Chapter 30: Issues Arose

Sammy understood Douglas, so he was full of apprehension toward him. Douglas would definitely have the ability to shake the entire Pinnacle Group with just that ten percent stake from Blanche. Moreover, although he had replaced most of Douglas's confidants over the years, there were still a few particularly capable individuals he hadn't been willing to replace. These few people were all the ones who had followed Douglas in building their empire. There was no guarantee that they wouldn't turn their backs on him when Douglas returned. "Blanche, I'm really afraid... I am scared that Douglas will snatch you away." Sammy said affectionately. Blanche was somewhat moved. After all, Sammy had been very good to her over the years. "Sammy, don't overthink it. We're already engaged. Whatever happens, I'll stand by your side." Sammy's face was filled with emotion. "Blanche, you're so kind." A hint of discomfort flashed across Blanche's face. The same words, but for some reason, when they came from Sammy's mouth, she didn't feel moved. Instead, she felt somewhat repulsed. "Sammy, do we really have no chance of reconciling with Douglas?" Sammy's eyes flashed with a hint of hostility as he shook his head. "Impossible. You also understand Douglas's character. Back then, when we were climbing the mountain, he fell off the cliff. He thought I had pushed him down, but the truth is, I was trying to pull him up and save him." Blanche's eyes dimmed. When she had learned that Douglas had fallen off the cliff, she had gone mad looking for him, but Douglas was nowhere to be found, neither alive nor dead. Until one day, Sammy told her that Douglas had been found. She was ecstatic, thrilled... but when she saw Douglas, she found that he was limping and had become disabled. At that moment, she recoiled. She couldn't accept that her future lover was disabled. More than a year later, she gathered the courage to go see Douglas. By then, he had already found a very plain woman by his side, and they had a child. At that moment, she suddenly felt relieved. She found a perfect excuse for her selfishness, blaming Douglas for betraying their love, and her guilt disappeared. Sammy felt that the prelude was almost over and spoke up, "Blanche, I'm worried that you feel guilty about Douglas and want to give him your ten percent stake..." Knock! Knock! Sammy's words were interrupted by a sudden knock on the door. Sammy cursed inwardly and said sharply, "Come in." A middle-aged man in a suit and glasses, along with a woman dressed professionally, walked in. These two were the capable aides of the company, the man being the manager of the marketing department, Cary Yolanda, and the woman being the manager of the investment department, Eva Qirstein. Cary came in without much ceremony, frowning. "Chairman Lee, Miss Yarborough, something has happened." Sammy's heart jolted. He hastily asked, "What happened? Take your time, don't rush." Cary said solemnly, "Several companies we were cooperating with suddenly announced the unilateral termination of cooperation. Now, the three residential complexes we're developing urgently need funds. They abruptly terminated the cooperation, and the developers, upon hearing the news, are worried they won't get paid, so all construction sites have been shut down." "What?" Sammy's voice rose sharply, and his face was full of shock. The three upscale residential complexes under development were among the most crucial projects for the group at that time. The majority of the company's funds had been allocated to these projects. If something went wrong, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Blanche was also shocked. "What's going on? Why did they suddenly terminate the cooperation?" Eva replied, "I called to ask, but as soon as they heard I was from Pinnacle Group, they hung up without giving me a chance to inquire." "How could this happen?" Blanche began to panic. These projects were jointly invested by Pinnacle Group, the Yarborough family, and Creators Group. Now, halfway through the project, the partners suddenly withdrew their investment. If they couldn't find funds, the money they had invested earlier would go down the drain, which amounted to tens of billions. Sammy had a bad feeling. He immediately took out his phone and started calling those partner companies. However, the calls went unanswered. He could only call their companies. "Hello, I'm Sammy from Pinnacle Group. Please transfer me to Chairman Lewward." "I'm sorry, Chairman Lewward is out of the country." The other party didn't even give Sammy a chance to speak and hung up the phone directly. Sammy's face darkened, and he made another call, "Hello, I'm Sammy from Pinnacle Group. Please transfer me to Chairman Zimmerman." "I'm sorry, Chairman Zimmerman is not available." After saying that, the person hung up the phone straightforwardly. "B*stards!" Sammy roared, smashing his phone to pieces. Eva said, "Chairman Lee, shall I personally go to these companies to find out what's going on?" Sammy roared, "They don't even answer my calls. Even if you go, you probably won't even get past their front door. Someone must be behind this. Otherwise, these people wouldn't terminate cooperation simultaneously and vanish collectively." "Let the legal department send them letters. With contracts in hand, they won't dare to mess with us." Cary said, "Chairman Lee, I've already inquired at the legal department before coming. Lawsuits like this are the hardest to win. It could take around two years, and they can afford to drag it out, but we, as the Pinnacle Group, can't afford it." "Useless! Good-for-nothing! What's the point of keeping them? It's better to raise a dog." Sammy acted like a mad dog, raging furiously. Blanche frowned slightly, and a hint of disgust flashed in her eyes. She suddenly thought of Douglas. When Pinnacle Group was just starting out, they had also encountered such situations. However, Douglas remained calm and composed, working hard for several days and eventually turning the situation around. "Being angry now is useless. These companies have all vanished collectively. They're clearly having planned it. The most important thing now is to keep the construction sites running. Once the residential complexes are completed, we can turn things around. Calculate how much money the company has left. Let's satisfy those contractors first and get them back to work." "I contacted the contractors just now and calculated that we need at least over two hundred million to restart work," Cary said. "The company's funds are enough. Send the money to them first and get them to resume work. We'll figure out the rest later." "We don't have any money left in the company," Sammy said with a darkened face. "What?" Blanche looked at him with a furrowed brow. Sammy said in despair, "I spent four hundred and fifty million on the land I bought today." Blanche was shocked. "That piece of land was priced at one hundred million, and the transaction price shouldn't have exceeded three hundred million. Why did you spend so much money?" "I..." Sammy suddenly seemed to remember something. His eyes turned red as he shouted, "It's Douglas! He wouldn't have appeared there for no reason. He wouldn't have said those things to me for no reason. It must all be his doing."