Chapter 186: Photo Album

Liam caught it, tossed it in the trash, and handed her the peeled pear. "Has your client been giving you any more trouble?"

Nora took the pear and took a bite. "Your name works like magic. Now when he sees me, it's like he's seeing God."

She was really curious and decided to ask again. "But why don't you appear on the most eligible bachelor rankings?"

Liam paused for a moment, then shrugged indifferently.

"I don't like being on those lists. Too tacky."

He paused, picked up his phone, and dialed a number. "That land from the Saunders Group - we can take it now."

After hanging up, he looked at Nora's shocked expression and raised an eyebrow. "What are you staring at? Helping out your queen."

Nora looked at him, her mouth opening and closing, unable to get the words out. Rich people really know how to play games.

By evening, everyone's life had taken different turns.

"Mr. Saunders, due to your company's stock price fluctuations, we will proceed with mandatory delisting of the Saunders Group before market opening tomorrow morning."

Andrew gripped the phone, his body went weak, and he collapsed straight to the floor. This was really the end - there was no hope left.

At the top floor of the Harrison Group, Catherine stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows, her emotions complicated, unable to hold back a sigh.

Alexander wrapped his arms around her from behind, his chin resting gently on top of her head.

"Feel better now?"

"Yeah." Catherine leaned into his embrace, her body finally relaxing after being tense all day.

Alexander's voice was low and steady. "There are people behind them."

Catherine had already guessed this - there must be people backing them, otherwise how could they have caused such a big commotion?

Alexander's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an indescribable emotion. Both their expressions looked grim.

"The Saunders family is just a knife someone pushed forward. We don't need to worry about them."

Alexander adjusted her collar, his movements gentle but his eyes unfathomably deep. "They don't have the brains or the guts to dare offend both the Harrison Group and me this way."

The Saunders family's assets meant nothing to Alexander. But for them to dare do this, someone must have paid them.

"What the company developed has affected many people's interests. Everyone wants to make money, but they don't have the capability." She walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, her voice cool.

"K Group - they want to use others' hands, then follow the trail to acquire your core technology at a low price." Alexander directly named them.

What a clever move - killing two birds with one stone, using a borrowed knife.

...

Meanwhile, at Nora's studio.

"Cheers! To our queen!" Nora held up a glass of champagne, bouncing on the sofa.

Liam crossed his legs, slicing a plate of ham, and glanced at her sideways. "Acting all crazy - where's the queen-like behavior?"

"What do you know!" Nora plopped down across from him and grabbed a slice of ham to stuff in her mouth.

Liam shook his head but didn't argue back. "Speaking of which, there's been some buzz lately that K Group's Asia-Pacific head has changed. The new person is supposedly tough and planning some big moves in the domestic market."

Nora froze, forgetting to chew the ham in her mouth. "K Group? That foreign company that's always going after Catherine and them?"

Liam handed her his phone, showing a business brief. "Their target is domestic emerging biotech companies."

Nora's expression instantly darkened. She really didn't expect their reach to extend so quickly.

She was about to call Catherine when her phone screen lit up first - a notification from Liam's feed, a just-published news article.

[K Group announces official launch of China investment plan next week, first stop: Emerald City.]

...

At the Harrison Group, in the CEO's office, Catherine had just hung up a call from an overseas branch when Eric walked in carrying a delivery box.

"Ms. Spencer, this just came by same-city express delivery, addressed specifically to you, no sender information."

Catherine frowned. At this critical time, packages from anyone were unsafe.

Alexander walked over, stepping in front of her, and said to Eric, "Put it down and have security handle it."

"Yes."

However, Alexander's gaze fell on the box, his brow furrowing slightly, and he opened it directly.

There wasn't much inside - just foam padding and a small photo frame in the middle with Ethan's picture.

He was wearing his kindergarten's blue uniform, carrying a Pikachu backpack, standing by the slide at the kindergarten entrance.

In the bottom right corner of the photo was a timestamp: today, 3:15 PM.

Catherine rushed over and grabbed the frame, her fingers trembling. She flipped it over - on the back was a line of messy English.

Some things are more fragile than stock prices.

The atmosphere in the office completely changed. Everyone's expressions became very serious as they looked at the item.

"Their methods are really despicable - if they can't get to us, they go after my child."

Alexander didn't look at the photo, but his expression was particularly grim, his tone very low. "I'm here. Nothing will happen to Ethan."

Catherine's head snapped up. "Ethan..."

"He'll be fine." Alexander slammed the frame face-down on the desk with a dull thud.

At these words, Catherine couldn't hold back her tears. "He's still so young, and there's no one to protect him at kindergarten."

She had been too rash in her actions, not considering the child. The thought made her heart ache terribly.

Alexander felt sorry for her hearing this. "This has nothing to do with you. These people are too much - they act without any regard for consequences."

Thinking about it made him furious. He should have dealt with them all back then and avoided this current trouble.

"I'll send people to protect Ethan. Don't worry about anything else - leave it all to me."

True to his word, he immediately dispatched bodyguards to the kindergarten to watch over the child. Hearing him on the phone, Catherine's heart finally settled a bit.

"I need to discuss with Ethan - maybe it's better not to go to kindergarten for now. I'd feel safer with him under my watch."

After all, no one knew what these people might do. They were capable of anything. If something happened to Ethan while she wasn’t watching, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself.

"Actually, kindergarten might be safer. With so many people around, they wouldn't dare do anything openly. Keeping Ethan at home would be more dangerous." Alexander tried to persuade her.