CHAPTER 242: CHAPTER 242: MISS JENNINGS REQUESTS AN EMERGENCY SHAREHOLDERS’ MEETING

Xiao Ai was initially indignant about Claire Shaw’s harsh words to Serena Jennings that day, but within a few days, she saw the news about CD Company’s embezzlement and escape.

The reports stated that CD Company was actually a shell company overseas, and its exploration results were not recognized by the government of Country C.

With CD Company fleeing and facing sanctions, it was revealed that the new vein at Mount Phosphor had fraudulent exploration results, being merely a poor mine with less than one percent gemstone-grade quality.

After Xiao Ai saw this news, she was stunned for a few seconds, then burst out laughing in the office.

"Hahahahahaha! It’s true that karma comes back around. Luckily, the boss didn’t win the bid back then."

She cheerfully made a cup of coffee for Serena Jennings and brought it into her office.

Serena Jennings had just closed her laptop.

"Anything you need, Xiao Ai?"

"Boss, boss, I have good news for you!"

After coming out of Serena’s office, Xiao Ai couldn’t help but mutter to herself:

"The boss truly deserves to be the boss, so calm!"

After hearing about the Mount Phosphor Mine, Serena Jennings didn’t show a hint of schadenfreude.

"I must learn to be like the boss in the future."

Xiao Ai silently made up her mind.

At this moment, Claire Shaw was already on the verge of collapse.

She had invested two billion!

Full two billion!

Now, with Country C’s government only imposing verbal sanctions on CD Company, she still had to fulfill the mining contract she signed.

But how could she fulfill it?

The mineral vein was just a scrap mine; she had it re-surveyed and appraised, and it’s not even worth two million, let alone two billion.

And the contract required her to mine at least ten thousand carats of precious gemstones yearly?

If she defaulted, the compensation would be triple!

Moreover, since the news of CD Company’s escape, the bank, well-informed, immediately withdrew loans and set the repayment deadline to three days.

How could she scrape together several billion in three days?!

Claire Shaw felt as if the world had gone dark around her, driven to a dead end.

Valerie Vance kept calling her while joker added salt to the wound with two words:

"Congratulations."

At the moment, her only lifeline was Caleb Lockwood.

Though Caleb Lockwood had already given her the full fifteen billion in liquidity, The Lockwood Group was so massive that Caleb Lockwood must have a way.

"Yes, Caleb will have a plan, Caleb will help me... Caleb... Caleb..."

Claire Shaw gnawed on her thumb, obsessively repeating Caleb Lockwood’s name like she was under a spell.

Resignation letters piled up on her desk from the employees.

Her company was empty.

No money, no people, and deeply in debt.

Claire Shaw grabbed her handbag and ran outside, twisting her ankle in high heels.

She had only one destination—

The Lockwood Group.

Enduring the pain in her foot, Claire Shaw drove to The Lockwood Group.

Once, she had treated The Lockwood Group like her backyard.

She came and went as she pleased.

Everyone treated her with deferential respect.

Everyone bowed to her.

Because she was Caleb Lockwood’s first love.

Caleb Lockwood’s true love.

Claire Shaw hobbled toward the imposing, luxurious office building of The Lockwood Group, only to be stopped by the security guard at the entrance.

The guard seemed familiar to Claire Shaw; he couldn’t possibly not know who she was.

"Do you know who I am, and you still dare to stop me?"

"Miss Shaw, you cannot enter."

The words "Miss Shaw" were like a bolt from the blue.

Claire Shaw stared blankly at the security guard.

The guard knew who she was, yet he still blocked her way.

"No, I need to find Caleb, I must see Caleb!"

Claire Shaw tried to force her way in but was stopped by the guard.

The guard accidentally pushed Claire Shaw to the ground.

Claire Shaw lay sprawled on the ground, in utter disarray, as passersby pointed and whispered about her.

Yet she didn’t give up.

She couldn’t give up now.

The billions in loans, all her and her parents’ assets, the contract signed with joker, the breach-of-contract penalties for the mine...

Claire Shaw felt like she was crushed under several mountains, struggling to breathe, feeling like spitting blood and rolling her eyes in agony.

With trembling hands, she pulled out her phone to call Caleb Lockwood.

The call wouldn’t connect.

The Lockwood Group.

General Manager’s Office.

Caleb Lockwood stood face to face with Arthur Lockwood, with the phone his father smashed lying at Caleb’s feet.

"I put the company under your management, and you think such a massive corporation is solely yours?!"

Arthur Lockwood was raging, his voice hoarse with anger.

"Listen carefully! Ah? Listen!"

While scolding Caleb Lockwood, Arthur Lockwood played a recording for him:

"Without the fifteen billion Caleb gave me, I wouldn’t have beaten you so easily..."

The voice was unmistakably Claire Shaw’s.

"When you asked me to approve that fifteen billion, you never said it would go to Claire Shaw. And I heard she failed the mining investment, losing all the money... Now you tell me, how will I explain this fifteen billion to the shareholders!"

Arthur Lockwood trembled with rage.

Recently, he had sensed that Caleb Lockwood had grown much cooler toward Claire Shaw.

Men, what love and affection, how could it compare to the importance of the career?

Wendy Linton from The Linton Family in Country C, how was she any less than Claire Shaw?

He always thought Caleb Lockwood was rational and clear-headed, understanding this reality.

Yet, he never expected Caleb Lockwood to give Claire Shaw a full fifteen billion for investment.

"I’m telling you, Claire Shaw must never set foot in The Lockwood Group ever again! Her affairs are no longer yours to handle. If you dare to get involved again, I’ll..."

"You’ll what?"

Caleb Lockwood responded lightly:

"Send me to juvenile detention?"

"You!"

Arthur Lockwood’s face changed.

Just then, Mr. Miller knocked on the door of the General Manager’s office.

Mr. Miller naturally knew Arthur Lockwood was inside and was holding Caleb Lockwood accountable.

When Caleb Lockwood and Arthur Lockwood saw Mr. Miller’s expression, they knew something urgent had happened.

"What is it?"

Arthur Lockwood asked first.

"CelestiMed’s division just called urgently to report that the chip factory we collaborate with seems to have been hacked. Chip production is currently halted, and they don’t know when it will resume."

"What?!"

Arthur Lockwood was stunned.

Caleb Lockwood frowned and asked, "What else?"

A single chip issue shouldn’t have flustered Mr. Miller this much.

Though the chip production halt would delay the rollout of their jointly developed AI-assisted medical system with CelestiMed, increasing costs and reducing efficiency, posing a significant hit to The Lockwood Group.

"And..."

Mr. Miller glanced at Caleb Lockwood, his eyes darting, hesitant to speak.

Caleb Lockwood lowered his eyelids slightly, eyes becoming deeper and more thoughtful.

"Speak quickly, what else!"

Arthur Lockwood was already on edge, and now with this crisis adding to the chaos, he was in no mood for patience.

Mr. Miller swallowed hard, feeling his throat burn raw.

"Also... Miss Jennings, Serena Jennings, has requested an emergency shareholders meeting..."