A Call That Changed Her Entire Life

Chapter 1510 Restart

"No, nothing happened. It feels a little strange, right? I think it's suspicious that Darren didn't take advantage of the time when you were gone. I wonder if he's plotting something," David stated. They had been waiting for Darren to strike but so far, he had done nothing.

"It's hard to say. Darren is a crafty guy. He will always attack when he knows the enemy is least expecting it," Jacob replied.

This whole time, Jacob had always regarded Darren as his biggest opponent. After all, Darren had always found a way to compete with him. Darren's methods were sly and devious. There was no way that Darren had just stopped trying to take them down.

While the two of them were considering the possibility that everything was going back to normal, chaos had broken outside.

Sam barged inside the office with wide eyes. He reported to Jacob and David as soon as he received the news.

"Mr. Gu, Mr. Xu, have you seen the news? Someone said that even though the HT Group was in the middle of a food poisoning scandal, the CEO of the company was unsympathetic. They're saying that he went on a vacation with no regrets!" Sam informed them in an anxious tone. It seemed that they were in big trouble again.

"How can they bring it up again? I thought we cleared it up already. Why are they targeting you again all of a sudden?" David asked, glancing at Jacob. It was strange.

"I have no clue either. I was shocked when I saw the news floating around on the internet just now. It escalated quickly and was immediately shared by several reporters. There's a swarm of reporters downstairs," Sam told them. He felt helpless at this point.

"Let's just wait and see what else happens," Jacob said in a calm tone. He didn't want to lose composure yet.

After Sam enlightened them of the situation, Jacob and David turned on their computers. They saw the news that Sam was talking about and found that it was spreading like wildfire on the internet.

It seemed that Darren had had something up his sleeve after all. They had wondered why Darren had kept quiet when Jacob was away. It turned out that he had just been waiting for Jacob's return so he could drop this on them. Darren hadn't had a change of heart; he still wanted his revenge.

For a moment, Jacob became the center of the storm.

Realizing how serious the matter was, he couldn't help but frown.

"Mr. Gu, what should we do now? Should we release a statement as soon as possible?" Sam was worried that if they didn't clear up the matter, it would tarnish their company's reputation even more.

As he skimmed through the articles of the news websites, Jacob frowned and pursed his lips in annoyance. His silence increased the tension in the air.

"No, not yet. It's not the right time. Just wait a little while," he finally said after being quiet for a while.

Standing beside him, David couldn't help but feel worried about the situation. He had no idea what Jacob was waiting for. If they let it keep spreading, the company might lose its credibility.

"Jacob, I don't think it's wise to keep quiet now. If you let them keep going, the company might suffer. Issues like these are food to the press; the reporters will gobble it up unless you say something," David warned. He really had no clue what Jacob was thinking about.

Despite David's warning, Jacob did not change his mind. He still stood there and just watched the news wordlessly.

Everyone was worried about Jacob's nonchalant expression. Then suddenly, the situation turned around.

One of the victims who had gotten food poisoning stood out and started to speak for Jacob.

"Hello, everyone! Please do not besmirch Mr. Gu's name. He is a good man. Once he found out that we were poisoned, he immediately sent us to a reputable hospital and made sure that we received the best treatment. Now, all of the victims from the incident seemed to have recovered and are back to full health.

Please don't misunderstand the HT Group and Mr. Gu. This is a good company and Mr. Gu displays excellent leadership skills. We all thank them for their efforts," he said sincerely.

The rest of the victims came out to clarify the rumors as well, saying that they didn't blame Jacob for the incident. In fact, they defended him. David relaxed a little when he saw the victims supporting Jacob. He hadn't expected that Jacob would have actually found the victims and asked them to speak out to the public in such a crucial moment. It all felt like a scene from a movie. Compared to Jacob giving an explanation, letting the victims give their own statements was the best course of action.

"Wow, Jacob. I didn't expect that you would be this prepared for Darren's next move. This is brilliant!" David smiled and proudly patted Jacob's shoulder. All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

"It wasn't me," Jacob said, turning to face him.

"What? If it wasn't you, then who did it? Sam, was it you?" Surprised, David turned to face Sam.

Sam shook his head innocently. He was also puzzled about the sudden change of tide.

"How is this possible then? If it wasn't either of you, then who else would know about it and ask the victims to testify during this time? That seems a little strange," David said, confused.

"When the news about the food poisoning incident broke out, I sent the victims to the hospital so that they could get treated properly. Now, they just told the truth. Nobody was behind it. The victims came forward on their own," Jacob explained to them.

When he first found out that people had gotten food poisoning from eating the HT Group's snacks, he had immediately arranged for them to be sent to a prestigious hospital. His moral compass hadn't allowed him to stand by and do nothing about it. However, he hadn't expected that his good gesture would make the victims defend his honor.

And just like that, Darren's elaborate schemes fell apart.

"Jacob, you are truly an excellent leader. You were able to predict Darren's plans and saved the company from another disaster. Well done!" David patted Jacob's chest in a congratulatory manner and grinned at him.

Jacob gently pushed away David's hand on his shoulder and casually said, "I didn't predict anything, honestly. I was just staying true to my morals. When I heard about what happened, I knew that I couldn't just leave those people alone. So, I helped them."

"Anyway, your contribution helped the company stay out of danger this time," David told him. He was so happy that he couldn't remove the smile on his face. It was as if it was glued there.

But while the HT Group and its employees were celebrating as they had dodged a bullet, Darren was enraged when he saw the victims defend Jacob.

"Despicable!"

Fueled by anger, he threw the glass in his hand at the wall, and it smashed into little pieces.

He hadn't expected that the information that he had worked so hard to obtain would lose its value so quickly. He didn't know how Jacob had been able to get those people to testify for him.

Meanwhile, at the HT Group, despite the good news, they still had other things to worry about. Due to the financial losses that they had suffered after being forced to stop their food production, their cash flow had been affected. The issue had impacted their other businesses and their revenue kept dwindling each day. The senior executives of the HT Group were in distress, and the other employees were also in low spirits. It was as if the incident had cast a dark cloud over each of their heads and there was no way to escape it.

The next morning, an emergency meeting was held. The large conference room was filled with sad faces.

"The food chain can't operate again, but the company is not closing down. Why do you guys look so sad?" As usual, Jacob had a cold and sullen expression plastered on his face. His tone was emotionless. His bony fingers slowly knocked on the table, which seemed to have woken up the company's board of directors. They sat up and looked at him.

"Mr. Gu, our company has suffered major financial loss because of this incident. We made a big mistake…"

Jacob looked at him with a scowl, and the director's voice became lower and lower until it turned into a whisper. A deep and serious voice declared, "The HT Group didn't start as a food company. Even without our involvement in the food industry, the company was able to operate and always ranked top."

"Mr. Gu, are you planning to restart the company?" There were mixed reactions from the company directors. Some of them were still worried about the company's future while others understood what Jacob implied. "Our company is a reputable industrial company. Our connections and qualifications in

several industries are more than enough to make the company run smoothly despite what happened. We will make up for the financial loss soon enough," Jacob added sincerely.