Return Of The Prodigy
Return of the Prodigy Chapter 205

Katie's hand trembled, and a frightening thought flashed through her mind. However, part of her refused to believe that the truth might be this bleak. "Is Mr. Turner late?" Katie asked again.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure about what's going on either," the secretary replied. "Mr. Turner has been unreachable since yesterday. You should try calling his private number." With that, the secretary hung up.

The last bit of hope that Katie was holding on to vanished in that moment.

Right then, Jenny knocked on the door and entered Katie's office. She said anxiously, "Ms. Hartley, you should come downstairs and take a look. There are many people gathered outside our building." Katie was stunned, feeling restless for some reason. She could not help but ask, "Why are they here? Is it related to Leroy Ortiz?"

Jenny nodded. "Yes."

As expected... Katie sighed and slumped back in her chair. She had been so careful, yet she still fell into that wicked man's trap.

"Ms. Hartley, what do we do?" Jenny asked with concern.

What can we even do?

Katie was overcome with sadness. She had helped Austin out of kindness, but the man had used that same kindness to drive a knife into her back.

Why? She cried out in her heart. Is the world of business forever bound to put profit over friendship?

Katie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, her sorrow was gone, and her face was devoid of any emotion.

With things having reached this point, it was pointless to cry over spilled milk. It was time to act.

"Notify all the members of the new Chamber of Commerce, and tell them that the time has come. Contact the media, have them broadcast the news. Also, notify the police so that they can be ready to make arrests." Katie issued three orders in quick succession. At this moment, she was like a general leading her troops on the battlefield.

"Let's get moving!" Katie stood up and left the room with firm steps. The air around her had changed.

As she arrived downstairs and the doors of the elevator opened, she heard a cacophony outside.

Katie walked up to the entrance and saw a crowd of people gathered around the guest area.

Leroy Ortiz was calmly seated in the room with his legs crossed, a smug smile on his face.

Just outside the room were dozens of men. Katie recognized them as members of Leroy's camp.

Far behind them were hundreds of reporters and cameramen trying their best to get a glimpse of the scene that was about to unfold.

Unable to bear the load of so many people pushing against it, the glass wall outside the lobby collapsed, crashing to the ground.

The sudden noise startled the onlookers, and the place became silent all of a sudden.

Leroy Ortiz stood up and said with a laugh, "The wall collapsing sounds like a bad omen to me. Katie Hartley, you're at a dead end. What's the point of fighting?"

Katie said emotionlessly, "Leroy Ortiz, what is your objective? Hartley Group isn't done yet, no matter what you say."

Leroy curled his lips and sneered. "You sure are obstinate. Why can't you just accept your defeat? I know all too well what your company is going through. You have no cash at this moment, probably not even enough to pay the wages of your employees. Since I'm a kind man, I'm going to make you an offer to buy your company." After a short pause, he continued, "Last time I offered you 3 million dollars, right? Unfortunately for you, the offer won't be as good this time." He held up a finger and added, "My offer is 1 million dollars!"

The onlookers, and even some of the businessmen who did not know the inside story, were stunned.

They were clear about how much Hartley Group was worth; the estate construction project and Plot No. 3 alone were enough to push the company's value to around 150 million dollars. If everything else was taken into account, too, it could easily be twice as much. Yet, Leroy Ortiz offered only a million dollars, which was no different than asking to have the company for free. From the looks of it, he did not want to leave Katie any way out. He only offered a pittance for her company, crushing her ambitions once and for all. The big shots at the scene could not help but sigh with emotion. Some of them urged Katie to give up.

"Ms. Hartley, you should just surrender. There's no point in fighting the Camdens."

"Yeah, the difference between your side and theirs is too vast. I don't think the Camdens even got serious yet."

"It'd be sensible to give up now. Things will only get worse if you continue to resist them."

Leroy looked at Katie smugly.

Katie looked back at him coldly and said, "You don't need to concern yourselves with this matter. I'm not going to sell Hartley Group. If there's nothing else, you can leave."

Leroy burst out laughing. He shook his head and looked at Katie as if he were looking at a fool. "Do you still believe that you can turn the tide?

"Look around. Is there anyone willing to help you? Your new Chamber of Commerce is dead. You have no members left.

"You once told me that you wanted to see who would get the last laugh. Are you satisfied with the outcome?

"I'm the one who will get the last laugh. Not that there was any doubt about it, as you were fighting a lost battle from the beginning!"

Katie's expression did not change in the slightest. "This war is far from over. You shouldn't celebrate too early."

Leroy scoffed, "Not giving up yet, huh? All right, if you can borrow a single cent today, you'll win!

"Oh, don't bother going to Rivers Bank as I've already sent someone to deal with Gavin Sanders. You won't get a penny from them. I'm curious to see how you plan to keep your company afloat without any money!"

With that, he turned around and went back to the sofa. He sat down and crossed his arms and legs, gazing at Katie with a mocking smile.

He was full of confidence, and he had no doubt that the victory would be his. He no longer spoke, and the waiting room fell into silence.

At this moment, every gaze in that room was fixated on Katie.

Some of the reporters broke the silence and asked, "Ms. Hartley, is Mr. Ortiz telling the truth?"

"Is Hartley Group really short of cash?"

"Is it true that you have so little money that you can't even pay your employees this month?"

Katie furrowed her brows and said, "Of course not. We have more than enough money to pay our employees, and we aren't short of cash."

The reporters turned to look at Leroy.

Leroy scoffed and said, "What's the point of lying? For how long do you think you can deceive yourself and these people? As for whether or not your company has enough cash, just show us your balance sheet and we'll know!" The reporters turned to look at Katie.

"Ms. Hartley, are you willing to show us your balance sheet?"

"You should show us if you care about Hartley Group's reputation."

The room got noisy again as the reporters shot one question after another at Katie.

Leroy looked at Katie smugly and added fuel to the fire. "What are you waiting for? Bring out the balance sheet!"

Katie felt pressured. Although she had decided to use Adam's black credit card to help the company weather this crisis, she had yet to withdraw the money. As a result, the company did not have much cash at this moment.

Yet, if she refused to take out the balance sheet, it would be akin to admitting that Leroy was telling the truth. Hartley Group's reputation would take a hit, and the employees would get anxious. After all, no one wanted to work for a company that could not even pay you.

Do I really have to expose Adam's identity and tell them that Hartley Group is never going out of business because my husband is a general...?

After pondering for a moment, Katie narrowed her eyes and said coldly, "Leroy, are you so naïve to think that I didn't prepare at all for this moment?"