Supreme Mars novel Chapter 13

"Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Martin Bailey from Vesper Corporation."

Martin strutted up to the podium, gazing around the venue with a smile, and proceeded to speak in unhurried tones, "Vesper Corporation has been hoping to cooperate with Atlas Beauty, the rising star in Emerdale, for quite some time now. Now that this day has finally come for us to do so. First, I'd like to express my sincere gratitude to Atlas Beauty."

He paused in his speech to give a respectful nod to Jesse.

Smiling, Jesse motioned him to continue. The act boosted Martin's confidence.

He showed his design plans on the screen, and then went on to present the promotion strategies, supply chain, and marketing channels he had in mind for Atlas Beauty. His eloquence and professionalism clearly impressed Jesse, with the latter nodding along enthusiastically as he listened to Martin's presentation.

Caroline's face is as white as sheet, and she balled her fists. "Damn it, this used to be our forte!"

Rebecca didn't say anything but shot a cold stare at Leo, silently directing her anger towards him.

Over the years, Vesper Corporation had established itself as a corporation with a mature and systematic operational process. But Martin had played no part in Vesper's development; he was merely a thief who swooped in to snatch up all of the glory.

After Martin finished his briefing, Jesse stood up and started clapping. "Excellent!"

The response from the rest of the attendees was clearly less enthusiastic, if the tepid applause from the crowd was any indication.

Still, Martin could not help but grin from ear to ear while thinking, "I didn't expect Jesse to openly support me in public, but he is giving me quite the display. That money was well spent after all."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Watson. Thank you all for listening." Martin gestured them all to quiet down with a glowing face. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of Caroline and Rebecca.

He squinted to be certain, then smirked, "Mr. Watson, you must have heard of the famous '316 Incident', right?"

Caroline and Rebecca's faces paled. Other representatives also began whispering and giving them curious looks.

"As I recall, it was an incident where all the food factories listed under the Ford family's name were reported for malpractice on the same day, correct?"

"Products sold by several companies owned by the Ford family had quality control issues, resulting in over 80 people being poisoned."

"It happened on March 16th, hence the term the '316 Incident'."

The crowd's whispers brought a grim look to Leo's face.

Jesse nodded. "Yes, I've vaguely familiar with it. Why do you mention it?"

"Why?" A look of disdain formed on Martin's face. "Well, the representatives of the wretched company responsible for the '316 Incident' are in attendance tonight. Honesty and integrity. Those are the two fundamental principles of conducting ethical business. And that company has failed on both counts. It is my belief that such fraudulent acts like that should never be tolerated in our business circles."

"Mr. Watson," Martin said, pointing at Rebecca and Caroline. "Surely you agree that those two frauds have no right to participate in today's event. I suggest asking them to leave!"

"Really?" Jesse said with a deep frown. "I had no idea they were involved."

It was a subsidiary under the Ford family that had applied for the bidding, and he had put it on the list without much thought. Those food companies had been shut down long before today's proceedings.

All of a sudden, Caroline and Rebecca found themselves on the receiving end of dozens of accusatory glances.

"Wait a minute!" Caroline fired back. "We were set up! Martin Bailey! How dare you try to sully our names with this kind of slander!"

"Lies?" Martin smirked. "I don't think so. Everyone here has formed their own conclusions about you already, I'd say." Indeed, if the atmosphere in the room was anything to go by, Martin's assumptions were spot on.

Jesse pondered Martin's words for a moment, then turned to Caroline and Rebecca: "Sorry, but I cannot allow you two to remain here. Please remove yourselves from this event."