Chapter 167 - Closed-Door Meeting (1)

Lily was fuming with anger. She looked at David and yelled at him, "How did this information leak out? Find out who did it and take that person down now! Stop this news going viral, because if it does, we may end up closing the refinery. And in case you don't know it, that refinery contributes to more than fifty percent of Wyatt Empire. Trust me David I will forget that you are Anne's husband when it comes to my revenge!" 

David's face was ashen white. He had done so much to contain this situation yet it simply flared. He got up and walked out of the room. Anne was coming in with deserts. "What happened David? You look so pale," she asked with a frown. But David didn't answer her and walked straight outside to the garden. Anne went inside the TV room. She placed the tray on the center table and when she heard the news, she started trembling. She looked at Helena who was watching her intently while curling a strand of her hair. 

Lily snarled at Anne and said, "You better work with your husband and sort this mess." 

Anne gulped. "Yes Mother," she said and went after David. On the way she met Cecilia who was looking grumpy as hell. "Ceci, baby, what is wrong with you? Are you well?" she asked with motherly affection. Cecilia was the only child she had and she was conspiring to make her inherit the entire fortune of the Wyatts now that Dawn and Cole were out of the picture. She so hoped that Daryn became their son-in-law, but he was blindly in love with Dawn. As soon as this mess would clear up, she had full intentions of killing Dawn. She knew that after Lily had sent the goons to kill Dawn, if a second attempt was made to kill her, the blame would shift entirely on her mother. Once Dawn would be killed, she would throw Cecilia in front of Daryn and he would marry her. That way the Wyatt and Silver empires would come together and be the most powerful force in the country. 

"That bitch! That Dawn! She insulted me in the wedding shop today. I am going to take my revenge!" Cecilia said as she sat on the edge of a table and lit her cigarette. 

"Ceci, how many times have I asked you not to smoke?" said Anne. "And don't think about Dawn, okay? I already have a plan for her in my mind." 

Cecilia puffed a large amount of smoke as if puffing out her anger. "Mother, you better do something, else I am going to murder that wench!"

"I will darling. Now just don't smoke. Your grandmother doesn't like it. 

But Cecilia stomped up the stairs to her room while puffing her cigarette. She showed her middle finger to Anne and said, "This is what I give to that old wench!" 

Anne shook her head and walked out to meet David. David was walking in the garden with his phone stuck between his shoulder and ears. He was talking non-stop to someone. She went and stood at a distance with her arms crossed across her chest. David looked at her and walked ahead, talking, rather yelling on the phone.

"Find who wrote that article!" he grunted. 

He disconnected the call and slammed his phone in the ground. Keeping his hands on his waist he bit his lip and shook his head. "The Evening Business Newspaper wrote this report in their paper. They say that it is some form of investigative journalism." 

"Instead of finding out who did it, why don't you talk to the Ministry of Broadcast and Information to stop it from rolling out any further?" said Anne. She felt like smacking his head. They had had a huge dispute in the meeting at the office a few days back. He had wholeheartedly supported Rose. They were a husband wife duo in front of the world, but on the inside they slept in separate rooms. 

"You think I haven't already asked my people. They are working on it." he ran his hand through his hair and looked at the phone, which was lying on the ground. He sighed and picked it up and as soon as he picked it, it started ringing. David took it in the first ring and barked, "Tell me!" 

It was the Company's lawyer. "Sir, it was Daniel Hughes of Evening Business Newspaper who had written the article. Unfortunately we are too late. The news is being circulated in several other financial newspapers and at the moment we have two news channel vans that are at the Company's headquarters standing to get the first interviews from you tomorrow. I suggest that you take precaution and don't answer any phone calls." There was a slight pause. "Also if possible, use all your connections at the Ministry of Broadcast and Information. Only a political pull can save us from this situation. I have put an entire team to work on it."

"Shit!" said David and fisted his hair with one hand. "How did the news catch fire so suddenly? It's just been two hours since it first floated!" 

Anne gritted her teeth. She walked inside and went straight to her room. Helena was waiting for her over there. 

"That is going to be a large mess if you don't contain it now," she snarled. 

Anne's face muscles became tight. "Where's Jason? I might need his help." 

"He has gone on a vacation with Niall. They will be back tomorrow." 

"Okay," she said with panic and then went to her computer. There was a lot to be done. 

--- 

Within the next seven days, Dawn kept feeding Daniel with one article per day and he published them in his newspaper. David tried to reach Daniel Hughes to put a stop to it, but Daniel was a smart man. He would slip away. Gayle's men gave complete protection to him. Daryn had employed one of the best lawyers for him, and whenever there was a call from The Starfish Refineries, it was taken by the lawyer. It was a perfect collusion. 

By the end of the week, David and Anne were at their wits end. The corruption was so widely exposed that things soon went out of control and Lily stepped in. The market share price of The Starfish Refineries dipped to an all time low. The investors started crying foul and demanded a complete picture of where their money went. 

When Lily's men traced as to who had actually circulated the information, she had to call a meeting with Daniel Hughes and in that closed-door meeting she invited Helena, Anne, David, and Dawn. The meeting was supposed to be held at 10AM on Monday. Lily had prepared all the legal documents to shove at Daniel and Dawn's face. The little bitch was after her father's money. She knew how to give her back. She would send her to jail forever. 

It was 10:30AM and everyone except Dawn had arrived. Daniel was sitting with his team and the lawyer. Lilly tapped on her fingers on the table and looked outside. It was raining heavily. Anne, David and Helena were all sitting with sour faces. They wanted to wring Dawn's neck ever since they had come to know that she was the one who had sent the article for publication.

Dawn opened the door at 10:45AM. "Hello Grandmother," she said with a bright smile. 

Lily replied, "You little b—" but stopped mid-sentence when she saw Gayle and Daryn behind her.