Perfect Match: Irresistible Desire For You
Chapter 53

Such an answer not only discouraged further questions but also left them all in suspense. ‘Private affair? How private is it?’ At that response, everyone was filled with a burning curiosity about the answer to this question. Everything was unfolding as Zachary had intended. With the help of others, he believed that the relationship between Joseph and Ashley would be put on the agenda.

The press conference was still going on, but Ashley turned her eyes away from the TV after Joseph stepped down from the stage. What Joseph said at the press conference shocked the audience, and Ashley’s mind whirled with thoughts and unanswered questions.

First of all, she didn’t expect her scandal to be clarified so soon and in such a decisive manner. She had only met Joseph for a few times before, but now he took over and helped her clear her name in public and get justice for her situation. A confusing mix of emotions filled her heart, but what reigned was a profound sense of gratitude, followed by doubt.

‘Why did he take the initiative to help me? Is it because he considers me as a friend, or does he have some other motive?’ After a few moments of bemusement, she arrived at a logical conclusion: the main purpose of the press conference was to officially declare war on the Synder Group. He probably helped her out simply because he was in a good mood and was feeling generous. Besides, he could also take advantage of this matter to reveal the shameless conduct of the Synder Group to the masses and lay a foundation for future acquisition.

This thought pacified Ashley’s confusion somewhat. She had always been a person who knew how to repay, and Joseph had helped her twice in a row without asking for anything in return. Now, she had a better impression of Joseph and was considering how to thank him. Regardless of the unpleasantness during their first meeting, she thought that despite his cold, solemn demeanor, he was a good person to make friends with.

Little did she know that her guess about Joseph’s behavior in the press conference was only partly right. It was true that Joseph’s main goal for holding the press conference was officially declare war on the Synder Group, but helping Ashley get justice was not by coincidence. On the contrary, the news that Ashley was fired triggered the press conference.

Joseph had always suspected that the death of his parents in the past had something to do with the CEO of the Synder Group, James Synder. He was able to gather some clues after an exhaustive series of investigation, but James was an extremely cautious enemy. He was thorough in covering his tracks, and nearly all traces of that incident had been swept away that declaring their deaths as murder had become almost impossible. However, Joseph had been formulating his revenge plan for a very long time. This time, the financial crisis that the Synder Group was facing was orchestrated by Joseph himself. First, he used his registered company in the United States to sign a big order with the Synder Group, and then deliberately did not cooperate with them so they couldn’t take advantage of the extensive resources of the industrial chain of the Empire Group. The Synder Group ended up paying a large amount of liquidated damages for breaking the terms of their contract. Finally, he revealed the Synder Group’s crisis to the media.

He had carefully planned the Synder Group’s downfall step by step so that James could see the fruits of his labors go down the drain. However, when today’s report came out, Joseph’s spy in the Synder Group told him that one of the employees was set up to take the fall. That employee was none other than Ashley. At that point, Joseph already considered her as his woman. If the Synder Group touched her, it was equivalent to a personal affront to him. It was unforgivable.

In an instant, Joseph decided to strike the Synder Group openly in business. If he announced to the public that he would acquire the Synder Group, it would inevitably cause a sensation in the business world, and even more so within the Synder Group. Moreover, the incident involving the Synder Group slandering its employee proved to be helpful to his plight—he would be able to deal a heavy blow to the company’s image. As to be expected, the stock price of the Synder Group would definitely plummet. At that point, he would definitely take the opportunity to buy a large number of shares and ultimately make the Empire Group the company’s biggest shareholder.

Although the reason why Joseph helped to clear Ashley’s name was that he wanted to use the scandal to attack the Synder Group, he never would have changed his plans and managed to strike his enemy so swiftly if it hadn’t been her. It was only possible because the injured party was Ashley, his one and only love.

As a stunned Ashley tried to quickly make sense of what was happening, the entire Synder Group had been plunged into chaos. One by one, employees of the Synder Group heard about Joseph’s press conference, which was aired specifically to attack the Synder Group. Everyone dropped what they were doing and tuned in to the press conference through all kinds of media. After seeing the proof with their own eyes, everyone was left speechless by the straightforward, dignified words of Joseph. As if the announcement of Joseph’s acquisition of the company weren’t enough to sow panic in the hearts of the employees, his demand for the Synder Group to apologize to Ashley in public and compensate her for punitive damages was like a bomb dropped in their midst.

Little by little, they became more convinced that Ashley had been wrongfully accused and dismissed. At the same time, they were also disappointed in their senior executives, who failed to take responsibility and passed off the blame to an innocent employee. Most of the employees then fell into a heavy silence, people from the marketing department righteously iterated how they had always known that their manager was framed. They all believed that Ashley wouldn’t do anything against her own principles. The fact that she was slandered yesterday and was proved clean in a high-profile press conference today made them feel happy and vindicated.

On the other side, as soon as the news broke out, the senior executives of the Synder Group held an emergency meeting to deal with this unexpected development. At the beginning of the meeting, all of the major shareholders condemned the behavior of the decision-makers of the Synder Group for slandering an employee and even quarreled among each other. After sitting down at the head of the table, James first admitted his wrong decision to the shareholders, and then ordered everyone to analyze the impact of today’s press conference and come up with countermeasures for damage control.

Joseph’s announcement to acquire the company caught them off guard and went beyond James’s expectations. After the previous financial crisis, he himself had investigated why Joseph didn’t cooperate with the Synder Group, but his search for clues was in vain. He had initially thought that it was a purely business strategy since there was no actual profit margin to be had. Now, it seemed like the declaration of war against the Synder Group was driven by some other reason. The thought filled James with apprehension, making him tremble in anxiety and fear. Although the Synder Group had a solid foundation, it would be extremely difficult for them to fight against the Empire Group, which was rapidly growing stronger by the day.

The senior executives were dripping with cold sweat after hearing Joseph’s words—I mean what I said. After his announcement, surely he would take action. The mere thought of that already left them to fidget in their seats.