Her Revenge Contract
Chapter 57

Katherine's

POV

"Morning, Ms. King," Sarah said as she knocked to enter my office.

"Morning," I said as I lifted my head, seeing her standing with a cup of coffee and documents in her hand.

"These are the financial data you requested," she said.

I knitted my eyebrows together, noticing Sarah was dressed much more professionally than usual. It seems like John is looking after her quite well. When I found out that there were financial problems, I didn't make it obvious that I knew, and John started to relax his vigilance.

I now have everything I want to read, and I will ask Sarah to explain the data.

I still pretend that I don't understand some of the data, and some days I deliberately make things difficult for Sarah.

Although John's vigilance against me had not been completely lifted, it was much easier.

The financial data I am now studying is from the second half of last year, when my father was still alive.

When he saw my father's signature on the end of every authorization payment, I felt uncomfortable, and my chest tightened.

"Oh!" Erika's voice filled my office, and my gaze snapped toward the door. "I see you have decided to come to work!"

Erika entered my office in high heels and with an envelope in her hands.

Her face twisted in a taunting smile, and she threw the envelope on my desk.

"Have a look and see if you like these," she said.

I opened the envelope and took the contents out, then impatiently went through the few enlarged photos.

I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat, and I became speechless as I browsed through the photos.

There were pictures of Erika sitting almost completely naked on top of Xavier in the guest room last night.

In the next photo, Xavier is lying in bed with his chest bare, while Erika squats beside him in her underwear and strokes him, which makes me nauseous.

I dropped the pile of photos on my desk and refused to take a second glance at them.

"What?" Erika taunted, "Can't you stand seeing your man with another woman? Me?" Erika said proudly.

My gaze landed on Erika's clothes, and I knitted my eyebrows together, confused.

Usually, Erika would wear a low-cut collar to reveal her long and slim neck. Today she was wearing an old professional shirt, and the foundation was plastered onto her neck. My gaze ended on the collar, seeing makeup powder staining it. Erika must have seen me staring, and her hand subconsciously moved and covered her neck.

"What are you looking at?" She snapped, "This hickey is proof that I was with your man!"

I internally rolled my eyes at her. Erika was acting out of character. If what she just claimed was true, she would have made sure everyone in the office and the world knew she and Xavier were in bed last night.

Yet here she stood before me, covering her neck.

I internally laughed, finding the situation extremely annoying and amusing at the same time.

"Did you make out with Xavier for the hickey on your neck?" I asked and found Erika's gaze.

"Yes!" Erika stared, but I cut her off.

"Oh," I said and raised my eyebrows, "I remember you did not come back last night after you found Xavier running out of the guest room."

As soon as the words left my lips, Erika's face changed color.

"You... how did you know?" She yelled, shocked.

I gave her a taunting smile now.

"Because he slept in my room last night!"

Erika stared at me blankly, suddenly looking frightened, then turned and rushed toward the door.

I refused to have her get away that easily and cut her off before she could exit, pulling down her collar.

"That hickey on your nape was not done by Xavier!" I said to her. "I know you didn't come home last night. So who gave you the hickey?" I asked.

Erika couldn't conceal her panic. When she tried to leave, I blocked her way again. When she was deadlocked, the office door was suddenly opened from the outside, and John walked in with documents in his hand. "Erika?" John gasped, surprised. "Why are you here? Where did you go last night?"

Erika's face became red, and she pushed between us and ran out of my office.

John's face turned murderous when he saw the photos on my desk. I guess he couldn't wait to get Erika aside and strangle her, and I suspected he had a different and better use for the photos.

"What can I do for you, uncle?" I asked, seeing him looking into the distance.

John put the document on my table and covered the photos, then took a seat on one of the chairs, looking tired.

"This is a new tender," he pointed, turned, and faced me, "and the project falls in our area of expertise. If you can win the tender, it would be a very good win for the company. That's if you think it's possible. You can even contact Alpha Xavier and ask if he would consider joining. After all, he is your fiance, and working together might benefit both companies."

I picked up the tender document and browsed through the pages. I have done some tenders before. Although not difficult, it can be a tiring job. Generally, companies have people who write the tender, but I was now learning how each part of the financial side of the company works, so I wanted to do so myself.

"Sarah used to write bids on tenders well," John said. "If you struggle with something, you can ask her for pointers."

With that, John got up and left my office without another word.

I called Xavier with the news that John had given me a tender and that he wanted us to work together on the tender.

"I want to take this opportunity to make a name for myself in the business world," I said. "After all, I am the heiress of the King Group, and I have not been involved in any of the corporate affairs since I arrived here, except for the engagement party and the inaugural party."

Xavier sounded distant, like he was occupied with something or not interested in talking with me at the time.

"You are the future of the King Group," he said. "Just keep in mind that, unless this bid is very attractive, the chairman will go in person. Else, he will send a representative to attend."

"Is this tender not very attractive?" I said, "I heard from the sidelines that many other companies are tendering for the same project."

Was John playing the fool with me?

It suddenly occurred to me that John only gave me the tender to get Xavier involved in the project, but was there a hidden agenda as well?

John had tried to get Xavier on board for a while.

I knew that we could win the tender by ourselves without having Black Umbrella Enterprises involved; we were much inferior to them.

Yet, together, the two companies will fill each other's gaps and benefit considerably.

Even if John hated Xavier for not allowing them to work together, the unspoken business principle was to put all issues aside and get the work done.

"I am impressed that you know that!" Xavier said, "It is great that you know things beforehand; it helps you make proper decisions before you do things."

My face fluttered hearing Xavier's praise, and my insides warmed. I was glad that at least one person could see that I took my work seriously.

"But you have to understand that John is already afraid of your intelligence and performance in the company," he said, "especially your performance in front of the board of directors. Don't you find it odd that John has thrown you a random bone? Or do you think he is just afraid of offending me?"

I was a bit taken aback by Xavier's words.

After I read the tender, I considered every aspect but ignored this point.

Even if the King Group was in trouble and Xavier did suppress the contract, it wouldn't do anything to him in the final analysis.

Why did John give me this tender, then?

Wouldn't it have been better for me, in the long run, to have taken on a smaller tender and proved myself to the board of directors? With this in mind, I instantly felt that this was way too simple. There must be a snake hiding somewhere in here. Xavier sighed before he continued.

"You said yourself that there was something wrong with the company's financial accounts. I think you should first figure out what is wrong with the accounts and then think about the future. You can't wait until you take full responsibility for those accounts. Then the problem will be borne by you."

Long after speaking to Xavier, I was still confused and thinking about what Xavier had said to me.

Although the pros and cons were clear, I couldn't take the bait and fall for John's tricks, yet I had already agreed to do the tender.

If Xavier does agree to work together with me and we win the tender and fail, it might influence his reputation and affect the King Group share market, which has just rebounded.

My gaze snapped toward the reception area, and I narrowed my eyes, seeing Erika wandering around the office area.

In just a few days, she had established a perfect image in the hearts of my employees. Looking at her laughing, I suddenly thought of an idea...