Chapter 182:.

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Sherry called William when he was in the car. He had to be very worried and the only thing she could do for him right now was to be supportive. But his phone was off.

She tried calling him several times, but to no avail. Sherry was on pins and needles as she couldn’t reach him. She could do nothing but send him a message.

[William, no matter what happens, I believe you will handle it well. You will pull through, I believe in you! I love you]

“Sherry, don’t worry. The Rowland Group is a huge company. A little rumor like that wouldn’t be able to sink them.” Keegan tried to comfort Sherry.

“I know!” Sherry nodded, “But I couldn’t help but feel worried. The paper said they were going to release more information about them. Keegan, do you know what it could be, did the Rowland Group really work their way to success through tax evasion and bribery?”

Keegan said, “Sherry, do you know how your father started his business?”

“How?”

“By smuggling,” Keegan said quietly, “Most businesses started dirty and did charity after they became successful. They did too many bad things in the beginning and wanted to redeem themselves.”

Sherry was surprised, “What if the information about the Rowland Group is true?”

“Then they’ll have to redeem themselves!” said Keegan bluntly.

“Will they be able to do that?”

“Of course!”

At the Rowland residence.

John saw the paper and had little reaction to it. He gave her a puzzled look when he saw Sherry’s arrival, “What are you doing here?”

Lᴀτєѕτ cнαρτєrs ιn g𝒶l𝑛ovєl𝑠.𝒸oм

“John… I came to see you!” Sherry didn’t dare mention the newspaper.

Seeing John so calm, Sherry assumed John hadn’t read the paper yet.

“You’re here for the news, aren’t you?” said John gently.

He didn’t think Sherry would come to see him when things were going badly for him. The expression in John’s eyes grew softer, Sherry was such a kind soul! Will had made no mistake in choosing her and John felt comforted.

“Have you read the paper?” Sherry was stunned.

Jhon nodded, “Come with me!”

Sherry was puzzled but followed John to the second floor study room.

John sat down at his desk and motioned for Sherry to sit down as well. Sherry sat down on the couch and John lit a cigarette. “John, aren’t you worried?” She was super worried.

Those malicious rumors could affect the company’s stock, which would cause a stir and could lead to more unrest.

“What are you afraid of?” John raised his eyebrow. The arrogant look on his face reminded her of William.

Sherry thought about William and their different expressions, they really were father and son. She wondered what kind of face William would be making. She felt comforted to see John so calm.

John phoned ahead of Sherry unhurriedly, “Go find out which news bureaus were involved in this story and find out the culprit! Be very careful and take whatever information the person has on the Rowland Group and bring it to me.”

Sherry’s heart raced as she heard John make the call. He hung up the phone and glanced at the worried Sherry. He said, “Sherry, we need to be sure everything holds up when we do business, do you understand?”

“What?” Sherry gasped.

“Besides, stop fidgeting. Remember the first time I threatened you? You weren’t nervous at all. Why are you so scared now?”

“John, this is different!” Then Sherry had no dreams and her heart was less fragile. But the problem right now was about the Rowland Group, of course she’d be worried!

“It’s the same thing! Don’t worry!” said John as he pulled out the drawer.

Sherry was confused, “John, how are you so sure the company won’t be affected?”

“The company will be affected!” Her stock market and confidence would take a big hit, but John wouldn’t let it show.

Sherry was flabbergasted, “Then what should we do?” She had already been involved with the Rowland Group and John was content with her reaction.

“Well, we could just launch an investigation, there’s no way to seal them off. We can find out who’s behind the scenes though, and give them a taste of their own medicine.”

“So you want to wait for that person to come clean?” Sherry snapped. “Smart!”

John nodded, “Let’s wait for that person to show up!”.

Not long after, John’s phone rang, “Will! Talk!”

Sherry became nervous, was it really William on the other end of the phone?

“Dad, I just got off the plane, I’m on my way there right now! Don’t worry about the company thing, I’ll take care of it!” said William with a hint of reassurance in his voice.

“Sure! Sherry’s with me right now!” John perked up hearing his son so calm about the whole thing, “I’ll pass the phone to Sherry!”.

She quickly picked it up. He was reassured, but there was still a hint of concern in his voice, “William, where are you?”

“Sherry, I’m at the airport. I’ve already figured out who caused the trouble and I’ll get it over with right away. Don’t go anywhere, okay?”

“Who is it?” Sherry was surprised that William found the culprit so quickly. It didn’t surprise her that John wasn’t worried at all. She was relieved.

“Lara Rhodes!” said William.

“Why would she do that, is everything really going to be all right?”

“I’ll find out when I see her. Don’t worry, everything will be fine. Darling, believe me. I’ve seen your message and I’ll talk to you when I’m done with this. I’ll head over there now, don’t leave the Rowland Residence, OK? See you.” William hastily hung up the phone.

He seemed in a hurry.

Lara? Sherry was lost in thought.

Lara had been pushed away by William and the reason behind it had something to do with Sherry. William said he hadn’t pushed Lara away because of Sherry, but Sherry thought about it and knew she was the cause.

“Will, I think this is your fault for being a playboy!” said Liam as he led William toward Lara. Liam was dumbfounded when he found out that Lara was behind it all, “Women are scary when it comes to revenge. I told you to stay out of her hair.”

William just got off the plane.

He was wearing casual clothes, a khaki T-shirt and long white pants. It was the opposite of how he always dressed, as he liked to wear dark colored clothes. He looked more cheerful in bright clothes. However, he smoked non-stop, like a chimney.

He continued to smoke in the car and said quietly, “Lara is just a pawn. There has to be someone else behind the scenes.”

“Someone else?” Liam didn’t think about that.

“Yes.” William nodded and said confidently, “Lara’s smart, but she’s not that brave. On her own she wouldn’t do something like this. So someone must be behind the scenes, adding oil to the fire. The person must be an important person who knows a lot about the Rowland Group!”

“One of our competitors?”

“Perhaps our own friend!” William smiled.

He maintained his cool composure and his eyes were calm as a leopard hunting its prey. The person had to be very well prepared to make a direct hit on the Rowland Group. William was not to be careless.

He pulled out his phone and dialed a number, “Send someone to the school and secretly protect Sammy and Dan. Make sure they’re unharmed.”

“Will, do you have an idea who it is yet?” It was the first time Liam had seen William so serious.

“Just in case!” William had a dangerous look in his eyes.

He was like a cheetah, waiting for his chance to pounce.

“Will, you seem strangely excited,” Liam said jokingly. He smiled with his eyes and said, “I feel bad for the other person. They should know better before they provoke you.”

William scoffed and arched his eyebrow, “Lara made the post when she was in City G. Interesting. Maybe she thought I wouldn’t be able to find her.”

Lara was definitely brave to make the posting. William had a strange expression on his face. He let his guard down and the enemy took advantage of it. He was slacking too much lately. There weren’t many who knew that much about the Rowland Group.

William guessed that this person had worked for the Rowland Group before. The Rowland Group was a big company and there would be many types of people there. But the fact that there was someone like that in the group and the person was his enemy!

“Should I send more people to look into it?” asked Liam.

“No! You won’t find anything!”

“Will, you’re belittling me,” Liam said as he smiled a peculiar smile, “I’m not that useless!”.

“I’m not belittling you, I’ve never doubted your ability! It’s the enemy. They know too much about us. They hid their communication methods and changed the location of their cell phones. Their observation ability is too strong, They are certainly very cunning people!”

“I still think you’re underestimating me!” Liam glared at William.

“You think I don’t know you?” William shook his head and looked at Liam as if giving him a warning. “I don’t want you showing off too much! Stay quiet and mind your own business! Don’t lose your job!”

William would rather ask Alexis to help him than have Liam expose himself to trouble. They were just businessmen on the outside, and Liam was not to stick his nose into other matters. He also knew that Liam worked for the government in secret, but he wouldn’t have Liam use his contacts.

“You knew that?” Liam arched an eyebrow. “Private business or public business, you wanted them all. I knew, but I didn’t say anything.”

“The corporate bribery crimes were exposed one after another over the last few years, it had to be your doing. All the companies working with the Rowland Group that had committed bribery in the past were sent to jail soon after, it had to be you!” He stared out the window. Then he said coldly, “And you seemed to be addicted to making money this way, so I couldn’t take that away from you, could I?”

“My God!” Liam was startled and quickly waved his hand.

His face paled. William froze. He thought he was secretive enough to hide out in the Rowland Group while working for the police. But he, as an information agent, was already thoroughly vetted by William.

“Don’t expose your identity!” William stared at Liam, there was a hint of sharpness in his cold eyes, “The Rowland Group has never committed any crime for a long time. My father built the company with his own hands and I can’t let anything happen to it as long as I’m in charge. Crimes or not, they are a thing of the past. Liam, do you understand?”

“Will! I never wanted to investigate the Rowland Group, it was my refuge! I didn’t want to destroy it.” Liam shrugged reluctantly. Suddenly, he grinned and made a mocking face, “Will, how did you find out about me?”

William looked at him and didn’t answer.

…

“I would never do harm to the Rowland Group!” said Liam.

“If you were the culprit, you wouldn’t even have a chance to sit here and argue with me about the main culprit behind the scenes who was instructing Lara,” William sneered coldly, the expression on his face were frigid and wintry.

“I’m just trying to clear my name, I’m not that stupid!” said Liam jokingly, “Well, I’m curious about that person too! Even if I get exposed and lose my job, I want to find out who that person is!”

“We’ll find out soon enough!” said William as he flicked the butt of his cigarette out the window. He glanced at his watch and his phone rang. He picked up the call and asked, “What did you find out?”

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