Chapter 237: Frustrated

The security guards were shocked by her strength, and hearing her words startled them even more. They looked at each other, none daring to stop her anymore.

Even the Bell family had to show Larry respect, let alone people like them.

Roman was also a bit surprised. After spending half a day with Phoebe, he'd found her attitude quite gentle. Why this sudden change?

"York, wait!" Phoebe called out. When no one responded, she quickly stepped forward and blocked York's group.

When the security guards had stopped her, York could claim they didn't recognize her or pretend he hadn't heard her voice.

But now that she was standing right in front of him, if he drove Phoebe away, it would be disrespecting the Foster family and, more importantly, disrespecting Noah.

"Ms. Foster?" York looked surprised. "What brings you here? Is there something you need?"

Phoebe pulled at the corner of her mouth. "Of course, I have business with you. I was calling out from behind for ages, but you didn't seem to hear."

York's surprise became more obvious. "Really? I'm so sorry, I didn't hear you just now."

"You're getting on in years, it's understandable," Phoebe said.

The implication was clear: you're old, your hearing is declining.

York fell silent.

"You should know very well why I'm looking for you, so I won't beat around the bush," Phoebe said. "The Bell Group is a major corporation, yet you're defaulting on payments. That wouldn't look good if word got out, would it?"

Hearing this, York sighed. "I know it wouldn't look good if this got out, but the company's been having some cash flow problems lately. We really can't pay this money right now."

"No matter what my personal relationship with Vivian is like, the Bell Group and Foster Enterprises will inevitably work together. York, aren't you afraid of damaging the business relationship between our two companies by doing this?" Phoebe raised her voice slightly.

York smiled bitterly. "As you said, the Bell Group and Foster Enterprises are long-time partners. I don't want to damage our relationship over this either."

"But the company really is having cash flow problems and can't make the payment on time. However, rest assured, the Bell Group isn't a small company—we definitely won't default on the debt."

"We're just delaying it a few days. We'll pay all the penalty fees and interest. When you think about it, Foster Enterprises isn't losing out—you're actually making money. I'm almost envious."

He'd covered all his bases, and his words implied that Foster Enterprises was getting a great deal.

Eldridge knew Phoebe was on good terms with Diana and Patrick, so he didn't have a friendly attitude toward her either.

"York, you keep saying the Bell Group has no money, but what is the Bell Group using to participate in this project? As far as I know, the funds required for this project are far more than twenty-five million dollars, right?"

Phoebe had no idea what project the two families were competing for or how much money it specifically required. She was just testing York with this statement.

York paused, then sighed heavily. "Ms. Foster just started working recently, so you may not be familiar with the technical aspects of this."

"To put it bluntly, even biological brothers need to keep their accounts separate. Within the company, the various departments and project managers keep very clear accounts. Every dollar is allocated and accounted for in the financial budget in advance—it's not something anyone can transfer on a whim."

"Otherwise, if one project has problems and money from other projects gets transferred over, wouldn't the whole company fall into chaos?"

Phoebe had just started work today and really didn't understand these matters.

At this moment, she couldn't tell if what York was saying was true or false, whether there were any loopholes, and she couldn't easily consult with Roman. For a moment, she didn't know how to respond.

But just letting York leave like this—it would probably be even harder to see him next time.

Seeing the two at a standstill, Eldridge said irritably, "Are you done talking? Are we going to eat or not? If you're not going, just say so—I'll go by myself!"

"Sorry for the delay, let's go now." York smiled apologetically at him, then said to Phoebe with an apologetic expression, "Sorry, Ms. Foster, I have other matters to attend to. I'll take my leave."

Without waiting for Phoebe's response, he left directly with Eldridge.

Before leaving, Eldridge even snorted triumphantly at Phoebe.

Phoebe fell silent.

"Do you have some conflict with Eldridge?" Roman stepped forward and asked.

Phoebe shook her head. She'd only met Eldridge once and hadn't even spoken to him. She really didn't know where she'd offended him.

She pushed these messy thoughts out of her mind and asked, "Roman, you heard York's response just now. Do you have any other ideas?"

"Do you want the truth or a lie?" Roman asked.

"The truth," Phoebe said.

"Then no." Roman spread his hands. "I used to mostly chase debts from small and medium companies. If one phone call didn't work, I'd get a lawyer ready to file a lawsuit. I rarely handled such tricky situations."

Even when there were such cases, he was just an assistant.

This time Quinn had arranged for him and Phoebe to handle such a difficult matter together, and, including today, had only given them three days total. He was clearly making things difficult.

However, Quinn and William had been at odds for a long time, so making things difficult for Phoebe seemed to be expected.

Phoebe nodded. There was no point in them staying here any longer, so they left the Bell Group together.

But just as they walked out, they ran into a delivery person. The delivery person stopped his vehicle and made a phone call, and Phoebe's phone happened to ring.

"Oh, it's you." After talking for a bit, the delivery person realized the order's owner was right beside him. "This is the meal you ordered."

Phoebe took the food and thanked him. Just as she finished speaking, her phone rang again.

"Let me take that." Roman took the food.

Phoebe nodded and answered the call. "What's up?"

"It's so late, and you're still not back. Where are you? I'll come pick you up." Noah's voice carried a hint of fatigue.

Phoebe didn't want to develop a habit of depending on others. She said coolly, "No need, I can just take a taxi back."

"Taxis can't enter Green Lake Manor, and Dr. Lewis said your leg treatment requires you to avoid walking for long periods." Noah said in a tone that brooked no argument, "I'll pick you up. Send me your location."

Phoebe glanced at the Bell Group building and said, "In front of the Bell Group."

She hung up and apologized to Roman, saying she needed to wait here for someone.

Roman had originally planned to leave—after a busy day, he really should go home and rest early—but he changed his mind at the last minute. "I don't have anything to do when I get back anyway, so I'll wait with you. I'll leave after someone picks you up."

Worried that Phoebe would refuse, he shook the food in his hand and smiled. "This is our first time working together, and you already had to order food for me. I can't bear to let you wait here alone on top of that."

"Thank you then," Phoebe said.

The two stood in front of the Bell Group, chatting casually. The atmosphere was fairly pleasant.

"Since we're waiting anyway, why don't you eat this first?" Seeing that Phoebe's complexion wasn't great, Roman held the food container out to her.

He guessed she might be uncomfortable due to her period or had stomach problems and needed to eat on time, but he didn't ask specifically.

They'd just met—asking such questions would be too forward.