Chapter 101~ A gift
"Diane Kingsley? Is she Ryan Kingsley's sister? Did she just call Miss Davis her sister-in-law?" Someone whispered.
"I did hear of the scandal that Ryan was once married to Miss Davis. Have they made up?"NôvelDrama.Org copyrighted © content.
"Does that mean the Kingsley group will be in alliance with the Davis & Co. Company? This is good for us!"
"Wait!" Craig yelled. "This isn't the matter we are here to discuss. Miss Davis ruined the company's reputation and she has to go to prevent the VIP client from suing us."
"Why would I sue my sister-in-law's company? Are you crazy, old man?" Diane said. She then turned to look at Lora before whispering, "Ryan told me you made up. Congrats! I'm so happy to see you two together again." Lora smiled and blushed. "I see he couldn't wait to tell the world, huh?"
"He's so happy, you have no idea," Diane whispered before turning her gaze to the rest of the room.
"I came here today, not to watch my sister-in-law get bullied, but to deal with the bastard who stole my customised design," she added.
Gasps echoed around the conference room.
"Do you already know who the culprit is?" Someone asked.
"Of course!" Diane replied firmly.
"That's impossible! There's no way you would find out who it was. There's no evidence!" Lewis hissed.
Diane glared at Lewis when he spoke. She remarked, "It's you again. When I saw you almost attack Lora the other day, I knew you were going to be a problem. Thank goodness my brother learnt a lesson and is now one step ahead." "What do you mean?" Lewis questioned, his brows furrowing.
"What? Scared?" Diane sneered.
Lewis shifted in his stance and cleared his throat. He replied, "Why would I be scared?"
Diane suddenly chuckled darkly. Gone was her bubbly nature, now replaced by a cold look.
"How dare you steal my sister-in-law's work... my design that meant a lot to me and gave it to another fool who planned to mass-produce it... you thought you were smart... but too bad you're going to jail now," Diane said sternly. "What? I can't go to jail. What proof do you have that I stole the design?" Lewis asked.
Diane glanced at one of the men who she came with and nodded.
The man stepped forward and said, "Good morning. My name is Jordan Wright. I'm part of the Kingsley Group's legal team and I'm here to represent Miss Kingsley. We have evidence of Mr Hendrix meeting one of the designers at Hex & Co. to sell the design." "That's not true! I didn't meet anyone!" Lewis yelled.
Jordan set up a projector and played a video. Sure enough, Lewis was seen meeting a designer from the rival company.
He was seen giving the man a file before shaking his hand, signalling a deal made.
"That can't prove anything!" Lewis objected. "You can't accuse me based on an audio-less video!"
"We got a statement from the man you talked to. He has already confessed to the crime. Mr Hendrix, the police will be here to arrest you soon," Jordan Wright stated.
"What? This is unacceptable! Lora Davis, you're trying to pin your mistake on my son! You can't use your power to do things like this!" Craig yelled.
Lora arched an eyebrow and remarked, "Oh, so it's ok for you and your son to step on others but when tables change, it's suddenly wrong? How hypocritical!"
The shareholders kept quiet as they watched the scene. They had been supporting Lewis because Craig had influence, but looking at the turn of events, they didn't dare stand up for him.
"Miss Davis, are you sure you want to offend me and my family? I'm the biggest investor in this company. If you have my son arrested, I'm going to withdraw my funding-" "I'll gladly replace you," Diane's voice suddenly echoed in the room. "I wouldn't mind being a shareholder in my sister-in-law's company if it means getting rid of scams like you." She glanced at another lawyer who stepped forward with documents.
"This is evidence of Mr Hendrix's embezzlement of funds when he was in charge of the company."
The other lawyer stepped forward and added, "There's also evidence of Mr Lewis and Mr Craig sabotaging the company by trying to steal the company's shipment a few weeks ago." "What? You're going to press charges for that? Everyone here was in on it-"
"Mr Hendrix, please watch what you say. You committed those crimes alone. Are you trying to shirk responsibility?" One of the shareholders quickly said.
"You-" Craig's eyes flashed with anger. The board members had abandoned him at the first sign of trouble!
"Officers!" Jordan Wright called out and a few policemen walked into the room and arrested Craig and his son.
As they were dragging them away, Lewis yelled, "I still destroyed the company's reputation. After the news of the leak goes viral, no one will trust you anymore!"
"Oh... that won't happen. You see,
Hex & Co. didn't dare release my design as theirs... they released a different type of design. So, Mr. Hendrix, you lost," Diane responded and Lewis' eyes rounded in shock.
"No..." He mumbled, shaking his head. "No, No! It can't be! I can't lose like this-"
His voice became distant as he and his father were dragged away in handcuffs.
A little while later, Lora took Diane to her office and asked, "How did you know that Lewis had stolen the design?"
Diane smirked and said, "Well, my brother instructed his men to watch Lewis Hendrix after that incident the other day. When he realised what they wanted to do, he set up a trap for him."
Lora felt warm inside. She didn't know Ryan was secretly looking out for her.
"Are you really buying Craig's shares?" Lora asked.
Diane nodded and said, "Yes, I am. It's high time I started investing too..."
"Thank you for today..." Lora remarked, her heart feeling full.
When Diane left, Lora received a call from Ryan.
"Did you like my gift?" Ryan's deep voice echoed through the phone.
"Yes, I did. Getting rid of the Hendrixs has saved us a lot of trouble... thank you, Ryan," Lora answered.
"When are you going to call me baby, honey, or darling... I don't want to be just Ryan to you," Ryan said on the phone.
Lora blushed. She wasn't used to using pet names. Biting her lower lip, she replied, "We shall see what the future holds."
"I see... then I must work harder to earn myself a sweet name," Ryan stated. "I'll pick you up after work for our date night... be ready to get eaten."