Chapter 52
When I drove up to the Brown Group factory entrance, Aaron and Charles were already waiting outside. As they watched the sports car pull to a stop, Charles moved even faster than Aaron, rushing forward to quickly open my car door for me: "We've been waiting and waiting, and finally our chairman has arrived..."
His smile froze on his face the second I took off my sunglasses and stepped out of the car.
"You..." Disbelief spread across his eyes. He never imagined that the chairman, Aaron, who was abroad, would turn out to be the person who had kicked them out of Lumina Trade Center.
I smiled brightly at him: "Hello, Mr. Brown. Let me reintroduce myself—I'm the person who'll be signing the contract with you. I hope we can work well together."
He turned to Aaron for final confirmation: "What's going on? Didn't you say your company's chairman was coming to sign personally? Since when does Watson Tech belong to her? Isn't your chairman Mr. McCoy?"
Aaron quickly stepped forward with a smile: "Mr. McCoy has reached retirement age. Watson Tech's headquarters is in Solstice, and Ms. Wilson is the chairman sent over from headquarters. Everything at Watson Tech is now Ms. Wilson's call."
Charles's face darkened. Instinctively, he felt I had nothing but ill will toward him. He was certain my partnership with them had ulterior motives. Of course, I didn't deny that.
"If that's the case, give me back the contract. Our company won't take your order." He reached out to grab the document folder from Aaron's hands.
Aaron held the folder against his chest, looking at Charles sideways with a casual reminder: "Mr. Brown, don't forget—this is already a formal contract. We've already transferred the payment to your account. All that's missing is Ms. Wilson's signature. If you breach the contract, you can't afford the penalty."
He added coolly, "Besides, without this funding, your company can't operate anymore. If you're sure you want to breach, we won't have trouble finding another partner."
Charles's eyes practically blazed with fury: "This is fraud! If you'd said from the start we'd be working with her, our company would rather go bankrupt than sign this contract. No wonder you kept pushing down the terms, squeezing our original thirty percent profit margin down to less than ten percent. Emily, you did this on purpose, didn't you?"
I looked at him casually. Unlike his anger, my calm and breezy smile stung him even more.
"Mr. Brown seems to have a big misunderstanding about me. Business is business—who doesn't want to make more money? I don't need to spell out your company's current situation, do I? The fact that I'm still working with you shows I'm already considering the Lopez family's sake. Breach the contract? Mr. Brown, you'd better think carefully—can the Brown Group really withstand this kind of blow?"
I'd actually love for him to breach. I want the money and the factory, too.
Jasper rushed out from inside the factory: "Dad, are they here? Everything's all set up inside..."
He also froze for a moment when he saw me: "Emily? What are you doing here?"
I tilted my head and smiled at Charles: "I'm here to officially sign the contract and check out your factory's capabilities. But from what you're saying, it seems I'm not welcome."
Jasper frowned, looking at me with confusion: "You mean you're representing Watson Tech to sign the contract? You're Watson Tech's chairman?"
I raised an eyebrow with a smile: "What else?"
Charles's chest heaved, his face livid. The moment he mentioned breaching the contract, there was no way back. Now that Jasper had come out, he could only stay silent and let him handle the situation.
Jasper was still quite tactful. He quickly put away his shock and showed a delighted smile: "Ms. Wilson, I had no idea you were the one partnering with our company. If I'd known, I would've sent a car to pick you up. Aaron, what a coincidence—we're practically family now."
I looked at him with disdain: "I thought the Brown Group would rather breach the contract than work with Watson Tech."
I have to say, compared to three years ago, Jasper had become much smoother—at least able to hide his emotions well. Charles, on the other hand, hadn't improved at all. As the Brown Group spiraled downward, he relinquished almost total power to Jasper, blaming his deteriorating health.
Then again, maybe it wasn't that he lacked diplomatic skills—having ruled the roost for so long, he just couldn't adapt to his diminished status, to being at others' mercy.
Jasper quickly smiled and stepped aside to let me go first: "How could that be? For this partnership with Watson Tech, the Brown Group has been preparing for a whole year. Everyone in the company is looking forward to it. Ms. Wilson, you're our company's savior now."
He played the part of being flexible very well.
I turned to look at Charles standing there with a dissatisfied expression, speaking pointedly: "I'm just afraid some people aren't welcoming."
Jasper gently tugged at Charles's sleeve and made a welcoming gesture: "Let's go inside and talk. Who stands at the factory gate to do business? Later, I'll give you a proper tour of our facilities. I'm not bragging, but when we built this factory, the Brown Group was one of the top three companies in Emerald City. We used the most advanced technology and equipment."
I nodded as I walked: "That's exactly what I value. Even though your products aren't up to par anymore, this factory is indeed good. If you really can't hold on someday, you can come find me."
Jasper's face flushed for a moment, then he quickly smiled and said, "Ms. Wilson, you're joking. Now that we're working with Watson Tech, things will only get better. With the factory, we have everything."
Aaron made excuses for Charles from behind: "Mr. Charles Brown, Mr. Jasper Brown has your old style—those who achieve great things don't sweat the small stuff. In business, today's partner could be tomorrow's competitor. Why can't you understand that? Come on, don't make things worse."
Charles took a deep breath without saying anything, just silently followed behind us, staring thoughtfully at my back.
After a quick tour of the factory, I soon signed my name on the contract: "Mr. Brown, the contract is now officially in effect, and the payment has already been received. Next, your company needs to produce qualified products in accordance with our requirements. Before that, I need to tell you that our company has strict quality inspections. If anything is even slightly substandard, we absolutely won't let the product reach the market. The contract also has clear responsibility divisions. I hope when the time comes, you won't think I'm deliberately making things difficult for your company."
Jasper quickly agreed: "Yes, yes, that's the most basic requirement. Our company's production capacity and quality will definitely put your mind at ease."
Charles had left at some point without anyone noticing. I was a bit disappointed not seeing him: "Also, I need to emphasize something important. This is a factory, and once you enter, it should be a sterile environment. But just now, when I looked around, how is your office area still connected to the production workshop? Can you ensure that everyone entering the workshop has been disinfected and is completely sterile?"
Jasper's face reddened again as he smiled apologetically: "This is currently a temporary transition for our office area."
I nodded slightly at him: "If that's the case, I hope you'll fix this as quickly as possible. There should still be a few days before official production starts. You can do that, right?"
This sentence should sound very familiar to Jasper—just like what I told him at the coffee shop, giving him three days to vacate the office building, or else I'd treat everything in it as garbage.
He smiled bitterly, the redness fading from his face: "Yes... I'll definitely follow Ms. Wilson's requirements."
I glanced at him, lowering my head as the smile at the corner of my mouth deepened. According to my plan, it wasn't just their office area—both he and Charles would be driven out of this factory bit by bit.