Dennis worried that I would be hurt by what shareholders were going to say, so he let me stay in the office.
Actually, I was not that vulnerable. I knew I must be confronted with something sooner or later. I couldn’t escape that for my whole life.
Dennis asked Toby to stay by my side to take care of me.
I had read every word of the news on Twitter. Putting down the phone, I stood up to walk to the French windows, from which I had a clear view of the crowding reporters below in front of the building.
“Clara, there are many classics in the restroom. Maybe you will be interested.” Toby was trying to comfort me. It seemed that changing the subject was the only means men could think of to console women.
Smiling, I looked back at him, “Giving up so many other noted people who deserve reporting in City P, these reporters make great efforts to report me instead, which is really a waste of time.”
Lips pressed, he didn’t respond.
After a while, Dennis came back, with a ghastly expression on his face.
Meeting my gaze, he waved at me gently. I walked to sit beside him. Holding my hand, he said, “Something unimportant. Don’t worry!”
I nodded and said nothing. I knew that something that made him frown was definitely unimportant. What was affected by the rumor was not only some people, but also the company.
What a listed company most worried about was the reputation of its leader. The George Group had always been represented by Dennis whose king-like temperament and serious style of work contributed a lot to the steadiness of the stock market of the company. The reason why he took me here was just that he worried I couldn’t bear the abuse on the Internet.
“Okay.” I simply replied with one word.
Toby handed him some materials which showed the plunge of the stock market of the company in hours.
I didn’t know about the stock, but I could guess what happened from the striking downward red lines.
It’s a great loss. Patting my hand, Dennis asked me to take a rest, then he took the materials to the office desk.
He spoke nothing, which made Toby restless.
“Bang!” He put down the documents after a long while. The noise made out of some papers could sound like thunder in this quiet office.
Feeling I was gazing at him, Dennis smiled at me gently, “Don’t worry.”
He was still comforting me.
I nodded, realizing he had met big trouble.
I knew Dennis needed to talk with Toby to tackle the trouble, so I made an excuse to go to the restroom.
He said softly, “Have a good sleep. Don’t worry about here.”
I lay on the bed. At such a moment, how could I fall asleep?
It was the first time that I had browsed Financial Network where, as I expected, experts had been analyzing the results of this crisis of the George Group.
Some experts said that the group had seen three image crises in only half a year. Given the influence of the rumor, it could be expected that the company went broke once Dennis didn’t respond correctly.
Others said during the past four years, the George Group had reached its peak, so this crisis might be the turning point of the development of the company.
Basically, how was the result depended on how Dennis dealt with the crisis.
Thinking for quite a while, I called Hank. To avoid what had happened that night when I lost my child happening again, he gave his number to me. As long as I called, he would answer.
He kept his promise to answer my phone. It seemed he was also busy. Before I asked, he directly said, “Do you believe me that it wasn’t I who made those photos public?”
I nodded, “Yeah!” Since he said he didn’t do that, I believed him.
After a while of silence, he spoke in a throaty voice, “I promise you won’t get hurt this time. Let me deal with it.”
I felt nothing but grateful for him.
I said, “How to do with it is none of my business. The reason why I call you is because I’m going to tell you I don’t owe you anymore.”
Long silence on the other end. With millions of dollars being remitted to Hank, the Gibson Group could pull through.
He asked in a low voice, “Does Dennis know you remit to me?”
“No!” I replied frankly.
HY Technology Co., Ltd. had made a considerable profit thanks to the operation by Dennis.
Grandpa thought marriage was undependable, so he directly made me the owner of HY Technology Co., Ltd.
I never thought about spending the money made by my company, so I had put all of it away.
Though the George Group met with the same problem as the Gibson’s, I took advantage of the chance when Hank needed money, paying off the debt of gratitude I owed to him with big bucks.
I heard a sneer from the other end. He said in a cold voice, “Clara, I didn’t expect you were heartless like this.”
Heartless?
I didn’t think so. I had owed Hank the debt of gratitude for four years during which I had always been disturbed. Hank didn’t care about money at all in the past.
But things changed. The George Group had been a listed company for 7 years, which helped to establish a stable foundation. Even if Dennis would suffer from loss, his company could definitely survive.
But the Gibson Group couldn’t do it. Before coming into the market, the company was run as a family business which was not for expanding.
Such a pattern of management continued until Hank took power. Wanting to take on with Dennis, he managed to expand his company.
It took just 2 years for the Gibson’s to be listed, which meant the company had not been firmly grounded yet.
When it came to a competition with the company of Dennis, the Gibson Group would be faced with a big risk of collapsing in one night.
The money I gave him was definitely a timely help that could relieve the financial stress these days.
Hanging up the call, I felt a little relaxed.
Not sleepy, I had no idea what to do.
I seemed to be stuck in the restroom, with nothing I could do.
Being wrapped in the quilt, I sat on the carpet in bed. Suddenly, I received a message from Jane.
It simply said she wanted to meet me.
I could tell what she was going to do. We had an unexpected encounter in Country M. If we had not ever met before, we wouldn’t have felt embarrassed to face each other now.