Early in the morning, Deanna received a call from Lionel.
Lionel's voice was urgent on the phone, "Miss Jones, I just got a call from the production manager. The herbs that Harris Group was supposed to deliver last night haven't arrived this morning. When we called to inquire, they said Harris Group has terminated the partnership. We have an order due in three days. Since you were the one who signed the contract with Harris Group, could you contact them to find out what's going on?"
Deanna was shocked upon hearing this.
She hadn't expected Harris Group to renege on their agreement and stop supplying the herbs.
Regaining her composure, she spoke seriously, "I will contact Harris Group immediately. However, we can't put all our hopes on them. Have someone reach out to other herb suppliers to see if they can provide us with the necessary herbs, even if it costs more. We must not delay the order delivery; it concerns our institute's reputation."
"I understand. You contact Harris Group, and I'll look for other suppliers," Lionel said before hanging up.
Deanna didn't put down her phone. She found the number of the person responsible for signing the contract and prepared to call.
But the phone rang for a long time without anyone answering.
Lance came out of the bathroom and saw Deanna sitting on the bed with a troubled expression, holding her phone. He walked over and asked with concern, "What's wrong?"
"Harris Group suddenly terminated our partnership. The herbs that were supposed to arrive yesterday haven't been delivered this morning. I tried contacting their representative, but no one is answering," Deanna explained.
Unsurprisingly, Lance's face also darkened.
After all, he was the one who had introduced Harris Group to Deanna. This situation made him look incompetent.
He looked at Deanna and said gently, "You should get up and freshen up. You still need to go to the institute later. I'll have Xavier contact Harris Group."
Deanna didn't refuse.
Since Harris Group was clearly avoiding her, having Lance help might be more effective as they wouldn't dare offend him.
Indeed, that was the case.
The representative from Harris Group might ignore Deanna's calls, but he wouldn't dare neglect Xavier, who was second only to Lance in Mercer Group.
When Xavier called, the representative had no choice but to answer.
"Mr. Nelson, what brings you here?"
"Mr. Riley, let's skip the pleasantries. You should know why I'm calling. Why did Harris Group suddenly breach the contract and stop supplying herbs to our missus?" Xavier's sharp question came through the phone.
Mr. Riley, the representative, broke into a cold sweat and didn't know how to respond.
If he admitted it, Harris Group would face penalties and reputational damage.
But if he didn't answer, and Mr. Nelson demanded immediate delivery, he couldn't authorize it on his own.
The higher-ups had clearly instructed to stop supplying herbs to Cloudmere Institute and not let the issue escalate and affect the company's reputation.
Finally, he thought of a compromise and quickly explained, "Mr. Nelson, it's not that we suddenly breached the contract. There was an incident. The batch of herbs was dispatched, but the vehicle broke down and caught fire, destroying all the herbs. I've been busy dealing with injured employees and haven't had time to contact Miss Jones. Then you called."
Xavier laughed sarcastically upon hearing this.
If he hadn't investigated beforehand, he might have believed this excuse.
"Mr. Riley, do you think I would believe that? Even if there was an incident, shouldn't your first step be contacting the client to negotiate a delivery extension? How could you forget?"
Mr. Riley was speechless.
Seeing his silence, Xavier softened his tone and tried to persuade him, "We're both just doing our jobs; there's no need to make things difficult for each other. Just tell me honestly why your company breached the contract. I won't make things hard for you or your company."
Feeling that this approach might not work, Xavier added a stern warning after his kind words, "Mr. Riley, you might not know my boss well. He cherishes his wife greatly and won't tolerate anyone mistreating her. Madam chose your company because Mr. Mercer recommended it. Now your company has breached the contract, which is a slap in Mr. Mercer's face. If you don't give us a reasonable explanation, what do you think Mr. Mercer will do to your company?"
'Naturally, he won't let us off easily.' Mr. Riley thought silently.