Chapter 186: Losing Dignity, Marlon
Marlon was confident.
He thought his plan with Leonard was foolproof.
So from the moment he stepped through the company doors, a smile played across his face.
Even when he was harshly questioning Samuel earlier, he was laughing inside.
He was laughing at Samuel for being young and not knowing his place, for actually looking down on his precious daughter - today, he would lose his dignity.
So when everyone said there were no orchids here, Marlon didn't panic at all.
He just thought these people were all blind.
Or they simply didn’t know what they were looking at.
After all, these were very rare wild orchids.
If Leonard hadn't introduced them to him, he wouldn't have recognized those flowers himself.
Until—
Marlon was about to start lecturing them about these “orchids.”
He tilted his head and looked up.
When he tried to find the rarest pot of "orchids" among them, he finally saw clearly what the plants in this room actually were.
The office was packed with plants..
The only thing remotely related to orchids was the pot of moth orchids on the desk.
But moth orchids weren't rare at all - even people in the countryside kept a pot on their balconies.
All of Marlon’s expressions froze.
The whites of his eyes showed starkly, making his expression look twisted and strange..
But he couldn't care less about managing his expression, because his mind was in complete chaos. He thought, 'How could this be?'
How could there be no orchids?
Where were all those orchids he and Leonard had arranged?
He had clearly sat in his car and watched with his own eyes as Yosef personally led people to carry the orchids into the company building, pot by pot.
He had even asked those movers about it.
All the orchids had been moved into Samuel's office!
But now these orchids had vanished?
Marlon's face turned ugly.
Samuel spoke with a smile.: "Marlon, you should go to the hospital today. If you can't find a good eye doctor, I can recommend a good one for you."
Marlon suddenly snapped back to reality, struggling to force a smile onto his face.
"I must be getting old, and my eyes are failing. Sorry, don't take it to heart."
Samuel looked at him meaningfully.
"If it's just failing eyesight, that's fine, a pair of reading glasses would solve it. But if you're suffering from delusions, that would be serious trouble. Don't you think?"
Jeremy chimed in: "Marlon, you're not really having delusions, are you? Otherwise, how could you come in and immediately accuse our Mr. Crawford of possessing a large number of wild orchids?"
Marlon's face looked terrible, but he still struggled to maintain a smile.
"Maybe I didn't sleep well last night..."
The others exchanged glances.
From their exchange, the others had already grasped the general situation..
Marlon wanted to use the "model enterprise" inspection to find fault with Samuel.
This fault was most likely arranged by Marlon himself, which was why he was so certain that Samuel illegally possessed a large number of wild orchids.
Samuel must have seen through Marlon's plan and dealt with everything that needed to be dealt with in advance.
After realizing this, the business leaders present all looked uncomfortable.
Marlon wanted to go after Samuel—he shouldn’t drag them into it!
Especially Floyd.
He had already suffered too many losses at Samuel's hands. If he got on Samuel's bad side again today, then the Armstrong family would be completely finished.
Though he sometimes acted without thinking, losing a daughter had already sobered him up.
The price he'd paid because of Samuel was already high enough.
He wouldn't be his enemy again.
He'd avoid him if he could.
So Floyd was the first to speak: "Marlon, Mr. Crawford, I just remembered there's something urgent at the company. I won't be joining today's lunch. I'll take my leave now. Goodbye!"
With Floyd leading the way, the others also quickly said their goodbyes.
And the reporters, seeing the situation was off, also made a quick exit.
Of everyone present, they could least afford to offend Samuel.
Jeremy went out to see the guests off, and soon only Marlon and Samuel remained in the office.
Samuel still wore a smile.
Only his smile never reached his eyes.
Seeing that Marlon's mind hadn't fully cleared yet, he delivered a heavy blow.
"Marlon, if you happen to see Mr. Hays, please give him my regards."
These words were indeed like a thunderclap, jolting Marlon awake.
Samuel had actually guessed that Leonard was the one planning this behind the scenes.
So if Leonard knew that Marlon had failed and instead caused Samuel to direct his anger at Leonard, how would they treat him?
A layer of cold sweat broke out on Marlon's back.
"Mr. Crawford is joking. I've been transferred to Goldenvale - how would I easily have a chance to see Mr. Hays? I have things to do, so I'll be going now."
He fled in panic.
Afraid that if he stayed one moment longer, Samuel would see through even more.
It was only at this moment that he finally understood, he had underestimated Samuel too much.
Underestimating him because of Samuel's youth was the biggest mistake Marlon had made.
He was filled with regret and fear.
Samuel watched Marlon's retreating figure and let out a low, cold laugh.
Two minutes later, Jeremy returned.
He said everyone had left.
Only then did Samuel speak: "You can come out now."
A door on the left side of the office that didn't look like a door was opened from the inside.
Yosef walked out.
His forehead was covered in cold sweat.
"Samuel... I almost made a huge mistake and dragged you down with me. I'm sorry!"
He rarely showed such a panicked expression - usually, he always had that carefree attitude.
Samuel patted his shoulder.
"You didn't mean to, and besides, the matter's been resolved."
Yosef lowered his head and said dejectedly: "I really didn't think that much about it... and I don't understand these things either."
"Tell me in detail - where did you get those orchids from?"
Before Marlon arrived, they'd been too busy moving the flowers to discuss any of this.
Now they could sit down and analyze it properly.
Yosef quickly explained—
The day before, Philip had called him, saying he had a botanical garden in Goldenvale, and because the lease was up and he didn't plan to renew it, he was asking him to help deal with some of the precious plants inside.
Philip said whether to sell them or give them away was up to him - just help handle it.
Philip was someone who, though calculating, was never petty.
So when he handed over those expensive plants for him to handle, he hadn't suspected anything.
"He said his wife was still immersed in the grief of losing their son, and he couldn't manage everything, couldn't make it to Goldenvale."
"I knew Stella was indeed very sad, so I didn't think much of it. I thought it was just a small favor, so I agreed."
"Then I thought of you..."
"So I picked out the ones the staff said were more valuable and sent them all to your office in one go."
At this point, Yosef was almost gasping with tension.
Just thinking about how he'd almost caused Samuel to fall into Marlon's trap made him want to slap himself.
"Thank goodness you know about orchids and felt something was wrong, and told me to get rid of all those flowers. Otherwise, I really couldn't have faced you."
Samuel shook his head. "I wasn't the one who spotted the problem this time."
"Then who?"
Yosef looked at Jeremy.
Jeremy said, "It was Ms. Richardson who first pointed out that something seemed off. Later, I also felt something was fishy, and only then did Mr. Crawford hurriedly call you over."
"It was actually her... She's smarter than I thought."
"Yeah." Samuel nodded proudly and said, "At first I thought she was being oversensitive, saying you couldn't possibly harm me. She said you might have also fallen into someone else's trap, and only then did I realize there was a problem."
Yosef said, "I need to thank her, take her out for a meal."
"No need, I'll treat her."
"What? Afraid I'll steal her from you? Don't worry, I wouldn't dare."
Samuel raised an eyebrow before agreeing.
He asked again, "If Philip asks about it, you know how to answer, right?"
Yosef nodded, a rare coldness gathering in his eyes.
"I know he's a bastard. You warned me long ago to prepare early to deal with him. But I just couldn't bring myself to do it, thinking that no matter what, he's still my older brother, and it wouldn't come to a complete break. But... I've changed my mind now."
Samuel nodded slightly. "Prepare early, then. He's been scheming since childhood - who knows what else he'll do to you in the future. If I had fallen this time, you would have been implicated too, and he would be the only one to benefit."
"I just didn't expect he was already in the same boat as the Hays family."
"That's normal. But don't be too hasty either. Before you've thought of a foolproof plan, don't act rashly. If we're going to make a move, we need to make sure it's one hundred percent successful."
"Okay."
Yosef thought for a moment and said, "Maybe when I take Amelia out to eat, I can ask for her opinion."
Samuel nodded.
"You can. She's very smart, and she has that natural attention to detail that women have. Her advice might be even better than mine. But one thing - don't get her involved. Just ask for her opinion."
"Don't worry, I understand that much. I could involve anyone, but I can't involve Amelia."
Samuel felt like his heart had been dipped in honey - he was very pleased.
"No wonder those women like you," Samuel said.
"What? You like me too?"
"Get lost! I only like women!"
"If you really like me that much, I could take a trip abroad."
"Don't disgust me."
The two started bantering, with no trace of any rift between them because of the orchid incident.
"By the way, what should we do with those orchids?" Yosef asked.
Because they knew there were people watching outside the company, the orchids had been placed in the restroom inside Samuel's office and hadn't been moved out.
The restroom had a hidden door that Marlon and the others couldn't possibly know about.
"I'll ask Amelia," Samuel said. "She seems pretty interested in these things. If she doesn't want them, then you can deal with them."
When he mentioned Amelia, his eyes finally showed a smile.
Yosef smiled.
The bachelor had finally met his match.
When Samuel called Amelia, she was making something at the Shadow Operations Division.