Jacob rubbed his temples as he leaned against his chair. He stared at the ceiling in a daze, thinking
about how such trifles had messed up his life.
Jacob felt as though everything had become blurry, the past as well as the present.
He stood up from his seat, wanting to make some tea for himself, but after filling about half a cup, he
saw that there was not enough water. Jacob banged the cup on the table, feeling annoyed.
He then looked around the familiar place. However, he felt that there was something strange. Jacob
suddenly felt as though everything in front of him had become distorted.
All of a sudden, someone knocked on his door.
Hearing that, he immediately sat upright and stared at the door before he said with a sigh, "Please,
come in."
"I've got some bad news, Jacob," James said with an anxious expression as he walked in and sat on
the sofa in the corner.
He was gasping for breath and took a minute to calm down before he continued, "Someone has come
from the company that we signed a contract with and he's saying that he wants to nullify our contract."
"What? Didn't we just sign a contract with them? What's the issue?" Jacob asked, his eyes wide open
with shock. His company was already in need of orders and companies to partner with and a company
withdrawing its cooperation at a time like that could strike a fatal blow against the Shi Group.
"I'm not sure about the reason, but the man is waiting in our conference room as we speak. I tried to
negotiate with him and failed. That's the reason I came to you."
Saying that, James wiped the sweat off his forehead. He must have come running and that's probably
the reason he was sweating.
Thinking that, Jacob looked at him with concern and said, "All right, then. Let me go and talk to him,
Uncle James."
Jacob stood up and fetched his coat before he turned around. "Does the company seem determined to
terminate the contract? How did they find out that the file was missing so quickly? Doesn't it sound a bit
fishy to you?"
"I don't know, but I have a feeling that it's complicated. You'd better be careful and try to keep our
contract, but don't compromise too much."
Saying that, James placed his hands on his knees with a serious expression and did not seem anxious
as he was before.
"Okay, I understand. I would like you to come with me, Uncle James. That way, we can find out what's
the matter with them." With that, Jacob walked out of the office.
James followed him, which piqued the interest of the employees, but Jacob paid no attention to them.
Seeing the two of them leave in a hurry the employees watched curiously before they began to talk
among themselves.
"Hey, what's the matter? Why was Mr. Jacob in such a hurry?" one of them asked.
"What could have happened? Mr. James looked so serious..." another said.
"I have always had the feeling that whenever Mr. James visits our CEO, it means that something big
has happened," one of the employees exclaimed.
"Yes, I too feel that something must be wrong," another said with a sigh.
Meanwhile, the other company's vice president was seated in the conference room, along with several
managers from his company.
Seeing Jacob enter the room, the man glared at him without saying a word or giving him a smile.
Jacob immediately understood that the man must have had some bad impression of him.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting, I am Jacob Shi." After greeting the man, Jacob noticed that he was
even more indifferent.
Jacob offered a handshake, but the man refused to move. Feeling awkward, Jacob withdrew his hand
and sat down.
"You don't mind if we terminate our contract, do you?" Mr. Wang, the vice president from the other
company, asked in a cold, arrogant tone, which indicated that he was angry.
'The company could lose a confidential file of our company. How could anyone dare to cooperate with
such a business that is failing?' Mr. Wang was known for his bad temper, so he did not care about
being nice.
"I think we can discuss the terms, but don't you think that it would be a rash decision to nullify the
contract all of a sudden?"
Jacob sat across Mr. Wang while James sat down next to him.
"Are you two going to be enough to make us reconsider? Do you really think that our company is so
small that you don't have to take us seriously?" Mr. Wang said with a scoff as he stared at Jacob.
James was about to lose his temper, but Jacob stopped him.
"I don't think that the problem would be solved in the presence of more people. Besides, strength isn't
always in numbers. I think we can still arrive at a negotiation, for if this goes public then things might
get trickier."
Jacob loosened his tie, feeling irritated. However, the thing that bothered him the most was the incident
itself.
"It is indeed true. However, what kind of explanation are you going to give us?" Seeing Mr. Wang's
arrogance, the managers who were sitting next to him also started to give an attitude.
Seeing that the situation had worsened, James frowned.
"We're still looking for the document. It's obvious that someone did this on purpose. It is indeed my
mistake that I didn't overlook things well enough. However, we have already signed the contract. If you
terminate it now, then you will also be facing a loss,"
Jacob said, narrowing his eyes at Mr. Wang. During their initial negotiations, Mr. Wang had agreed to
pay a large sum of money to cover for the liquidated damages, if he nullifies the contract later.
"Yes, but you can only prove that if you have the contracted file. Without it, there is no proof that we
promised to pay for the liquidated damages that you mentioned." Mr. Wang gave Jacob a
contemptuous look.
It was ridiculous for him to see that a large company like the Shi Group had lost the contracted file that
it was supposed to keep safely. Since the file was lost, there was no way for Jacob to prove what they
had originally agreed on.
Moreover, Shi Group's reputation had become quite bad lately. Hence, the other company wanted to
make the best out of the opportunity to leave Shi Group.
They only wanted to make things harder for Shi Group on purpose. Every person found a way to tackle
their own issues, but they had to be true to themselves in order to achieve that. And by now, Jacob was
able to understand that completely.
"You are right, but I don't think we have to terminate the contract. Please, give us some time. Also, I
have a question for you and that is, how did you come to know that the file was missing?"
Jacob said in a loud voice. No one should have known about the missing file, so he felt that it was
suspicious that the other party came to know about it soon after it was found to be missing.
Was it just a coincidence or was someone behind all of that?
"You don't have to know about all the details. Anyway, we would like to terminate the contract now," Mr.
Wang said impatiently.
"I'm afraid we'll have to sue you if you are not honest with us," James replied calmly, realizing that
someone was either setting a trap or conspiring against them.
"Our company is focused on choosing investors that match our standards. Hence, it doesn't matter how
we learned about it. What matters is that such a thing has happened. Besides, you should be worrying
about how not to let such things happen in the future, instead of trying to shirk your responsibility in the
matter."
Saying that, Mr. Wang gave Jacob a contemptuous glare. Although he was the legendary CEO of the
Shi Group, in Mr. Wang's opinion, he was just a loser.
"You are right, but we can go to the police. Do you know that you could get several years' worth of jail
time for plotting against the company and leaking confidential information?" Jacob sounded so calm, as
though he were talking about the weather.
However, since Mr. Wang was hell-bent on taking serious actions, he did not mind paying him the same
courtesy.
James didn't say a word and quietly looked for any loopholes in Mr. Wang's words. But then, it was
oddly well worded, as though he was reading from a script. He was confident that the longer Mr. Wang
was made to talk about it, the more he would let on.
"It is true that you could go to the police or take the matter to the court, but is that what you're after
now? Shouldn't you be focusing on solving the problem instead? I don't understand why you're so keen
on making us accountable rather than solving the matter on your own first..."
Mr. Wang's tone finally became normal. However, he still looked quite serious. After all, it was not just a
test meant for Shi Group, but also for him.
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