Always Been Yours (Tessa and Nicholas) novel Chapter 1404

Chapter 1404 The Battle Begins

She didn't want to drag him down.

Tessa didn't say that out loud, of course. Nicholas went to work after she agreed to the arrangements. Not too long after he reached the office, Edward came to report about work. Nicholas spent a few minutes delegating all the work for the day. Reminded of the events in Filisburg, he frowned. "How is the negotiation with Filisburg?"

"We're still in the middle of it," answered Edward.

Nicholas' face fell. "It's been two days, but you still have nothing to show for it? What's taking them so long?"

"Adam and Joseph refuse to hand over the ledgers," said Edward, and then he told Nicholas what his men were facing.

Nicholas' face was as black as thunder and he exuded an intimidating aura.

Noticing the tension rising in the air, Edward tensed up. He looked at Nicholas carefully and gulped. "Maybe I should tell someone to look into the reason they're refusing to work with us."

"No. There's only one reason for that. They don't want us to find out about their monkey business," Nicholas hissed.

Edward frowned for a moment, musing over the matter, and then he reached an unbelievable conclusion. "Sir, you're saying they lost all the money?"

"No other reason would push them to take this risk." Nicholas sneered.

A while ago, his great uncles struck a deal with some businessman abroad behind his back. They used a lot of the company's money for that, yet they still hadn't given it back. Now, they were even using a falsified account to hide their tracks. Obviously, they had lost money.

Edward looked at Nicholas in tense silence.

Nicholas sneered again, then he said, "And they must have lost a lot of money. More than our estimate, even. That's why they took this risk."

"They lost more than what we anticipated? That's… brazen." Edward was shocked. They really shouldn't try to challenge Mr. Sawyer any further.

Nicholas narrowed his eyes, cold fury glinting within them. After a while, he came to a decision. "Tell your men to keep liaising with them, but dispatch another team to secretly look into the details of their transaction. Don't let them find out."

"Understood." Edward nodded and left.

For a few days after that, the tension that hung in the air of the company seemed to have disappeared. The management who had been waiting tensely for Nicholas' punishment took notice of the lack of yelling. Eventually, thinking that this matter had blown over, some people were starting to relax.

…

Adam and Joseph were gathered in a garden of a beautiful manor in Filisburg's capital. They were having some tea and played chess. Even though they were almost eighty, these men looked no older than seventy because they prioritized their health. They seemed energetic too.

"Our spy told us HQ is still demanding the ledger, but they aren't doing anything big. It's just formality, and Nicholas isn't doing anything."

Adam made a move on the chess board and said, "That doesn't seem right."

Joseph dismissed his concern and laughed. "Of course, it's right. That brat is clearly scared of us. We might be running the business abroad, but we have as much power as the main family."

"I just don't think it's that simple." Adam frowned. An uneasy feeling stirred in his heart, and he trusted his gut feeling. "It's not like Nicholas to take this lying down. We took a lot of money from the company and tried to trick them with a falsified ledger. There's no way he's going to let that slide."

"Ah, you're reading into it too much. So, what if we took all their money? We're still his elders, and he has no right to demand anything from us."