Return Of The Prodigy
Return of the Prodigy Chapter 208

"My name is Jonathan Williams, and I plead guilty!" "My name is Terry Lamb..."

Faced with these businessmen turning themselves in one after the other, the captain remained expressionless, only ordering his men to take them away.

Not long after, two-thirds of the members of Leroy's Chamber of Commerce had been arrested. With their numbers having been reduced to this extent, they were not as arrogant as before.

At this moment, one could tell that the old Chamber of Commerce was done for. Under Leroy's coercion, all those members that were taken away had used illegal means to get rid of their competition. Had this matter been swept under the rug, everything would have been fine. However, Katie managed to dig out their secrets and deal with them once and for all by taking out the whole group. With a single move, she had gotten rid of two-thirds of the old Chamber of Commerce.

The way the bystanders looked at her changed yet again. Instead of admiring her, they were almost worshiping her now! Compared to her, Leroy Ortiz was half an embarrassment. He was like a puppet dancing in her palm, unable to escape from his puppeteer. However, this did not mean that Leroy was a fool. He was just a victim of his own arrogance. He was so used to relying on the overwhelming power of the Camdens to destroy his enemies that he forgot how to be subtle.

The other reason for his loss was that he had underestimated Katie since the beginning, which led him into being careless. He thought that he would not need any sophisticated plan to deal with a little mouse. Eventually, his mistakes led to his downfall. This battle ended with Katie's decisive victory. With the old Chamber of Commerce gone, the new Chamber of Commerce was bound to thrive. The companies of the businessmen that had gone to jail would end up under the attack of Katie's camp soon. With that, the members of the new Chamber of Commerce could recoup their losses and even profit a bit by gobbling up the market share of their competitors.

Katie would not get too many benefits from that operation, but she was undoubtedly the largest winner of this battle. From today onwards, she would be the President of Lisle's Chamber of Commerce, and not only in name. She would have the final say in every business-related decision!

Just as everyone thought that the battle was over, Leroy yelled, "No, I haven't lost yet! I still have one last card up my sleeve!"

All the people in the room looked at him in surprise.

Leroy grinned and said, "Katie Hartley, did you think that you had won already? Haha, you forgot something, and this something will bring about the destruction of your company!

"To fool me, you left Hartley Group exposed to our concentrated attack, and this was the biggest mistake you made! If you borrow money, you have to return it. Heh, how ironic. You were able to save those guys, but you won't be able to save yourself!" Then, he bellowed, "Mario!"

The room was silent. No one spoke.

Leroy turned to look at Mario and yelled, "Are you deaf?! Or are you going to revolt as well?"

Mario sighed and walked up to Katie. After taking out a contract from his briefcase, he said, "Katie Hartley, this is the money that Austin Turner owes me, 35 million dollars in total."

Katie's expression did not change in the slightest. Ever since Austin disappeared, she knew that Leroy would use him to deal with her. She said coldly, "If Austin Turner owes you money, you should look for him. What does it have to do with Hartley Group?" Mario was about to explain when Leroy interjected, "Heh, why don't you try guessing the reason? I'll give you a hint... It wasn't Austin that owed money to Mario, it was his company, Cementology!"

Leroy snatched the contract from Mario and held it in front of Katie. "Open your eyes and take a look at the contract! There is Cementology's stamp on it."

Katie's pupils constricted, and her expression finally changed. At the same time, she realized why Austin insisted so much on giving up the ownership of his company to her when they were at the bank yesterday. It was all a trick to pass Cementology's debt on to her! Katie furrowed her brows, her expression cloudy.

Leroy, who had finally managed to hit back, was delighted. He grinned from ear to ear and said, "Hehe, you didn't expect this move, did you? Are you heartbroken that things ended up like this? Haha, you tried to be the peacemaker but only got shafted in the end! "This was my ace to defeat Hartley Group. We started by drying up your cash reserves, and then we'd move on to bankrupt you. Since you gained ownership of Cementology, things are even worse for you as their debt was passed on to you. I really want to see how you're going to repay this debt without cash!"

Anger flashed in Katie's eyes. She had felt that something was amiss yesterday, but she could not find the courage to reject Austin. In the end, her kindness ended up hurting her. What was worse was that she did not know where Austin was, which made it impossible to retrieve the money she had lent him. Nevertheless, what Leroy had said was true. Ever since she gained ownership of Cementology, the debt was indeed passed on to her. Katie sighed helplessly.

At this moment, some of the members of the new Chamber of Commerce stepped forward and spoke.

"Ms. Hartley, you don't need to worry. We'll lend you what you need to repay the debt. We won't allow your company to go bankrupt."

"Well said. Even if the debt was ten times larger, we would still help you!"

"You sacrificed so much for us, so it's only natural for us to repay your kindness!"

As the businessmen in Katie's camp spoke, the atmosphere in the room changed.

Even the reporters were moved by their words.

"It's the greatest of sins to let one's benefactor down!"

"Our motto is strength in numbers!"

"This is how Lisle's businessmen should act!"

"Ms. Hartley, we'll all lend you our strength!"

All of a sudden, the room was filled with shouts. Katie had become the focus of everyone's attention, and the object of their gratitude. Her eyes teared up. This was the reaction she had hoped for!

Leroy was dumbfounded. After a short moment, he howled, "Have you all gone mad?! When doing business, profit is all that matters! What's so good about Katie Hartley that you're willing to go so far for her?! Even if you help her, she'll have to return the money! No matter what you do, I won't let go of this debt. Even if I go down, I'll be taking a piece of Hartley Group with me!"

Katie was surprised by his sudden arrival. She asked with a smile, "Adam, were you able to find Austin?"