come on, let's go to the broadcast room first."

We went to the broadcast room. For consistency, he decided to have me relay the message to the people outside through the broadcast.

I followed his lead, summoning the previous management team for an urgent briefing.

We worked all afternoon and set the following temporary rules:

First, we need to audit the back pay to ensure no one tries to game the system.

Second, keep some capable managers for easier management.

Third, conduct an inventory of the factory.

I wanted to talk about our long-term strategy,but Christopher took a phone call and went out, never coming back. Plus it was getting late, so the matter was put on hold.

After everyone left, Joshua and I exchanged a smile and slumped in our chairs.

"I'm exhausted. I can't even imagine how hard it must be for those who start their own businesses."

Joshua nodded in agreement.

We'd barely chatted for two sentences when Christopher came back looking serious.

"What's wrong?"

Christopher met my gaze and sighed. "I think I have to go back.''

I was completely stunned. From his expression, he didn't seem to be lying.

If he goes back, what about the company?

I looked at Joshua. Shouldn't he say something at a time like this?

But he didn't speak up. Instead, he looked like he'd thought of something.

"Wait, what's the reason? There has to be a reason."

Christopher explained, "I pursued this research despite my family's disapproval.Then it got stolen, and I had no choice but to come to Zephyria to get the materials back."

"My brother hasn't been idle at home either. He's officially taken over the family business. I have to go back."

"I know how ruthless he can be; he'll go after my mother and younger brother next."

I fell silent.

Honestly, the first thing I thought of wasn't the company, but the fact that he was leaving. But I couldn't bring myself to ask "Will you come back?"—that would have sounded far too desperate.

In the end,"I settled on the most professional excuse I could find."What about the company?"

"There's no good solution right now. My accounts have been frozen. I have to go back and deal with these things first."

"I need you to hold down the fort for a month. After a month, no matter what the situation is, I'll find a way to handle things."

The thought of the mob of debt collectors outside sent a fresh chill down my spine.

Hold on for a month?

If we don't pay them in the next couple of days, they'll probably tear the company apart.

Joshua spoke up, "Something happened at home, you should go back quickly and deal with family matters. Emily's here, no problem."

Who? Me?

How come I didn't know I was that capable?

I stared at him darkly. It's only because it's him—if it were anyone else, I'd beat them until they couldn't stand up.

Christopher nodded at me, "Emily, I trust you!"

He turned and left in a hurry.

I watched him walk away, rooted to the spot for a long moment.

I could only blame all this on Joshua. "You answered for me, so you solve this. As the president's son, this amount of money shouldn't be hard for you, right?"

Joshua shook his head. "Who told you the president's son must be rich? My dad doesn't even clear a million a year—how is he supposed to cover this? Plus I snuck out. Once I'm exposed, my dad will definitely make me go back."

I laughed in frustration.

"So why did you answer for me?"

Joshua looked confused."Weren't you just signalling for me to back you up? I thought you were worried Christopher wouldn't go back, so you wanted me to mediate."

I was truly speechless.

"Emily, you don't know—Christopher's family relationships are complicated. His father has three women, and they all live together. His mother is the second one. He's the second son of the Taylor family, with younger brothers and sisters."

"In recent years, his father's health has been getting worse, and the family has been fighting over the inheritance. The other two women have had several children each. The family competition is fierce."

"He originally wanted to use this research to gain control of the Taylor family, but then all this happened. While he's been in Silverlight City, his brother certainly hasn't been sitting on his hands."

"When he goes back this time, he'll face plenty of difficulties."

After hearing this, besides worry, I panicked even more. "So what you're saying is, I need to figure out how to solve the workers' wages issue?"

After all, Christopher might not be able to come back anytime soon, and with his bank card frozen, he probably can't transfer money either.

Joshua grew quiet for a moment before giving a slow, solemn nod.

"Emily, I have no doubt you can handle this."

Their confidence in me was almost overwhelming.

"Why are you so confident in me?"

Joshua said matter-of-factly, "Because you were the former number one female assassin on The Zenith Class rankings. Not just anyone can do that. Since you're so good at that, you probably won't be bad at other things either."

"And honestly, you seem like a lucky person. The kind who always lands on their feet."

If I were actually lucky, would I be three hundred million dollars ?

I stopped looking at him and started thinking about how to handle this.

Backed into a corner, I realised I had no choice but to see this through.

I asked management to send over an approachable engineer,planning to first see what products the company had that were worth presenting, and then go negotiate.

Soon, an engineer was brought before me.

After a brief exchange, I learned his name was Benjamin White.