Chapter 124: The Statement That Went Viral
As soon as he said that, I instantly became alert - he was trying to fish for information, wasn't he?
"Yes."
Seeing my response, John frowned. "But I heard they owe you guys quite a bit. If they pay off the debt, won't the Pemberton family go bankrupt?"
"Bankruptcy isn't likely, just some financial difficulties."
I didn't know what John was up to, but he definitely was up to no good.
"Are you worried about the Pemberton family?"
John said dismissively, "I'm just thinking about Natasha. Look at her, head over heels in love, determined to marry Knox. Being her father is tough!"
I sneered inwardly. If he really cared about Natasha, he would never let her marry into the Pemberton family.
Knox had a history of cheating - what kind of good person could he be?
But John let Natasha do as she pleased, not just because he coveted the Pemberton family's assets, but because he couldn't find a better family to marry into than the Pembertons.
"John's right, children's marriages need careful consideration. As for the Pemberton family..."
Henry shook his head as he spoke.
With Henry's words, whether to marry or not was now just a matter for John's family to decide.
"Alright, I understand. I'll take Natasha home now. We'll come back if anything comes up."
With that, John left with Natasha. After they left, the legal team sent over the drafted statement.
I carefully reviewed it and discussed it with the legal team before finalizing the statement and releasing it.
As soon as the statement was posted online, it immediately caught netizens' attention. The statement announced the broken engagement and clarified what happened at the wedding.
It also mentioned the debt issue between us, explaining everything clearly.
Before long, the statement shot straight to the top of the trending topics.
My phone started ringing off the hook.
What I didn't expect was that the first call came from Amy.
Amy immediately started comforting me, saying she'd seen everything online and would stand by my side no matter what.
Her gesture instantly won my favor.
I instinctively thought that maybe the dead fish incident had nothing to do with her - it might have been Yvonne's doing.
But since she was paying such close attention to my situation, it meant the Lancaster family must all know by now.
I wondered how Atlas was handling it, whether anyone was giving him a hard time.
After hanging up, another unknown number called. When I answered, I regretted it.
It was Knox calling.
I realized I'd blocked his number, so he'd switched to a different one to call me.
As soon as the call connected, Knox said furiously, "Helena, what's your problem? Are you trying to ruin the Pemberton family's reputation and destroy us?"
"Don't forget, if the Pemberton family goes bankrupt, you can forget about getting your money back."
"Isn't that exactly what you want?"
I said coldly, "Knox, don't even think about not paying. If you don't, we'll see you in court."
"Fine, fine, Helena - you're forcing my hand. Just wait, I'm not done with you!"
After hanging up, I felt an inexplicable unease. The shadow of my past life had too much influence on me.
I could almost picture Knox's furious expression.
I forced myself to calm down and tried to think about what Knox might do.
After thinking it through, the most likely scenario was that he would bind John's family and the Pemberton family tightly together, just like in my past life.
But that actually suited my purposes - having these two families tied together would make it easier for me to settle scores with them.
Back at the company, Henry called both the legal team and me over.
"Prepare the case against the Pemberton family. Tomorrow, Helena will take the materials to the Pemberton Group to start handling this matter."
The newly appointed head of the legal department was Mira Collins, a woman in her forties who wore glasses and looked refined, but I'd heard she was ruthless with opponents and remarkably aggressive.
Henry had specifically hired Mira at a high price for this Pemberton family case.
Mira pushed up her glasses. "Alright, I'll accompany Ms. Lockwood tomorrow."
Henry nodded. "What we want is for them to pay back the money smoothly. If they don't have the cash, we can accept Pemberton Group shares as compensation."
"Understood."
After briefly discussing with Mira, she left the office.
Only Henry and I remained in the room.
Henry leaned back on the sofa and said earnestly, "Helena, this case against the Pemberton family - we need to win, and win beautifully. This is the first step I'm having you take. If it goes smoothly, you'll have a share of the Pemberton family's assets."
"But Xavier has dominated the business world for decades - he can't be defeated overnight. We must be extra cautious with him."
"Okay, Dad. We'll meet with them first and take it one step at a time."
"Good."
Henry nodded and said to me, "Make sure things are clear with Atlas. Don't let any misunderstandings develop between you two. Of course, it's better not to drag him into this matter."
I could tell Henry really liked Atlas.
"I understand, Dad. Don't worry."
Leaving the office, I got a call from Quincy. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen her for several days since she started at the Blake family's company.
When the call connected, she asked directly, "Helena, I saw what happened online and the statement. Are you okay?"
I shook my head. "I'm fine. It's the Pemberton family who should be worried. How's work going for you?"
At this, I heard a sigh through the phone. "How do you think? It's awful. Work is torture. Every day I wake up to endless meetings, endless documents to sign, endless contracts to negotiate. I'm about to lose it."
"When will this misery end?"
Hearing her complaints, I smiled slightly. "Have you forgotten why you joined the company? You can't give up halfway."
When I mentioned the original purpose, she instantly perked up.
"Don't worry, I definitely won't."
Then she brought up Kenneth. "But seriously, I really suspect Kenneth is a robot."
"What are you talking about? Are you just jealous because you can't keep up with him?"
Seeing me tease her, Quincy unusually didn't argue back, but sighed deeply. "You're right, I am jealous of Kenneth's stamina. We eat the same food, but he can work until midnight every night without even resting."
"Tell me, is that even human?"
Hearing the frustration in her voice, I quickly comforted her. "Since you can't match his stamina, let's compete on brains. Just do better than him in business."
"Don't even mention it. Compared to him, I'm like an elementary school student."
Quincy sighed again after speaking.
"But I won't give up. He's better than me because he joined the company earlier. If I stay long enough, I'll definitely be better than him."
I chuckled. "That's the right attitude. Keep it up!"
"Alright, I've got to go. I'll come see you after I finish the work at hand."
"Okay."
After I hung up, Mira soon came looking for me. "Ms. Lockwood, shall we head out?"
I nodded. "Sure."