Supreme Mars novel Chapter 17

The venue suddenly quieted down. Jesse, who was standing behind Rachel, nodded covertly at Martin. "With Jesse's help, I'll definitely become a partner," he thought with a sigh of relief.

With an expectant attitude, Martin straightened his clothes, adjusted his tie, and readied himself for what was about to happen.

William was so nervous that his hands were sweating; if they lost this bid today, the Ford family would be finished for sure.

But after what Leo did yesterday, their success rate had most likely plummeted to zero.

Rachel announced with a professional smile on her face, "After heavy consideration, Ms. Henderson finally chose one company as our future partner. It is..."

Everyone waited for the decision with bated breath. Martin was already getting out of his seat leisurely.

"Virgil Corporation representing the Ford family!" Rachel said after a pause. "Let's give them all a warm round of applause."

"..."

There were no voices, no whispers, and no certainly rounds of applause; only a baffling silence filled the room.

Like pretty much everyone else in attendance, Martin was frozen in place like a statue.

How the hell did they manage to pull this off?

William was shocked as well, though his surprise was offset by growing relief.

Caroline and Rebecca looked like they'd both just seen a ghost.

Leo, on the other hand, was smiling confidently, as if everything had gone according to plan.

"Time to take the stage, Dad," Leo said, patting William's hand.

William snapped out of his daze. "We… We did it," he stammered.

He walked up to the stage and shook hands with Rachel, suddenly looking 10 years younger.

"No, I refuse to accept this!" Below the stage, Martin shot to his feet, his face flushed in anger. "This is unfair! How could they possibly be considered legitimate winners?"

"Indeed. Miss Ward, is there some kind of mistake?" Jesse asked as sweat trickled down his forehead. "I prepared a candidate list and handed it over to Ms. Henderson yesterday," he thought. "I even strongly recommended Vesper Corporation for the bid. The Ford family was not even on my list. How could they be the winners?"

Rachel's gaze turned cold and her tone was firm. "This is Ms. Henderson's final decision. Are you questioning her judgement?"

"No, how could I..." Jesse looked terrified.

Rachel cast another cold glance at Martin and said, "She didn't select Vesper Corporation because you failed to meet the criteria, of course. What's so mystifying about that decision? If you spout nonsense like that again, you'll be expecting a lawyer's letter from us soon. Defamation is something we take very seriously!"

"A lawyer's letter?!" Martin broke out in cold sweat.

Beauty could certainly do that. Even though Vesper Corporation was itself a large company, it was nowhere near Atlas Beauty's level of influence.

The door swung open, and in marched a group of police officers.

The officers were led by a feisty female officer with short hair

She flashed her badge, her sharp eyes scanning the room. "I'm Sandra Johnson from the Emerdale Police Department. Which individual here is Martin Bailey?"

The arrival of the officers put everyone on edge. Not even Rachel, who was in charge with today's event, had expected the authorities to make an appearance.

Frightened, Martin stood up on shaky feet. "That's… That's me. Is something wrong?"

Sandra came over to Martin and handcuffed him instantly. "Martin Bailey, you're under arrest on suspicion of money laundering and fraud. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."