Chapter 640 The Call
The food in the restaurant was pretty good. Catherine had quite a meal that night. Erick saw Catherine setting down her fork to take a drink, and he seized the chance to strike up a conversation.
“Catherine, what brings you to Oceanvile?” he asked.
Catherine didn’t hold back. She told him Rodge needed help, hence her rush to Oceanvile.
After Erick heard that, he said with disappointment, “Catherine, I thought I might have a chance to show you around Oceanvile for a couple of days, but it looks like you don’t have the time.
Catherine nodded in agreement and replied calmly, “Indeed. There’s hardly any time. I need to get back to Loxton soon.”
Erick then brought up some internal company matters to Catherine.
“Catherine, I stumbled upon something. Some old factions within the company have been in contact with the Breens. They seem to have intentions to support the old associates of the Winfreds, but their exact motives are still unclear,” he said.
During Xavier’s tenure, several key positions at the Winfred Group were held by members of the Winfreds family.
Since Erick took over, there have been significant changes in personnel through replacements or reassignments at important positions.
However, people from the Winfreds family were spread throughout the Winfred Group in various departments. Removing them wouldn’t be easy unless the Winfred Group was overturned.
Those people seemed calm and compliant on the surface as if they were aligning themselves with Erick.
But they were constantly scheming behind the scenes, intending to pull Erick from the top position and reclaim the Winfreds’ assets.
Catherine had been immersed in the lab lately. She didn’t intervene much apart from dealing with Atticus once.
As for Edson, she hadn’t paid attention to him during this period.
It was surprising to hear that the Breens had their fingers in the Winfred Group.
Erick had been channeling funds from the Winfred Group to the Arbotte Laboratory for research purposes.
The Breens wouldn’t assist the Winfreds without reason. It was most likely that they had traced the movement of funds from the Winfred Group to the Arbotte Laboratory, and that sparked their interest in the Winfred Group.
Catherine scoffed disdainfully. She remarked with a domineering aura. They just don’t give up.”
Hearing Catherine’s words, Erick sensed something amiss. He asked, Catherine, what do you mean?”
“The Breens are after me,” Catherine replied directly.
Hearing Catherine’s words, Erick frowned. He had thought the Winfreds were seeking help to regain their assets, so he wasn’t particularly concerned about it.
Money wasn’t a big deal to him. His purpose in earning money was to repay Catherine.
However, the situation changed significantly since their target was Catherine. If they dared to touch Catherine, they’d become Erick’s greatest enemies.
Initially, Erick hadn’t planned to act against these people, but now he decided to clear these obstacles for Catherine’s sake.
“Catherine, don’t worry. The Winfred Group won’t fall into chaos with me around.”
Catherine glanced appreciatively at Erick. During this period, she had seen Erick’s rapid growth, which was beyond what she had expected.
The Breens were getting quite active, and it seemed Shane couldn’t sit still any longer. As they discussed back and forth, Branden, who sat silently nearby, finally spoke up.
Branden looked at Catherine gently and said softly, “You’ve come straight from the plane to the lab. You’ve had a tiring day. How about going back to rest?”
“Alright. Let’s go.”
Catherine agreed with Branden’s suggestion. She indeed felt a bit tired.
Seeing Catherine getting drowsy, Erick felt quite sorry for her. He stood up and personally escorted the two of them out.
At the restaurant’s entrance, Branden stopped with his arm around Catherine. He was exceptionally handsome and glanced at Erick with a faint smile.
“Thanks for the hospitality, Mr. Olsen. There’s no need to see us off,” Branden said with a smug expression.
Despite feeling uneasy, Erick maintained his smile and watched Branden and Catherine leave.
After a while, they got into the car.
Catherine was exhausted. Branden urged her to rest against him, and obediently, she leaned into his embrace and closed her eyes.
As she drifted to sleep, Branden adjusted the car’s temperature.
Just as he was about to silence his phone so avoid disturbing Catherine, the screen lit up.
Branden swiftly declined the call before it even had a chance to ring.
He promptly turned off his phone and slipped it into his pocket.
Meanwhile, Carlo noticed Paxton picking up and swiftly putting down his phone with a peculiar expression. It raised Carlo’s suspicions. “Paxton, what’s up? Did Mr. Branden not take the call?”
“Yeah.” Paxton nodded slightly. Not only did Branden not take the call, he also turned off his phone.
Carlo looked at Paxton and asked with a mischievous smile, “You didn’t happen to disturb Mr. Branden and Miss Swann having a good time, did you?”
They knew Branden had gone with Catherine to Oceanvile. Since there were matters to handle in Loxton, Paxton had been left behind.
Paxton glared displeasingly at Carlo and replied, “Watch what you say, or I’ll have your hide.”
After being reprimanded by Paxton, Carlo dared not speak out of turn again.
He asked, “Paxton, what do we do now that Mr. Branden didn’t answer the call?”
Earlier, Edson launched a fierce attack. He rallied several families to short-sell and corner the Duncan Corporation.
He changed his previous methods and wanted to defeat the Duncan Corporation swiftly.
It posed the greatest danger to the Duncan Corporation and held no benefits for the Breens either.
The magnates Edson brought in were ruthless capitalists. Edson must make significant concessions for their involvement.
Edson might end up not just fruitless but incurring huge losses.
Based on this, Edson’s aim was crystal clear. He wanted to dismantle the Duncans at any cost.
Given the urgency of the situation and the combined forces of the families, Paxton tried contacting Branden immediately upon receiving the news.
However, the call didn’t go through.
Paxton remained calm and looked at Carlo coldly.
He had been by Branden’s side for years and had faced numerous challenges.
This current crisis wasn’t enough to intimidate him.
Then Paxton replied, “What’s there to fear? Stick to the arrangements as Mr. Branden instructed previously. After all these years under Mr. Branden’s care, do we still run to him for every small thing?”
Paxton’s scolding invigorated everyone present. All of them rallied their spirits and focused on the task at hand.
As one of Paxton’s loyal followers, Carlo promptly chimed in. “Paxton is right. This is our test. If these foreign devils want trouble, we’ll make sure they leave empty-handed and get a good lesson.”
