radicalducati Chapter 616: Cancel All The Contracts
Chapter 616: Cancel All The Contracts
“What? Dark circles?” Diana snatched up her mirror, already distracted.
“Oh my God, Bianca! You’re right. I look like a zombie!”
She hurried to the door to shut it, but ran straight into a familiar face.
“Reece? What are you doing here? Sorry, we’re closed for the day,” she said quickly.
Reece hadn’t just dropped by; Bianca had called him over.
When he walked into the office, his eyes went straight to the mountain of contracts on her desk. Without a word, he began flipping through them.
Diana started to speak, but Bianca cut in, her tone calm and firm. “Take the rest of the day off. I asked Reece to help review the contracts.”
“I’m not a lawyer anymore,” Reece said with a casual shrug.
That wasn’t news to anyone. Reece had left that life behind a long time ago.
But Bianca never judged him for his past.
“To me, you’re still the best lawyer out there,” she said, her voice sincere, a faint smile replacing her earlier discomfort.
Diana, still taking it in, gave a small nod.
“Alright then. Thanks, Reece.”
Reece leaned over the contracts, flipping through them with sharp concentration.
“These… they all have minor changes, but they’re basically the same template. The breach clauses, though, something’s off. That’s not normal.”
“What do you mean?” Bianca asked, already turning to the breach section of the one she was holding. “I’ve never really paid much attention to this part. They all look pretty much alike to me.”
“Exactly,” Reece said, opening another. “Breach terms are usually standard. They should be almost identical, except maybe for the force majeure clauses or the compensation rates.”
He kept going through the stack, his frown deepening with each one he read.
“Look at this, just from a quick check, I’ve found six contracts with the same issue. If there’s a breach, they’re demanding full compensation for all losses, plus extra damages. That’s not just unfair, it’s unreasonable.”
Bianca paused to think, then said firmly, “I’ll have someone contact them and push for our standard contract. If they refuse, we’ll walk away. Can you take care of it? I’ll get the business department involved.”
“Consider it done,” Reece replied, his eyes still fixed on the contracts, fully focused.
After a moment, Bianca noticed his expression change. “What is it?” she asked, narrowing her eyes as his brow furrowed even more.
“Look at these two,” Reece said. “One’s unsigned, the other’s signed. The time stamps are different, and the companies are in completely different locations. But the templates? Almost identical.”
He spread the contracts across the desk, going through each one carefully.
“Sure, it can happen sometimes, but this many? That’s too much of a coincidence. Something’s off.”
Bianca nodded. After everything that had happened, she had to agree with Reece.
In her experience, coincidences were rare. Too many of them meant someone was pulling the strings.
“I’ve been feeling anxious lately. Like Diana says, these companies are practically throwing money at us. They don’t bargain; they just agree to everything to get the contract signed. Now it feels like they’re only after the liquidated damages,” Bianca said with a wry smile.
The memory of Emerald Artists Agency nearly going bankrupt because of Reece’s betrayal still made her uneasy.
“The method feels strangely familiar,” Reece admitted, scratching his head. “But Emerald Artists Agency is doing well now. I can’t figure out what they’re really after.”
“Maybe they’re trying to make Reese and Sophia lose. What they really want is the champion. I can stop signing new deals, but what about the ones I’ve already signed?” Bianca said with a sigh.
She immediately called in the business department.
“Ms. Scott, are you really planning to cancel these contracts?”
“I’ve spent so much time on them. It wasn’t easy to get them finalized,” one of the staff said, clearly not understanding her decision.
“This is the legal counselor I invited,” Bianca said, pointing to Reece. “Listen to him. These contracts carry too much risk, which is why we’re not signing them. You’ll still get your bonus, so there’s no problem there.”
“If that’s your decision, Ms. Scott, I have no objection.”
The others nodded in agreement.
“Good. Any unsigned contract must go to Mr. Barton for review. No matter how much profit it promises, if he says no, we don’t sign. Is that clear?”
After making sure everyone would keep the meeting confidential, Bianca went back to her office and called Dave to tell him what she had found.
“I’ll have Reece put together a list of the companies and send it to you. See if you can find any similarities on your side.”
“Alright,” Dave said with a smile. Bianca never failed to impress him.
“The more I think about it, the more it feels wrong. Brenda’s been getting too close to Blake. I don’t think he’s capable of befriending someone of her status, and there’s just something about her that feels off,” Bianca said with a sigh. “I’ve learned my lesson the hard way. I still remember what happened when I lost that lawsuit.”
After hanging up, Dave turned to Michael, who had just returned from abroad.
“Don’t alert them yet,” Dave said.
Michael nodded. He was worn out lately. After saying goodbye to Dave, he drove to Sophia’s neighborhood.
He knew she probably didn’t want to see him, but he couldn’t stay away. He needed to know how she was doing.
“I wonder if she’ll notice me this time… or just misunderstand me again,” he muttered to himself. After a moment’s thought, he parked a little way from her place.
He was wearing a tailored suit with gold trim on the cuffs and collar. The moment he stepped out of the car, people turned to look.
“Who is that? He looks like a celebrity.”
“Maybe not. But he is pretty good-looking.”
“He looks like he’s waiting for someone. Maybe his girlfriend?”
“No way. Who wears a suit to meet his girlfriend at a sports park? He’s probably here to pick up his kids.”
“You could be right. I envy whoever gets to marry a man like that.”
“Yeah…”
Michael hadn’t expected to attract so much attention just by walking into the park. He only wanted a quiet spot to wait for Sophia.
Now, with so many eyes on him, this was the last thing he wanted. He turned and started hurrying back to his car. But before he got far, he came face-to-face with Sophia and Elaine.