Chapter 286 - Blame Keera

Blame Keera

At this moment, Cindy was in the office coquettishly complaining to Howard about her grievances. “I just want to live in a villa, and your son wants to be born in one too.”

….

Howard said, “Okay, I’ll go back and discuss it with her again.”

Cindy blinked and said, “Yeah, you should go back and discuss it with her. After all, she’s the owner of the villa! The villa is under her name.”

She knew exactly how to infuriate Howard.

As expected, these words immediately provoked him, and Howard retorted. “Hers? That’s mine! I’m the head of the household! Haven’t you seen that I call the shots with everything at the company? Tonight, you’re coming home with me, and you’ll settle down in the villa with peace of mind!”

Seeing his reaction, Cindy quickly said, “Wouldn’t your wife be unhappy and kick us out? Didn’t she kick me out last time?”

“She wouldn’t dare!”

Howard lifted his chin defiantly.

It was at this moment that someone knocked on the office door and entered, handing him the letter. “Mr. Smith, someone just delivered this! They say we haven’t submitted the research and development proposal on time, and Davis Corporation has sued us! They’re demanding we compensate them twenty million according to the contract!”

“What?!”

Cindy let out a shocked exclamation, looking incredulously at the indictment.

Howard dismissed it with a wave of his hand. “It must be a mistake on their part. Mary is so good to Keera. How could they sue us!”

He looked at his secretary, “But on the R&D department’s end, the proposal wasn’t submitted on time, was it?”

The secretary immediately replied, “Mr. Smith, our core staff member in the R&D department was poached last month. He came to you asking for a raise, which you refused, and you even told him to get out. This led to the research and development proposal not being submitted on time.”

Howard vaguely remembered this incident.

Their company’s R&D department had only one capable technician, who, it was said, caught the attention of Dr. South’s company last month and had come to him before jumping ship.

He had said that he hadn’t received a raise in two years, and if Howard was willing to increase his salary, he would stay at the company.

If Howard was unwilling, then he would resign.

Howard, being a man with a particularly strong sense of pride, was certainly not pleased to be threatened and had angrily ordered the man out!

The secretary warned him at the time. “If this core member resigns, I’m afraid our collaboration with Davis Corporation won’t be completed on time…”

Howard had scoffed at the time. “If it can’t be done on time, just postpone it. When it’s done, we’ll just give it to them, right? With Mary at Davis Corporation, there won’t be any problems!”

But he hadn’t expected things to turn out like this.

Howard immediately said, “Don’t panic. I’m calling Mary right now.”

After saying this, he took out his phone and dialed Mary’s number.

Mary answered quickly, and Howard immediately explained the situation before adding, “Do you think there’s some misunderstanding here? Or maybe you can give us another month’s extension. We’ve just hired new tech staff, and we’ll definitely be able to produce the proposal for you!”

He thought that would settle everything.

After all, with so many joint projects with Davis Corporation, no one would focus on such a small one. They were steadily receiving R&D funds, and not producing results wouldn’t be a big deal…

But to his surprise, Mary actually bellowed at him. “Howard! You have the nerve to call me?! Do you realize that because of this incident, I also suffered at the company? My great-uncle was already displeased with my joining the corporation over my cousin, and now he’s using this as leverage to fire me! Now that my own position is at risk, I don’t have the capacity to help you any longer! You’re on your own!”

With that statement, Mary hung up.

Howard was stunned.

He immediately looked at his secretary. “Hurry to Davis Corporation and find out if Mary really is getting fired.”

“Yes.”

After the secretary left, Cindy asked, “Howard, what do we do now? Do we really have to pay twenty million? Even if we sold the company, it wouldn’t be worth that much!”

Howard was frantically pacing and suddenly stood up to leave. “I’m going back to see Keera.”

Cindy’s face was filled with anxiety, and upon hearing this, her eyes flickered. She immediately followed him, “I’m coming with you!”

The two quickly returned to the South family villa.

At that moment, Keera was still playing the role of the dutiful wife and mother, busy preparing lunch in the kitchen for Howard’s mother.

As soon as the door was opened, Howard charged into the kitchen.

Keera showed just the right amount of surprise and joy. “You’re back?”

Seeing that she was trying to please him, Howard immediately ordered, “Call Mary right now and make her find a way to withdraw the lawsuit against the company!”

Keera pretended to be uninformed. “What lawsuit?”

“Just make the call! No more nonsense!” Howard was furious.

Keera immediately lowered her head. “Okay, I’ll call.”

She looked down, took out her phone, and dialed Mary’s number, but the message on the other end was, “Hello, the phone you have dialed is turned off…”

She was stunned for a moment, then looked at Howard.

Howard hastily said, “Use WhatsApp voice call.”

Keera quickly opened WhatsApp and made a voice call to Mary, but Mary immediately hung up and soon sent her a message. “Keera, I’m sorry, but we shouldn’t contact each other anymore.”

When Keera tried to send another message, she found she had been blocked.

She stared blankly at her phone.

Howard, with a dark expression, stepped forward, his hand raised to slap her face. “Bitch! You’ve ruined me!”

Keera didn’t let herself get hit.

She too seemed extremely aggrieved, and as Howard made his move, she crouched down, hugged her knees, and began to cry, “Why would Mary do this? Why did she block me?!”

Howard’s slap missed, and as he was about to kick and punch Keera, she stood up and grabbed Howard’s arm. “Howard, you can’t abandon me! I’m your wife, and I can’t come up with twenty million. The property prices in Clance are unstable, and if we have to sell the house, it would only fetch half its value, which won’t add up to twenty million! Will I end up in jail? Think of something! We’re husband and wife, for better or for worse…”

These words made Howard pause.

He suddenly realized something. The company’s legal person and shares were all in Keera’s name, and even this villa was under her name!

If Davis Corporation pursued this matter, all he needed to do was get a divorce and push all the responsibility onto Keera, then he could walk away scot-free.

His eyes instantly lit up.

Howard leaned closer to Keera, his expression softening in a way that only made her more fearful. “Keera, my dear, we’ll figure this out together,” he said, his voice dripping with false affection. “But we need to be smart about this. We have to protect our assets.”

Keera looked up at him with wide eyes, still sniffling. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, we need to transfer everything to my name temporarily,” Howard suggested smoothly. “Just until this blows over. That way, they can’t take anything from us.”

Keera’s eyes flickered with doubt, but her fear of the looming financial disaster made her consider his words. “But… but what if they still come after us?”

“Trust me, Keera,” Howard said, his voice soothing. “I’ll make sure we’re safe. You just have to trust me.”

Cindy, standing behind Howard, smirked silently, knowing exactly what Howard was planning.

Keera, torn and desperate, finally nodded. “Okay, Howard. I trust you.”

Howard’s smile widened as he pulled her into a hug. “Good girl. We’ll get through this together.”

But as Keera clung to him, seeking comfort, Howard’s mind was already plotting his escape, ready to leave her with all the burdens while he and Cindy walked away unscathed.