Not long after, Jonathan hurriedly arrived at the café. Roxanne didn’t have time to reprimand him about his actions last night and went straight to the point. “Did you raise the price?”
Immediately, he shook his head. Crap. I relegated these businesses to Frieda, so this sudden price hike definitely has something to do with her. Lucian glanced at him coldly, wordlessly telling him to figure out what was going on as soon as possible.
In response, Jonathan nodded and promised, “I’ll handle the issue right away, Ms. Jarvis. You don’t need to pay for the material fee this time. I’ll solve this issue.”
Then he returned to the Queen residence, enraged. When he entered the building, he saw Frieda putting on makeup and preparing to leave.
Frigidly, Jonathan questioned, “Did you raise the price of the medicinal herbs? Lucian handed us these businesses because he wants us to earn a stable profit and prevent others from coveting them! Why did you raise the price? I demand a reasonable explanation!”
Frieda’s expression remained relatively unchanged as she gave her brother a side glance. “Business is business, Jonathan. Besides, we’re just the middleman. There’s nothing I can do if the farmers producing the medicinal herbs want to increase their prices. I’m merely passing on the cost. Is that so wrong? Or do you think we should provide those medicinal herbs to Roxanne at a loss?”
That was an excuse she came up with beforehand. In fact, she wasn’t afraid of her brother looking into the matter to confirm the validity of her claim.
Her objective in doing what she did was to let the people in charge of those companies earn more money so they would become more loyal to her.
As for the medicinal herb suppliers who were already working with the Queen family, they would eventually be attracted to her. When that time came, Jonathan’s resources would only exist in name.
“Are you sure you aren’t doing this for your personal gain?” Jonathan refused to believe her. Over the years, the prices of medicinal herbs he managed had consistently increased rather gently. A massive price hike like that had never occurred before.
“You can always investigate the matter if you like. If Roxanne doesn’t like the price, we’ll just cancel our collaboration with her. Even if I sell these herbs to someone else, I’ll still charge them the same price.” Upon glaring at him, Frieda put away her makeup box, grabbed her bag, and prepared to leave.
“You- Don’t you dare go overboard! I will look into the matter!” barked Jonathan. Without delay, he picked up his phone and started contacting the medicinal herbs suppliers. To his shock, he discovered all of them did indeed raise their prices.
Additionally, plenty of suppliers under him were complaining about the issue and subtly wondering about the possibility of a price increase.
Eventually, Jonathan learned the culprit behind the situation was, of course, Frieda. She was the one who raised the purchase price and swayed many medicinal herbs suppliers from the northern and southern regions to her side.
“What is she trying to do? Is she doing the bidding of that man again?” Jonathan didn’t have the nerve to keep quiet about the situation, so he quickly informed Lucian of his findings through a call. He also mentioned the man his sister interacted with.
“I’m sorry, Lucian. I thought I could control my sister, and I’ve been watching that man’s actions closely. However, I was wrong,” he apologized.
However, Lucian seemed exceptionally composed. “I already know about that man. He’s Shawn Crawford, from the Crawford family of the north. In the past, they had a clash with my grandpa and lost terribly. Ever since then, they had been waiting for an opportunity to make their move. No need to worry. I’ll take care of this matter.”
“Thank you, Lucian. I really shouldn’t have let my sister handle so many medicinal herbs supplies.” Jonathan was regretful, but it was too late.
