Chapter 427: Chapter 427

Conrad Sterling had been busy the whole night and finally had a moment to sit down.

"President Sterling, thank you for your cooperation. Sorry for taking up the whole night!"

"You’re welcome!" Fresh chapters posted on novelꞁire.net

"However, if there’s any progress on this case, we’ll still need your cooperation then."

Although Conrad Sterling’s tone was polite, his face didn’t look good.

After dealing with these people all night, his remaining patience was nearly exhausted.

The other party probably noticed his displeased expression and cautiously asked, "If President Sterling is in a hurry to get to the company, why not call home and have them send over a clean set of clothes? We can arrange a room for you to change?"

Conrad glanced at his phone; right under his fingertip was Anna Thornton’s number.

But after a brief hesitation, he finally chose to dial the home number.

The call was answered, and Granny Chandler’s voice came through, "President Sterling?"

Conrad’s expression slightly tightened, feeling somewhat disappointed.

"Miss Thornton had breakfast and took the little miss and little master to kindergarten."

Conrad initially wanted to ask if Anna Thornton had seen this morning’s news.

If she was worried, he would have a reason to call and comfort her.

Conrad asked Granny Chandler to send over a set of clothes. Instead of waiting for Anna Thornton at the police station, another woman showed up.

Marilyn Ford had seen the news that morning and came over specifically to see Conrad Sterling.

She was dressed in a gray linen casual suit and rushed over in five-centimeter heels, a thin layer of sweat already formed on her forehead.

"Conrad, I saw the news about an incident with your company’s project?"

Marilyn’s tone was full of concern.

Yet Conrad Sterling sat in the chair prepared for him, still looking at his phone.

After a while, he finally looked up with a "do you have something to say" expression.

Marilyn felt she had grown accustomed to being ignored by this man, although seeing his indifferent attitude still hurt.

But despite the heartache, she managed to take a deep breath and speak calmly to him.

"Conrad, I have an uncle who knows the commissioner; if you need..."

Conrad Sterling interrupted Marilyn before she could finish.

Then, looking somewhat irritated by the disturbance, the man furrowed his brow and put away his phone.

"Conrad, you don’t have to reject me entirely. Many couples stay friends even after breaking up. Besides, we never really started." Marilyn said this with a self-mocking smile at the corners of her mouth.

The thing she regretted most in life might have been not securing a relationship with Conrad Sterling earlier.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t feel so wronged being treated as an adversary by the man now!

"You are not from Aethelgard after all; the waters here run deep! Let me be honest with you, Conrad, it’s a special period now, and your company’s project incident has already attracted special attention from above!"

The reason Marilyn’s family could stand as one of the four leading families was due to their deep roots in Aethelgard.

Though in terms of business, none of the four families could catch up with the Sterling Group.

However, the Ford family had members in both business and politics.

If anything serious happened, Conrad Sterling’s words might not carry as much weight as theirs.

Marilyn came with the intention of helping Conrad Sterling, but he showed no gratitude.

After changing his clothes, Conrad Sterling went to the company, bypassing Marilyn without even a greeting.

Watching his back, Marilyn’s face oscillated between pale and flushed.

Even after breaking up, she still cared about him, and upon hearing about troubles at Sterling Group, she wanted to help.

Yet she arrived only to be coldly disregarded by Conrad Sterling in front of so many people.

If that’s the case, then Marilyn wasn’t in a rush.

Without the Ford family speaking up, Conrad Sterling would soon realize that despite the thriving business of Sterling Group in recent years, his foundation was still shallow.

"Anna, have you checked the account?"

"I checked; the money hasn’t been transferred!"

"Considering it’s such a large amount, transferring it all at once to your account may raise suspicion. But don’t worry, the final payment will be divided into smaller amounts and transferred to you within the next half-month."

"Suddenly, I feel a bit at a loss, not even signing a contract with you guys. If the person behind you achieves their goal and runs, I have no idea who I should go to." Anna Thornton joked.

"That won’t happen; both you and I know what that person’s target is. When any issues occur with Sterling Group, we just need to see who steps up to judge what’s happening, right?"

This was indeed Anna Thornton’s thought.

The reason she collaborated without rushing to sign a contract was because she knew she would eventually catch the other party revealing their true colors.

Then she could carefully examine what kind of creature this hidden one really was.

Both she and Rainie Hawthorne were just watching the show.

Rainie mainly wanted to stir up chaos in Aethelgard, hoping to take advantage and find a way for the Hawthorne family.

Whereas Anna Thornton purely... wanted to mess with Conrad Sterling!

"By the way, Anna, there’s one more thing I need your help with! I hope you can provide information about President Sterling’s recent whereabouts!"

Hearing Rainie’s sudden added request, Anna couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow: "Getting on a pirate ship now means I can’t get off, doesn’t it?"

"How could that be? I simply asked you for a favor as a friend."

"What if I choose not to help then?"

Sure enough, Anna Thornton began displaying her essence as a master quarrel maker again.

"Anna, aren’t we aiming for the same goal? I’m not trying to force you into our actions, but you’ve started already, and I don’t think you’d want things to fail halfway either."

"Didn’t you already bribe the secretary beside Conrad Sterling?"

"President Sterling doesn’t trust his secretary. He mostly takes his assistant for business trips and meetings. And being a company subordinate doesn’t give much access to itineraries. But you are different; you just need to probe daily and relay the exact words President Sterling reveals to me; you don’t need to worry about anything else."

"Looks like the incident last night was just the first step. Next, you want to understand how Conrad Sterling handles it, then gradually restrain him, right?"

The business world is akin to a battlefield; a successful businessman must have the skills for step-by-step strategies.

Especially someone as successful as Conrad Sterling?

It seems the person behind Rainie Hawthorne aims not only at Sterling Group but also wants to toy with Conrad Sterling, to dismantle all President Sterling’s proud aspects one by one.

Like a chess game where one player cheats using mind-reading techniques—knowing where the opponent will place their piece, then setting traps and ambushes therein, it’s the easiest way to break a person’s mind.

Damn, what a lunatic!