Rags to Riches

Chapter 10 Forged

"Yeah, that's what I said. 500 million dollars. And it's not a loan; it's an investment with no interest or extra charges!" Marcus wrested his wrist out of Nora's grip.

He'd achieved his goal.

Silence descended upon the room. 500 million dollars was enough for them to invest in yet another Centurion Garden.

"Let me see that contract!" Nora grabbed the contract and scrutinized every word.

The more she read, the redder her face became. Her heart almost jumped out of her chest when she saw that Globestone Investments had already signed and stamped the contract.

"That's impossible. How could Globestone Investments actually give you this amount of money? That contract has to be a fake one!" Luke looked like a madman as he grabbed the contract.

The veins on his forehead protruded, making him look rather menacing. A few minutes later, he burst into derisive laughter. "You've got guts, Vivian! Don't you know forging a contract is against the law? You could go to jail for this!" He slammed the contract on the table.

"I didn't forge anything! The general manager of Globestone Investments, Wendy Snowden, personally handed this to me," Vivian argued.

"Still lying, are we? Didn't you do your homework before forging this? Globestone Investments' corporate representative's last name is Ziegler, not Coleman. Besides, their general manager is Vincent Rook, not Wendy Snowden! I never would've expected you to stoop so low just to become the next head of the Lorimer family. This is a disgrace to our family! Grandma, I think we should call the cops on her right now to prevent Globestone Investments from coming after us!" Luke said agitatedly.

He never would've expected Vivian, who was intelligent and diligent, to make such an elementary mistake. Even the heavens were on his side!

"Vivian, you'd better explain this." Nora had an ugly look on her face. She knew a thing or two about Globestone Investments, and she realized Luke had raised some rather valid points.

"I-I'm not lying. This contract is real!" Vivian clenched her fists, so anxious that she was almost in tears.

How was she going to explain this? She had no idea why Globestone Investments' corporate representative and general manager had suddenly changed.

"Grandma, Vincent Rook is Mr. Lloyd's uncle. Mr. Lloyd's in my office now, so I can ask him to come here to compare notes with Vivian. All will be revealed then!" Luke shot them a pleased look.

"Yes, let's do that," Nora said coldly. Before this, she'd only thought Vivian's family was useless. Never would she have expected them to turn out to be criminals.

They had to be dealt with!

"Vivian, I'm going out for a smoke," Marcus said in a low voice. Then, he strode out of the room without sparing her another glance.

"Did you see that, Vivian? Your loser husband's scared! He's running away without you! Look at you! You've allowed a loser to have his way with you for the past three years. You're a disgrace to the Lorimer family!"

When Luke saw Marcus hurrying out of the room, he thought he was leaving Vivian to fend for herself and took the opportunity to mock her.

Tears welled in Vivian's eyes. She thought Marcus had changed, but he was still as cowardly and worthless as before.

Bitterness washed over her. She never would've expected him to abandon her when she was at her worst.

A moment later, Frederick strode into the conference room while laughing. "Man, I'm gonna die from laughing so hard. Are you telling me Globestone Investments would invest 500 million dollars in Vivian Lorimer?"

He'd almost laughed his head off after Luke had told him everything. He eyed Vivian greedily, then continued, "The whole of Cromford City knows that my uncle, Vincent Rook, is the general manager of Globestone Investments. I don't even know who the hell that Wendy Snowden is!"

"I'll tell you who exactly I am!" The conference room's door slammed open. A beautiful woman strode in after that.

It was Wendy, and Marcus was right behind her.

He'd used smoking as an excuse to sneak out so he could call Wendy and have her come here to set the record straight.

"Loser, how dare you allow some random person to barge in here like this! Where are the guards? Have them thrown out of here!" Luke bellowed.

"Who dares lay a hand on me? I'm the general manager of Globestone Investments!" Wendy didn't flinch in the face of Luke's rage.

In fact, her aura was more domineering than his.

Marcus secretly nodded approvingly. It looked like he'd picked the right person for the job.

"Bullshit! Where the fuck did you come from, bitch? How dare you try to pretend you're the general manager of Globestone Investments when that position belongs to my uncle? Get on your knees and apologize right now, and I'll ask my uncle to forgive you. You know what the almighty Vincent is capable of if you don't do as you're told!" Frederick roared when he saw someone impersonating Vincent.

"Frederick Lloyd, right? Doesn't your family own Verdant International? I've done some digging; it seems that your family and Vincent have plenty of shady dealings with each other." Wendy gave him an icy look.

Thanks to the investigation on Vincent, more and more secrets were being uncovered.

"Stop spouting nonsense and shut your trap!" Frederick yelled. How could this woman, whoever she was, know so much about such things?

Wendy scoffed. "Nonsense? Verdant International's just declared bankruptcy—call your father and ask him if you don't believe me!"

Then, she turned to Nora and said coolly, "Besides, you can find the official announcement on Globestone Investments' cooperation with Ms. Lorimer on our corporate website. What's the point of playing a useless guessing game?"

A few seconds after her words fell, someone in the crowd cried out, "I found the announcement!"