CEO's Passion: Love by Mistake

Chapter 109

It took Natalie a few minutes to collect her thoughts. In the end, the confused woman asked, “Why haven’t I heard about this before?”

“You’re not aware of the arrangement because before we get to inform you, you have already—”

Halfway through his speech, Jasmine interrupted him and yelled, “Shane!”

She couldn’t allow him to continue as he would bring up the claim that Natalie had eloped with another man.

In that case, Jasmine’s lies would be out of the closet.

As she thought about it, she rushed over and held on to his sleeves. Forcing a smile, she assured him, “Shane, shall we let bygones be bygones? After all, I’m the one who’s supposed to get married to you as of now. I’m your one and only fiancée!”

Squinting his eyebrows, he shrugged her off and warned her sternly, “Currently, you’re my fiancée, but I’m warning you for one last time! Don’t you try anything foolish behind my back again! If not, although you were the one who had saved me five years ago, I’ll call off the engagement without a second thought!”

“Don’t worry! I’ll definitely keep that in mind and refrain from doing anything foolish in the future! I swear!”

Natalie smirked in contempt because she was sure it was merely another one of Jasmine’s many lies to deceive Shane.

Since she had exposed Jasmine in front of others, Natalie was certain the latter would want to get her revenge in the near future.

Suddenly, Jasmine received a call from her father.

She wiped her tears dry and took out the phone to answer the call. “Dad.”

“Jasmine, something bad has happened! Someone lodged a report against our company and said the quality of our products is subpar. Apart from that, we have been charged with tax evasion and financial statement manipulation. A few departments have dropped by the company to gather evidence.”

“What?” Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

Shane and Natalie exchanged glances because they weren’t sure of the reasons Jasmine became worked up all of a sudden.

Jasmine clenched her fist and asked, “Who’s the person behind this!”

“I’m calling you because I have no idea! Can you get Shane to get his hands on the mastermind behind this?” Harrison hung up the call right after he finished his request.

Jasmine put her phone aside and said, “Shane, something bad has happened in my father’s company.”

She repeated the content of the conversation she had with her father and requested his aid as her father had instructed.

Natalie furrowed her brows upon hearing that before she broke into a sneer. Look at the state of the company now!

Back then, none of these had occurred under her mother’s management.

Since her mother left the company, Smith Group had encountered all sorts of hardships and was accused of tax evasion and financial statement manipulation. Perhaps that was the reason Smith Group failed to advance over the past seven years.

Shane adjusted his wrinkled sleeves and replied nonchalantly, “I’ll investigate the identity of the mastermind behind, but what exactly do you want me to do?”

“What do you mean?” Jasmine certainly didn’t expect that question from him.

Natalie chuckled and replied on Shane’s behalf, “Mr. Shane is trying to say it doesn’t really matter if he manages to get his hand on the identity of the mastermind or not because it won’t help to turn the tables for Smith Group. Tax evasion and manipulation of financial statements are serious offence. If your father doesn’t want to be sent behind bars, he will have to pay the fine that comes in multiple folds. However, in that case...” Natalie’s voice trailed off at that as the consequences were clear.

On the other hand, Jasmine figured out the meaning behind Shane’s words after she heard Natalie’s explanation.

If her father were to pay for the fine, Smith Group as well as the Smith family would be on the verge of bankruptcy. In other words, she would be left with nothing. She would not allow that to happen—not especially after going through all the hardship to replace Natalie as the successor of the Smith family.

“Shane, you’re going to help me, aren’t you?” Jasmine put on a pitiable front as she stared at Shane.

He put his hands in his pocket and asked, “How am I supposed to help? Even if Harrison pays the fine and gets himself off the hook, no one in the corporate world will trust him anymore. In fact, the relevant departments will keep a record of his deeds. If I offer him a loan, Thompson Group will be targeted by the relevant departments too. Do you think I’ll put my company at stake for his sake?”

Jasmine’s heart sank to the bottom of her stomach because Shane had made himself clear he wouldn’t offer his help.

Meanwhile, Natalie remained calm throughout their conversation.

No one in the right mind would offer them their aid. Everyone was aware of the consequences it might bring.

Helping the Smith Group would mean getting themselves involved in this sticky situation.

Nonetheless, Jasmine refused to give up just yet and started weeping. “Shane, you’re my fiancé! How could you be so cruel!”