The Transactional Marriage That Imploded novel Chapter 72

Mona Gibbons broke out in a cold sweat on Bianca's behalf. How did she have the nerve to single-handedly take on the entire sales department? The new boss was wildly unpredictable.

After the meeting, Hugo sneaked away to give Mathis a call.

"Mr. Jagger, she made her move. I'm planning to rile up the sales department to cause a scene and muddy the waters. We'll make it impossible for her to stay at the branch."

The click of a lighter echoed from Mathis's end. Seconds later, he exhaled a plume of smoke and said coldly, "She's very smart. Don't let her figure out we're connected. You have to strike fast, hard, and ruthlessly."

But Hugo didn't see Bianca as a threat. She was too obsessed with the technical side and totally unfit for management.

He had no idea why Cillian and Mathis held her in such high regard.

Keeping his tone respectful, he said, "Don't worry, Mr. Jagger. I won't let you down."

"Let's hope not."

Mathis ended the call. Leaning against the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office, he stared out at the city lights, smoking in silence.

He had sensed something was off the moment Bianca didn't show up to the celebration dinner. When he had his people track her movements, he discovered she had flown out to Austin City overnight, parachuting in as the head of the branch.

So her crazy overtime hours were just her preparing to leave.

The very next day, he had tracked down Hugo, promising him a massive payout on the condition that he chased Bianca out of the company.

Quincy asked cautiously, "Mr. Jagger, aren't you worried Ms. Baldwin will leave the country?"

"Her grandmother is still here. Plus, she holds patents. Unless she wants to get dragged into some absurd legal mess, she has no choice but to stay." His gaze turned icy as he looked at Quincy. "You've been searching for so long. Why haven't you found her grandmother yet?"

Quincy trembled as he replied, "We've genuinely scoured every hospital in the city, but there's no sign of her."

Mathis's dark eyes grew even more ominous. "Are you sure?"

"We didn't check Dr. Jennings' hospital."

Mathis tapped his long fingers against the desk. "It's a possibility."

She packed up her things and headed home. Once there, Bianca, Cillian, and several executives from headquarters jumped on a video call to discuss how to handle the situation at the branch.

By the time the meeting wrapped up, she realized it was already 10 PM.

It hit her that she had been running non-stop all day. Being pregnant meant she couldn't just skip meals because she had no appetite, so she quickly ordered a bowl of seafood soup online.

As she downloaded a pregnancy handbook and a maternity tracking app, she suddenly realized she hadn't changed her phone passcode. The sequence of numbers was her parents' wedding anniversary.

It was purely a coincidence that it fell on the exact same day as Jax Holden's birthday.

She had no idea when Mathis had figured it out, but it didn't matter anymore. It had nothing to do with her now.

Steeling herself, she changed her passcode to a random string of numbers that meant absolutely nothing to her.

Five days passed. Not a single report from the sales department was submitted. Instead, the entire team staged a collective protest.

In the conference room, the sales reps chimed in one after another, "Ms. Baldwin, the demands you made are too difficult. We can't do it."