Indeed, the crisis at Tyson Corporation was the Smallwoods and the Wynters’ doing.
However, they only intended to exert some pressure on Tyson Corporation, thus impacting Matthias and the Tysons.
Subsequently, they would exert more pressure on Matthew, leaving him with no choice but to agree to marry Shermaine.
Even if he refused to marry Shermaine right away, at least it would give the two of them a chance to improve their relationship first.
But after executing their plan, the outcome was completely out of their expectations.
Tyson Corporation’s crisis was spread all over the news and many of the reported details were nothing like what they had imagined.
Demolition accident? Corruption?
We aren’t the ones behind this!
Shermaine was panic-stricken after finding out about this.
Asking her mother was pointless, so she went straight to the Wynters’ residence. The moment she stepped into the house, she saw the gloomy look on Jacque’s face. Upon her arrival, his face darkened even further.
Meanwhile, Hannah had guilt and regret written on her face.
Shermaine’s heart missed a beat and she banished any thoughts of questioning the Wynters.
She was wearing a sad and apologetic expression on her face, but she quickly kept her emotions in check and trod with caution.
“Grandma, Uncle Jacque, I’m sorry. This is all my fault.”
She did not know what the Wynters was discussing before she arrived, but it probably had something to do with the crisis at Tyson Corporation.
Since I’ve apologized, they won’t blame me for this, right?
Sure enough, her red-rimmed eyes as well as the anxiety and remorse lining her features tugged at Hannah’s heartstrings.
“Don’t cry, Shermaine. It’s not your fault. Who would’ve expected something like this to happen? Not even I did. Jacque, don’t blame Shermaine. At that time, you also agreed to teach Matthew a small lesson, right?
When Jacque heard his mother’s words, he couldn’t help but refute angrily, “Yes, I did, but I certainly did not agree to let those people be the ones to do it. Didn’t I say to let me handle this matter? But you just couldn’t wait. Now, look at what happened. The Tysons and us-”
He choked on his own words, barely holding back his temper as he spoke.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Our family is closely tied to the Tysons. If something were to happen to them, do they really think that the Wynters can walk away unscathed?
Everything’s a mess now. Regardless of the final outcome, we’ll be at risk of falling out with the Tysons, and it’s all because of Shermaine.
In fact, I’m the one who stands to lose the most if this really happens.
The Wynters’ plan had utterly backfired on them.
The consequences Jacque would suffer from falling out with the Tysons would be worse than the current predicament the Tysons were in.
As Hannah looked at the distress her son was in, remorse overwhelmed her.
“It’s all my fault, Jacque.”
“Uncle Jacque, please don’t blame Grandma. Grandma only did it for my sake, so if you want to blame someone, blame me. I don’t know what happened, but if you’re mad at Grandma because of the matter regarding the Tysons, then it’s completely my fault. Grandma, I’m so sorry for implicating you.”
Tears streamed down Shermaine’s face as she spoke and it was a pitiable sight.
Sadness washed over Hannah and she started crying as well.
Jacque’s wife, Sandra, had remained quiet this whole time.
However, the sight of Shermaine and Hannah hugging while crying together grated on her nerves.
For so many years, Sandra had carried out her duties in the Wynter family to perfection. She respected the elders and cared for the children, not to mention looking out for her husband, never once causing him any trouble.
Back then, when her sister-in-law, Kayla, eloped with James, it had caused the family quite a lot of trouble.
However, it was no use dwelling on the past. At present, the family was reunited, but she never expected Kayla’s daughter to be a troublemaker just like her.
To marry a man who clearly had no interest in her, she resorted to using all kinds of underhanded means.
Sandra despised women like her the most and her resentment grew when they had sought Hannah’s support and implicated Jacque after the stunt they pulled on the Tysons backfired.
Kayla and her entire family are so revolting.
When Sandra perceived the heartache on her husband’s face as he watched his mother crying, she quickly spoke up before he went soft on them.
“Mum, Shermaine, crying now is useless. Since things have already gotten to this point, we should focus on finding a solution instead. Jacque, you should meet with Matthias first and take care of the matter. Hannah, you shouldn’t worry about these things at your age. Jacque and I will handle it. By the way, isn’t it the holidays now? Clark said that he wants to bring you back to the countryside to relax and enjoy the fresh air. Alright, here’s the plan. When Clark gets back, you should let him take you out for a bit. Moving around is good for your frame of mind.”
The purpose of Sandra’s suggestion was to temporarily separate Hannah from Shermaine’s family, lest Kayla tried any tricks to win Hannah over again.
This way, the matter would be left to Jacque and her. Naturally, she did not plan to help Shermaine with anything either.
And of course, she made sure to keep her thoughts to herself.
Hannah agreed with Sandra’s suggestion. After all, she was no longer the decision-maker in the family and she should feel lucky that her daughter-in-law took the bigger picture into consideration.
On the contrary, Shermaine’s heart sank at her aunt’s words. Aunt Sandra seems like she has my best interests in mind, but why do I feel like she doesn’t actually like me?
Her gut was telling her that she would be getting the short end of the stick by handing this matter over to Sandra.
As expected, within a few days, the news regarding Tyson Corporation was sealed off. Shermaine knew nothing about how things were going on their end, let alone the situation between her and Matthew.
She visited the Wynters several times, but Hannah had already been brought out by her grandson, while Sandra and Jacque used work as an excuse to avoid meeting her. Even when they did, they would brush her off and avoid answering her questions.
Shermaine went to see the Tysons a few times as well, but they, too, found various excuses to steer clear of her.
As though forsaken, everywhere she went was a dead end.
She returned to the Smallwood residence, but there was nothing her mother could do either. Once again, depression took over her and she bawled her eyes out. Due to her father’s limited abilities, he could not touch the Tysons. Hence, their plans went up in smoke.
Shermaine had never suffered such a blow before.
She couldn’t bring herself to accept this outcome. Unless things were set in stone, she would not stand idly by and admit defeat.
…
“Grandma, we’re back together again,” Clarissa revealed during her video call with her grandmother.
Naturally, Catherine was happy to hear that, but she still asked, “Then, why did the two of you separate before? It’s fine if it was a misunderstanding, but if it’s a matter of principles, then I don’t approve of your reconciliation.”
Clarissa hurriedly explained, “Of course it was just a misunderstanding. There was some trouble at his company, so I got worried. After coming here, I realized that we still felt deeply for each other. He’s been working on solving the issues at the company these few days. I don’t know if how it’s going, but if he fails to resolve it and goes bankrupt, I’ll still stay by his side. I really love him, Grandma.”
Catherine sighed inwardly when she heard her granddaughter’s confession.
Indeed, girls are soft-hearted creatures.
But it sounds like that man’s company is facing bankruptcy because of some problem.
Catherine was a little unhappy as no grandparent would want their grandchild to be with such a man.
Unfortunately, Clarissa had always had a mind of her own. Hence, getting her to come back was like asking a fish to walk on land.
“If he really goes bankrupt, what are you going to do? Support him?”
“Yes! I’ll be the breadwinner!”
Catherine chuckled. “You silly girl. Unless he’s a spineless man, he’d never allow you to support him. Anyway, I may not be very knowledgeable, but this bankruptcy matter isn’t that simple, is it? Don’t lose hope just yet. Back then, I remember you telling me how capable he is. If that’s true, I doubt he’d go bankrupt so easily. Don’t overthink it and look on the bright side. Perhaps things aren’t that bad as you think they are,” Catherine reassured her granddaughter.
After chatting a while longer, they ended the video call. Since Clarissa couldn’t help Matthew, she mindlessly browsed the internet for news regarding the real estate demolition and the corruption case among other things.
The more she searched, the more horrified she became.
In the end, she suffered a mild panic attack and shut down her laptop.
Even so, she felt restless. Because she couldn’t directly ask Matthew, she had to find someone else.
She asked Ellie first, but the latter did not know much either. Clarissa was afraid that she might unintentionally leak Matthew’s company secrets if she were to ask someone else.
Consumed with worry, Clarissa wasn’t in the mood to do anything else.
Fortunately, Yael called to talk about work-related matters. Only then did Clarissa regain her senses. Yael is a rather reliable person. Perhaps I can consult her about this.
After the two of them met up, Clarissa did not give Yael the chance to bring up work, directly bombarding her with questions about the crisis at Tyson Corporation.
“Yael, something this serious happened at Tyson Corporation. Do you know if they’ve encountered anything similar to this in the past? Will they be able to pull through? Will anything bad… happen to Matthew?”
Clarissa’s anxiety grew with every question that left her lips.
Meanwhile, a crease had formed between Yael’s brows before her shrewd eyes glinted slightly.
“Clarissa, what made you think that Tyson Corporation is in danger?”
“Huh?”
Clarissa was stumped by her question. “I just read it from the news before. I can’t believe something this big happened, not to mention they happened one after another. I heard that the stock prices have taken a nosedive too. There’s even financial fraud involved. How can the company not be in danger?”
Yael raised her brows and asked, “Did Mr. Tyson personally tell you that he might not be able to overcome this hurdle and go bankrupt?”
Clarissa blinked twice before answering, “Uhm… Yeah!”
“Okay, I understand.”
“What exactly is it that you understand, Yael?”
Clarissa found Yael’s behavior to be more peculiar by the second. Suddenly, suspicion rose in her heart and she began to doubt her own speculations.
Yael fell silent for a while before saying, “Clarissa, I have no comments on how serious or dangerous the situation at Tyson Corporation is. What I can tell you is Mr. Tyson’s net worth, how many real estates Tyson Corporation is involved in across the globe, and also how widely spread their influence is. Hmm… where should I start? Maybe from the time Tyson Corporation was still in the retail industry…”
“Uhm, no… I-It’s fine.”
Clarissa stopped Yael from continuing.
