Chapter 242

Chapter 242

The fallout from Roy's attack hung over Windsor Group like a dark cloud.

Police vehicles became a common sight outside the office building, appearing every other day like clockwork. Detectives combed through surveillance footage with painstaking precision, questioned key personnel, and an audit team descended on the company's financial records.

One by one, those who had lurked in the shadows, hiding in departmental corners were dragged into the light one by one. The entire office atmosphere tightened to a breaking point.

The once lively hallways fell eerily silent. Gone were the whispered gossip circles and casual chatter. The breakroom, once filled with laughter and idle conversation, now stood deserted.
Even the laziest interns sat rigidly at their desks, fingers flying across keyboards. Everyone was terrified that the slightest misstep might place them under scrutiny next.
Most employees were honest workers who only had a vague understanding of the internal corruption. They were curious, but too afraid to ask questions. All they could do was watch as new faces kept appearing around Emily.

But what truly caught everyone’s attention was Emily's new "assistant."

Her name was Cressida Hamilton. She stood at an imposing six-foot-three, taller than nearly every man in the office. Her broad shoulders and athletic build strained against the structure of her business suit, giving it an oddly mismatched appearance.
The first time Emily laid eyes on Cressida, her mouth twitched.

Low-key? This woman might as well have had "BODYGUARD" stamped on her forehead.

Still, the biggest beneficiary wasn't Emily—it was Erica.

With Cressida around, Erica was freed from the burden of hauling endless stacks of documents. Every physically demanding task was effortlessly handled by her.

Charles hadn't hired an assistant for Emily. He had, quite clearly, hired manual labor support to Erica.
Ironically, Cressida’s personality stood in stark contrast to her intimidating presence. If Erica had once seemed naive due to her inexperience, Cressida was... untouched by the complexities of corporate life. Pure as a pristine sheet of paper.

But whoever had trained her clearly understood her limitations. They'd instructed her to listen more, speak less.

So Cressida stood beside Emily's desk like a mobile security barrier, her broad shoulders and towering height radiating quiet menace.

At first, employees couldn’t help but sneak curious glances in her direction. But after catching the icy look in Cressida's eyes—and Emily's casual remark that "Cressida will be assisting me with daily operations. Coordinate with her directly"—everyone dropped their curiosity. They simply replaced questions with assumptions, concluding she must be some high-level executive hire.

Emily didn't explain Cressida's real role. But she didn't hide it either.

This "semi-transparent" approach proved more effective than any attempt at secrecy. It commanded respect without inviting questions.

Over the next week, Emily held three major meetings. First, she cleaned up the mess Roy had left behind, restructuring the divisions he had once controlled. Next, armed with audit results, she fired three department heads who'd colluded with Roy to embezzle company funds. Finally, she implemented sweeping reforms to the internal workflow, sealing the management loopholes.

The fired executives begged. They made excuses. Some even pulled strings and even attempted to leverage connections, sending intermediaries to beg for leniency on their behalf.
Emily shut them all down with a single line: "The company has rules. Break them, and no one can save you."

Watching her sit behind her desk, fingers tapping lightly against a document, eyes cold as winter steel, the staff finally understood.

This young CEO was not someone to be trifled with.

In just two weeks, Windsor Group underwent a complete transformation. Workflows became efficient. Accountability replaced blame-shifting. Long-stalled projects roared back to life. Performance steadily improved, climbing step by step until the company regained its solid ground.

At last, Emily could breathe.

She began delegating authority, slowly handing responsibilities back to her department heads. After all, without a capable team, even the strongest leader would eventually collapse under the weight of everything.

She circled a few more names on the senior management roster.

 

Meanwhile, in his study at home, Charles sat with a fountain pen balanced between his fingers, eyes scanning an encrypted file. His brow furrowed slightly.

It was Roy's interrogation transcript, along with a financial tracking report detailing the money trail behind him.

Even after his arrest, Roy had stuck to his story: he'd acted alone, driven by rage and impulse.

But his family had already been preparing to flee the country. Everything had been arranged.

Following this lead, Charles uncovered something deeply unsettling. Someone had been erasing their tracks.

What are they after? Destroying Windsor Group?

Charles's frown deepened as he flipped through a list of Windsor Group's competitors.

But none of them fitted in as suspects.

Though Emily and Charles's marriage hadn't been publicly announced, insiders already knew Windsor Group was backed by the Howard family. Unless someone had a death wish, no rational competitor would risk provoking them head-on.

So if it wasn't a competitor... who would go to such lengths to sabotage the Windsor family?

His fingers tapped rhythmically against the desk before he finally reached for his phone and dialed Mike.

The line connected almost immediately. Mike's voice was respectful. "Mr. Howard. What do you need?"

"Spare no expense. Find out who was behind Roy. And double the security detail around Windsor Group. Report anything unusual immediately."

"Understood, Mr. Howard. I'll handle it."

"Good."

Charles was about to hang up when Mike hesitated.

"Mr. Howard, there's... an invitation. I wasn't sure whether—"

"Decline it."

Charles's tone was flat. Given his status, he received dozens of invitations every week. Unless it was critically important, Mike would bring it directly to his office. Everything else got turned down automatically.

It was rare for Mike to bring something like this up at all.

But Charles paused. Mike was reliable. If he was asking, there had to be a reason.

Sure enough, Mike explained.

"Mr. Howard, it's from the Patel family. Drew's hosting a small private gathering to thank friends and family after his recovery. He specifically requested your presence."

Mike wiped his brow, though there was no sweat there.

He'd agonized over this. Normally, the Patel family wouldn't be significant enough to warrant Charles's time. But Drew had saved Emily.

That changed things. Refusing outright might seem ungrateful.

And Mike had been in regular contact with Erica lately. He knew the Patel family had also sent Emily an invitation—and that she'd likely attend.

After weighing all the factors, he'd decided to present it to Charles.

But Charles's frown deepened. His voice was ice-cold.

"Decline it."