Chapter 498: Chapter 498: It’s Not Up to You to Say No
It was only at that time that Ann Vaughn realized the collaboration between Vaughn Clinic and Hawthorne Corp. wasn’t because Mark Joyce believed in the promising future of Heavenly Fragrance Dew and thus extended an olive branch to her.
It was Cyrus Hawthorne’s directive.
Ann Vaughn was unaffected by the words of the planning manager, after all, Heavenly Fragrance Dew hasn’t hit the market yet, it’s too early to say whether it will lose or win.
However... she wanted more to rely on her own efforts to stand at a position equal to his.
Otherwise, in the future, there will be countless planning managers waiting to criticize her.
After pondering for a while, Ann Vaughn said, "Are there any issues with the medicinal supplies?"
"The previous herbal supplier would rather pay a default penalty to terminate the contract with us, and we are still negotiating with another one," Sherry said with some headaches, "Besides, the batch of customized instruments you ordered has been held back."
Ansel seemed to want to drive Vaughn Clinic to a dead end, directly cutting off the fundamental raw materials Vaughn Clinic needed to thrive.
Even though patients could take prescriptions to major pharmacies themselves for materials and decocting, Ann Vaughn, as a pharmacist, needed a large amount of herbs to extract the medication...
"Had I known he’d be so nasty back then, I’d have ruined his lifeblood," Ann Vaughn furrowed her delicate brows, gritting her teeth.
Sherry almost choked on her drink, quickly patting Ann Vaughn’s back to ease her anger: "Don’t be mad, don’t we still have a second plan? Selling specialty drugs inside the clinic, it’s the same concept."
This flu came intensely, not only affecting the Imperial Capital but also places like Marinia, Rosengard, and Rendor.
How others felt Sherry didn’t know, she accidentally caught the flu a few days ago, and Ann Vaughn fed her a special drug. Not only did the fever go away rapidly, but the illness completely healed within a day.
Although unaware of why Ansel, who initially came seeking collaboration, suddenly turned hostile and started an all-out effort against them, it’s unfortunate that this drug cannot benefit more patients.
Ann Vaughn nodded in agreement, her eyes somewhat deep, "Let’s do it this way for now. If it’s really not possible, we can only resort to foreign supply channels."
But unless it’s the last resort, those resources are better left untouched.
Otherwise, if that man found out where she’s located now, she’d never have a peaceful day...
Fortunately, the remaining amount of medicinal herbs in the clinic is quite considerable, enough to last for a while, but continuing like this would eventually be depleted.
Besides finding a new supplier before running out of herbs, there’s no other way.
After tallying the remaining herbs, Ann Vaughn, reminded by Sherry, realized her phone has been ringing for a long time. Upon checking, the words "The Archfiend" appeared clearly on it.
Ann Vaughn couldn’t help but shrink her neck guiltily, stepping aside to answer: "Hello?"
There’s no sound from the other side, dead silence, making Ann Vaughn feel more like not only pulling a fast one but also emptying the other party’s wardrobe and garage.
God knows she was clearly the "victim" here...
"Move back to Villa No. 8." After a long time, the man’s cold voice came from the other side.
"I won’t." Ann Vaughn refused without thinking, a bit of annoyance surfacing on her pretty face.
The man gave her no chance to refuse: "You have no choice."
With that, he hung up, leaving Ann Vaughn no time to rebut him, staring blankly at the phone as it emitted a busy tone.
From the moment he brought her back to Villa No. 8 last night, she had a dreadful intuition—
He had torn open the hidden facade on himself, forcing her to accept his true self, allowing no retreat or escape...
Like a stealthy beast eyeing its prey in the depths of the forest, after setting a trap for the prey, he lures the prey into his trap using the gentlest, harmless side.
And when the prey realizes it’s trapped, the net had already ensnared it from all directions.
Trying to escape, but too late, nowhere to run!
Ann Vaughn clenched her phone tightly, unable to prevent a shiver running through her body, while she calmly comforted herself.
She shouldn’t have followed Kenny in watching those terrifying bedtime stories, now her mind is wanders with absurd thoughts; how could Cyrus Hawthorne spend so much effort on her?
It’s probably since her and the kids’ public dance last night triggered the Archfiend’s discontent as the legitimate husband, causing a change in attitude.
Yes, that’s it!
Building her psychological defense, Ann Vaughn stopped thinking too much, greeted Sherry, and left Vaughn Clinic to pick up Kenny from kindergarten.
But before Ann Vaughn reached kindergarten, she got a call from Teacher Ward, claiming Kenny had already been picked up by his father...
Just as Ann Vaughn was about to call Cyrus Hawthorne to question him, Little Dumpling’s call came in, she had to suppress her anger and answer.
Just about to speak, there was Little Dumpling’s sweet, kiddie voice: "Mommy, baby took Archfiend to transplant mommy’s flower pots to the glass greenhouse, Mommy quickly come over."
"Be careful not to hurt the plant roots..." Before she finished, Ann Vaughn nearly wanted to bang her head on the steering wheel, is this the main point?!
"Got it! Archfiend went to pack mommy’s luggage, baby is watching the flowers here."
Luggage?
Ann Vaughn’s face showed shock for a few seconds, then asked puzzledly: "What luggage?"
"It’s our apartment’s luggage, to avoid missing anything, moved all our stuff over."
All of it? Moved it all over??
This time Ann Vaughn finally understood what Cyrus Hawthorne meant by "You have no choice" on the phone.
Luggage and son are both packed and taken back to Villa No. 8, how could she have a choice in saying no?!
...
Villa No. 8.
Kenny set his phone aside, looking at the seedlings growing delightfully, his little mouth curving into a mischievous smile.
How did the Archfiend know what luggage was theirs and what wasn’t?
Clearly because... there was a little spy.
Had it not been for the Archfiend parking outside the apartment every night but never appearing before Ann Vaughn too heartbroken, Kenny wouldn’t have softened.
In less than half an hour, Ann Vaughn reached Villa No. 8, ready to head upstairs, turned, and saw Miyi Yates sitting in the living room having tea.
She sat primly on the sofa, wearing a retro complex long dress in apricot, looking just like a noble lady from the palace, pampered but all-inclusive.
Ann Vaughn glanced at the cup set in front of her, it happened to be the set she brought back from Eland, she liked it so much, but usually didn’t dare to use it.
Her delicate brows inadvertently furrowed slightly, raising her eyes to meet Miyi Yates’s slightly surprised look, as if strange why she’s here.