A Replacement Bride

Chapter 403

Chapter 402 Fall From Grace

Emmanuel's expression turned icy when he heard that. He knew someone was behind this, but the priority now was to settle this matter. He thought it would not be that hard to settle the matter given the power of his company, but he was wrong. The mastermind was more cunning than he thought. They're trying to take us down seriously.

Emmanuel narrowed his eyes and leaned on his chair. Gray Corporation was a big company, and they had taken a lot of business from their competitors, so they had a lot of enemies. Though, not many dared to stand up against them. The only one who had the power and reason to do so right now was Katherine. The moment that woman crossed his mind, Emmanuel froze as a realization struck him. So, this is what she was aiming for.

Hah, does she think she can take me down like this? I bet this is her last stand, but not even this can help her save Corey. Though, I have to say it has indeed worked in her favor. Now that I have my hands full on this matter, I can't spare time to snatch that file from her. However, this isn't the end yet!

"Tell the PR department to work their *sses off and take the public eye off us. I don't care what they do; just make something up to distract the public." He turned his attention to the protesters outside, and he frowned. "Why aren't these insects going away?"

The assistant wiped off the sweat on his forehead and gulped. "They demand to get paid by today, or they won't leave. And they said…"

"What else did they say?" NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

"T-They want to see you. The protesters said that they'll keep waiting until you meet them."

Emmanuel was as black as thunder. "They want to see me? And what use would that be? Do these lowly peasants think they have the right to see me? What a joke!" His eyes glinted with malice. "Find someone to distract the reporters. When night comes, get someone to chase these insects away."

The assistant realized what he was planning to do. "Sir, you wish to solve this with… violence?"

Emmanuel sneered. "These parasites won't leave unless we beat them up. We can't let them stand outside. It'd be an embarrassment for us."

He waved his assistant down impatiently. "Don't just stand there. Do as I say!"

The assistant quickly left the office.

…

At the same time, Katherine arrived at Lab 7.

Howard was excited to see her. "It's an honor to see you again, Miss Cornell."

The other lab members turned their attention to her as well. They knew of her skills and achievements now, so they were looking at her in a different light.

Katherine didn't waste any time on small talk. "Is the lab all set?"

Marcus had told Howard about her request while they were on their way, so Howard nodded. "It's ready."

"Thank you. Please lead the way." Katherine nodded and changed into a lab coat before entering the lab. For the next two days, she didn't even come out. All she did was concoct the H1 Reagent. She had no idea what was happening to Gray Corporation, but she wasn't worried at all. She trusted that Joaquin could easily take them down.

And she was right. Gray Corporation was in hot soup. No matter how much they tried to distract the public eye from their scandal, every top trending search was still about them.

Emmanuel was beyond livid, and to make things worse, someone found out he chased the protesters away with violence. They spread the news over the Internet, and the public did not take it well. Everyone was attacking Gray Corporation.

'They call themselves the top company of Kyoland and the world? How pathetic. This is an embarrassment.'

'Disgusting. These capitalists are worse than pigs. I can't believe they attacked their workers instead of solving their project's problem.'

'A company that's worth billions can't even pay their workers. Pathetic.'

'Imma boycott all their products.'

'Me too. Unbelievable.'

When Philip was made aware of the furor, he almost fainted from fury. It took him a long time to calm down, but when he saw the dipping share prices, he felt his blood pressure rise again. He then called Emmanuel, his hand shaking from anger. "Get. Back. Here. Right. This. Instant!"

Twenty minutes later, Emmanuel came home to Gray Residence, looking upset. Before he could even stand still, Philip hurled an ashtray at him. "What is going on? Is this how you settle things? The whole Internet is after us! You're an embarrassment!"

Emmanuel didn't explain himself. He was already inundated by the fiasco hitting the company. The shareholders were demanding an explanation for the dipping share prices, whereas many of their partners called just to cancel their partnership in light of this madness. Some of the projects that were

in the process of negotiation were lost. In less than two days, Gray Corporation fell from grace. Everyone thought the Grays were a joke, and Emmanuel was the main focus of it.

The thought of the one who put him in this place filled Emmanuel with fury, and he clenched his fists. "This is all Katherine's fault! That b*tch did this!"

"What?" Philip froze. "Katherine?"

Emmanuel's face was as black as thunder. Through gritted teeth, he said, "She did this. She set up a partnership with Universe Group and made me think she was planning to sever our partnership with Universe. I sought out the president of Universe Group and signed a permanent partnership because of that. I even invested all our money into it. Our liquid assets can't be taken out, so we don't have any money to solve our debts right now. She knew this would happen. That's why she set up this trap for me."