Chapter 148: Reversal

"Did you hear? Someone got thrown out of the hospital today."

"Huh? Thrown out?"

"Yeah. Two people carried them to the entrance and just tossed them on the ground."

A couple of nurses were gossiping in hushed tones. As Amanda Vance walked past, she overheard them speculating whether the person had offended some big shot. After all, the men who’d thrown them out were dressed in black, wore sunglasses, and looked utterly menacing—not like good guys at all.

She shook her head, somewhat amused. ’You can’t judge who’s good or bad by looks alone. There are plenty of refined scumbags and wolves in sheep’s clothing out there.’

She took the elevator straight down to the underground garage. The lighting in the garage was dim, and a damp chill hung in the air from the lack of sunlight.

Amanda Vance pulled her coat tighter. A flicker of movement in her peripheral vision made her stop short. She snapped her head around to look in that direction.

It was empty. There was nothing there.

She looked away and continued toward her parking spot at an even pace. As she pulled out, a glance at her rearview mirror caught the corner of a black coat.

’There’s someone behind the pillar.’

’But who could it be? I don’t sense any malice.’

’Now this is interesting. Someone’s following me, but they don’t seem hostile. What for?’

’They can’t possibly be protecting me, can they?’

She let out a soft laugh, telling herself she was overthinking it. ’It’s more likely they’re investigating me. I’m actually curious to see who’s behind this.’ With that, she decided to ignore them, starting the car and driving away.

After she drove off, silence returned to the garage, and the motion-activated lights dimmed.

Suddenly, a faint light glowed from behind the pillar, faintly illuminating a large beard on the man’s face.

He dialed a number. The bearded man kept his voice low. "Sir, I think Miss Vance spotted us."

"Mm," a deep male voice replied from the other end, sounding unsurprised. "Did anyone cause a scene today?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." The bearded man clicked his tongue, impressed. The boss truly was clairvoyant. "You can rest assured, sir. We already threw that couple out. We’ll make sure they don’t get anywhere near Dr. Vance or upset her."

"Good."

The call ended quickly.

The bearded man coughed softly and stepped out from behind the pillar.

「In the meeting room.」

Samuel Ford slowly ended the call. His fingertips tapped a steady, rhythmic beat on the tabletop, each tap landing like a drumbeat on the hearts of everyone present.

President Lynch, who had been so boastful at the door moments ago, had lost all his smugness. His face was ashen, and cold sweat beaded on his coarse-pored skin. His expression was a mixture of indignation, but it was overshadowed by fear and apprehension.

After a long moment, Samuel Ford finally spoke. "I apologize for having you all come here for nothing today."

The Ford Group had won the project after all.

The Ford Group’s entire staff had worked on this project for months. Other, smaller companies, some of which had been preparing for a year, still couldn’t compete.

All their hard work had gone down the drain.

To make matters worse, they had all seen the Ford Group’s proposal. It was nothing short of perfect—a complete landslide. When they looked back at their own, they couldn’t help but feel utterly inadequate.

A few people shot anxious glances at President Lynch, but he failed to notice.

Samuel Ford’s gaze swept over the room. He impassively took in everyone’s reactions, noted the faces of the ones who had glanced at Lynch, and mentally filed away their names.

When the meeting concluded, they had no reason to linger. Forcing smiles, they offered their congratulations to Samuel Ford and left, their resentment palpable.

Outside the door, the same men who had been glancing at President Lynch cornered him. "President Lynch, what happened?" one of them demanded. "You said..."

He cut himself off as the man beside him nudged his arm. Realizing his mistake, he pulled President Lynch into a corner and asked in a hushed, urgent tone, "Didn’t you say this was a sure thing? How did Samuel Ford come up with a completely different proposal?"

And a perfect one at that!

They were starting to suspect Samuel Ford had been toying with them all along.

President Lynch’s mind was reeling. Hearing their incessant questions, his expression soured. "How the hell should I know!" he snarled.

He had spent so much money and effort to get his hands on the Ford Group’s proposal. And he’d reviewed it himself—it was definitely their work, and an excellent plan at that. He thought victory was in the bag. Who could have imagined Samuel Ford would pull out something even more perfect?

He just couldn’t wrap his head around it.

’Did he find out and make a new one? No, that’s impossible. How could he create something like that in such a short time? And there wasn’t a peep about it. At least, no one else at the Ford Group knew. My source, Old Wang, told me that just the day before yesterday, everyone was still working off the original plan.’

’It’s not like Samuel Ford could have done this all by himself.’

’No. Impossible. Absolutely impossible!’

President Lynch shook his head violently.

Seeing him unresponsive and in such a state, one of the men grew impatient. "President Lynch, we all hitched our wagons to yours on this one. Don’t you think you owe us an explanation?"

They were all mid-sized companies and knew they had little chance of winning the project on their own. That’s why they’d decided to partner with Fairbright and go up against the Ford Group together. Now, not only had they lost money, but they’d also made a powerful enemy. It was a total loss. Did he really think he could just brush them off with an "I don’t know"?

They weren’t going to let him off that easy.

President Lynch was on the verge of a breakdown. He genuinely didn’t know anything! Seeing the changed expressions on his partners’ faces gave him a splitting headache.

Just as he was about to speak, the meeting room door suddenly opened. The group immediately fell silent.

The meeting room door was soundproof; there was no way he could have heard them. But for some reason, as they met Samuel Ford’s gaze, they all had the unnerving feeling of being seen through completely. A chill crept up their spines.

A flicker of mockery crossed Samuel Ford’s eyes as he looked at them. He strode over, his expression filled with disdain as he took in their guilty faces. Lightly rolling up his sleeves, he spoke in an airy tone, "I must thank President Lynch for being such a perfect foil this time. The Ford Group couldn’t have won this project so easily without you."

The proposal Fairbright stole from the Ford Group was certainly impressive, enough to wow the judges. But when Samuel Ford presented an even better one, it left them stunned. With a superior option on the table, who would bother with one that was merely "good"?

The organizers made their decision quickly. The vote was unanimous, without a single objection.

The Ford Group’s victory was swift and decisive, leaving the competition with no room to retaliate.

Hearing this, President Lynch felt the blood rush to his head. If he didn’t understand what had just happened, he would be an absolute fool.

’Samuel Ford... he knew all along!’

’He used me as a stepping stone, using my stolen plan as the ’brick’ to draw out his ’jade.’ It was all deliberate!’

’And I, the fool, had been used by him without even realizing it.’

Not bothering to grace them with another word, Samuel Ford gave a soft chuckle and walked away.

Suddenly, a cry of alarm rang out from behind him.

"President Lynch!"