The Billionaire Heir Fell for the Wrong Girl (Hathaway Whitmore) novel Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Chapter 75

The morning meeting at the Blackwood Group was anything but calm.

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The director of the planning department spoke up. “The product we’ve been preparing for ages. Whitmore Group went public with theirs before us. Their design concept and core features are basically a copy of ours.

“We’re worried they’ll beat us to the punch on our upcoming projects, too. We’ve had someone dig into Whitmore Group’s

staff.

“Killian is the engineer the Whitmore family hired with a hefty paycheck to handle their core projects.

“He only joined Whitmore Group a year ago. Rumor has it Hathaway personally brought him in with a big salary.

“I checked. He’s got zero connection to the Blackwood Group. But somehow, their product’s core features are almost a mirror of ours.

“And then there’s Ian, whom Hathaway poached not long ago. Ever since these guys landed at Whitmore Group, they’ve been rolling out patents left and right.”

Jeremiah stared at the screen.

‘It’s almost like Whitmore Group’s people are reading my mind. Can it really be a coincidence?’ he wondered.

Just then, someone spoke up. “Could there be a mole in the Blackwood Group? Maybe Whitmore Group planted an insider here?”

“Mr. Blackwood, did our confidential plans get leaked, letting Whitmore Group beat us to the punch?”

Jessica gritted her teeth, suspicion and frustration bubbling up. She was thinking the same thing.

‘Is Hathaway the thief?’ Jessica wondered.

Jeremiah didn’t flinch. “Some of these ideas had crossed my mind. I hadn’t started working on them yet.”

‘It’s like the stuff I planned for years down the line showed up out of nowhere, he thought.

The word “mind reader” popped into Jeremiah’s head.

As soon as he said that, the room erupted in a low buzz of murmurs.

The deputy director of marketing said, “If that’s the case, Whitmore Group must’ve brought in some real geniuses.”

The director of planning cleared his throat. “This time, Whitmore Group’s move really sent shockwaves through the industry.”

“But the Blackwood Group has what it takes to turn any crisis into an opportunity.”

*****

That evening, as Jessica drove home alone, she called Calvin to fill him in on what had happened.

“Jeremiah said in the meeting that Whitmore Group somehow made real the projects that were ideas in his head,” she said.

Calvin chuckled lightly. “Is that so? Maybe it’s a coincidence.”

“Either way, Jeremiah’s probably going to get serious about this. I could tell from his expression that he genuinely wants to meet Whitmore Group’s engineers,” Jessica said.

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Chapter 75

Calvin replied with a few noncommittal words before hanging up.

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He stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing down at the glittering stream of traffic below, and let out a low chuckle.

‘Hathaway won’t let this happen, he thought.

*****

A week later, Hathaway went out for dinner with Killian, Ian, and a bunch of other engineers.

They picked a newly opened restaurant around the corner from the office.

The waiter led them inside, and none of them noticed that Elaine and her family were already there.

Elaine spotted Hathaway right away. Seeing Killian’s employee badge, she guessed they were from Whitmore Group. “Dady look. There’s the loser my cousin crushed. Mr. Blackwood’s ex-fiancée is now eating with the employees like one of them

“No one in their rich kid circle probably cares about her anymore. That’s why she’s fallen so low.”

Spencer knew Hathaway, too. Seeing her today, he was surprised; she was as pretty as Jessica. Guess she lost in other departments.

Maybe her personality wasn’t as nice, or she wasn’t as smart, or not as talented as Jessica.

With that thought, Spencer glanced in the direction Hathaway had disappeared and asked, “So, she didn’t cause a scene, huh?”

Elaine smirked, “Please, even if she wanted to make a fuss, could she actually pull it off? Jeremiah wouldn’t look her way, and she knows she doesn’t have a leg to stand on.”

Elaine wore a smug expression. “My cousin’s got a PhD; what does she have? Only a college degree? College grads are everywhere these days, and next to my cousin, they’re basically clueless.”

Spencer scoffed, about to argue, but Elaine cut him off immediately, “You’re going to say I’m a college student too?

“Well, I’m definitely going overseas for further studies. I want to be as educated as my cousin. How could Hathaway ever compare to me? At least I’ll be a future postdoc.”

Elaine’s mom, Charlotte, smiled, clearly pleased with her daughter’s quick wit. “That’s my girl, always aiming high.”

Spencer, seeing his daughter so motivated, couldn’t help but smile. “That’s your promise. I’ll be waiting.”

Sure, Hathaway was pretty, and her family background was decent, but she didn’t really have anything else going for her.

Still, at least she could be a cautionary tale for his daughter, a reminder of what happened if a woman didn’t stand out, and maybe make her realize she needed to step up her game.

Spencer suddenly thought that maybe Hathaway did have some use after all.

The three of them were enjoying themselves so much that they didn’t want to let some irrelevant person ruin their mood, so they didn’t give Hathaway another thought.

Meanwhile, after dinner, Hathaway left the restaurant without running into Spencer and his family again.

Even if she had, she wouldn’t have recognized them anyway.

Hathaway and Killian headed back to the office to take care of some paperwork.

Once she was back in her office, Hathaway sent out a few emails to her team in Monarcia.

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Chapter 75

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By the time she was ready to head home, she realized it had been a while since the season changed, but she’d been so busy with work she hadn’t had a chance to update her wardrobe.

Hathaway tried calling Evelyn, but she was out of town on vacation.

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