Chapter 271

Chapter 271

"You did this on purpose!"

Andrew had gone through all this trouble just to get back at him.

Lantine Jewelry clearly had no shortage of raw materials anymore, yet he still came knocking. Now the tables had completely turned, and Holden had no choice left.

All the other buyers he'd approached had been drawn away by the Anderson Group's mines, and Andrew was now the only one who could take the goods off Holden's hands.

It was almost laughable. The man who had been making outrageous demands just moments ago was now completely cornered, with no way to turn things around.

Holden's grip tightened around his phone without thinking, his fingertips trembling slightly, all his greed now replaced by regret.

He knew that if he kept holding out, combined with the pressure from Vaughn, the raw materials sitting in his warehouse would become the last straw that broke the camel's back.

If he read the situation now and backed down, at least he could cut his losses, and his company could limp along a little longer.

The choice was obvious.

Holden's face had gone ashen. He couldn't pull off that arrogant, demanding attitude from before anymore. As much as he hated it, there was nothing he could do against Andrew. He had no choice but to swallow his pride and give in.

"Fine... I'll sign."

His voice was dry and rough, as if he'd suffered some great humiliation. Under the long, heavy silence from Andrew's end of the line, Holden closed his eyes and calmly accepted the outcome, saying slowly,

"Then we'll go with what we agreed on before — sign today, settle everything at once."

A cool, detached glint flickered in Andrew's eyes.

Once Holden lost his leverage over others, he'd always be the first to fold — because someone like him had no principles to stand on.

Dealing with people like that was something Andrew handled with ease.

"Mr. Edwards, if you'd just said that from the start, you wouldn't have had to go through all this trouble."

Holden heard the jab through the phone and took several deep breaths to keep his anger in check.

The contract was brought back by Caspian. The moment Andrew had it in hand, he headed straight to Lantine Jewelry and placed it on Olivia's desk himself.

"Take a look. When you ask me to handle something, I make sure it gets done."

Olivia looked at Holden's signature on the contract, and the pieces quickly clicked together in her mind.

"So the Anderson Group actually has mines?"

"We do."

Andrew watched Olivia with a smile in his eyes. He'd planned to explain everything when they visited the site, but she'd figured it out faster than he expected. A look of quiet admiration crossed his face.

"The statement only said there were mineral deposits, and the mining equipment really is being brought in — we just didn't spell out exactly what kind of minerals were found."

That part was true. Olivia looked up sharply, and when she imagined the look on Holden's face once he found out the truth, she couldn't help but laugh.

"You really know how to play with words. Still, putting out a statement like that must have come with some risk for the Anderson Group."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Andrew waved it off without a care. The risks he'd taken on were already in motion.

"Come with me to the airport tomorrow to pick someone up."

The comment came out of nowhere, and though Olivia was puzzled, she nodded without thinking.

"Sure, I was planning to stop by the factory anyway."

With a steady supply of quality raw materials secured, the full-scale recovery effort was now underway across all product lines.

Large batches of materials were hauled into the storage yard behind the factory, and workers got straight to it. Customer complaint orders from the stores were handled separately, with additional small commemorative items made from the same materials given out as compensation.

This approach also saved on PR costs, and Lantine Jewelry's reputation recovered considerably as a result.

The negative sentiment online, along with the influencers who had been filming at stores for attention, were all won over by this response. The backlash was visibly fading.

The stock price, which had been sliding, was steadily climbing back up. The storm at Lantine Jewelry had passed.

This time, Olivia brought Gavin and Lily along to the factory. The entire management team there had been removed, and someone needed to keep a close eye on things.

"You two will be working on-site for now. Stay here and make sure all the inventory gets restocked. Lily, I'll need a report from you when we do the review later."

"Of course, Ms. Smith."

Lily carefully noted down her tasks in her planner, while Gavin was immediately drawn to the machines running on the floor the moment he walked in.

"I've only ever seen this type of equipment here. My friend works in the same industry in Regal City, and their setup is nowhere near as advanced as ours!"

With that, Gavin walked around like a kid in a candy store, touching and examining everything. It was clear he genuinely loved this kind of thing.

The evening sun poured through the windows onto the neat, well-stocked shelves of the factory floor. Workers moved through their tasks with purpose, and the factory had settled back into its steady, orderly rhythm.

Olivia was doing a final walkthrough of the workshop, checking off the new quality control procedures, when her phone buzzed with a notification. As she looked down at it, she heard soft, unhurried footsteps approaching from behind.

Andrew had shown up at some point without her noticing. He walked quietly to her side, reached over, and brushed a bit of dust off her shoulder without a second thought. His low voice came close to her ear.

"How's everything going here?"

His cedar scent reached her before his voice did. Just from the smell, Olivia knew exactly who was standing behind her.

"Almost wrapped up. Are we heading to the airport now?"

A quiet smile lingered in Andrew's eyes. He nodded gently and gestured for her to lead the way.

"Perfect timing if we leave now."

Watching Andrew's obvious excitement, Olivia found herself genuinely curious about who they were going to pick up.

But no matter how much she asked, Andrew wouldn't give anything away.

"You'll see when we get there."

He kept her in suspense on purpose, which only made her more curious.

Unable to get anything out of him, Olivia wrapped up the remaining tasks, then left the factory with Andrew and drove to the airport.

They left during the evening rush hour. Traffic moved slowly along the road, and a cool breeze drifted in through the car window — pleasant and easy.

They reached the arrivals exit before long. People streamed in and out — reunions, farewells, the hum of voices all around.

Andrew stopped and stood with her off to the side to wait.

With nothing to do, Olivia looked down at her phone and quickly worked through a few scattered work messages.