Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Hugh said, “After examining them, the signatures, handwriting style, strength, and traces on these two signatures are the same. They are written by the same person!”

As soon as he said that, Randall’s eyes widened suddenly and he was in utter disbelief.

Samantha smiled. She looked at Hugh and said, “Sir, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to come and do the examination for us.”

She then looked at everyone, “Does anyone else have any objections?”

As a respected national scholar of the highest level, Hugh’s judgment naturally carried more weight than his student David, and everyone was more inclined to believe in the master.

At that moment, even the shareholders of Harmony’s faction did not dare to speak.

Randall still could not accept it because his victory was already in hand! He could not understand how the result could come to that when Samantha was on the brink of defeat!

He winked at the other shareholders in the hopes that they would stand up, but they all either lowered their heads or avoided his gaze and were clearly not up to continue arguing any further.

Randall clenched his hands into fists, stood up, and glared at Samantha, saying, “Mrs. Barker, I respect Mr. Engelhard very much, and I acknowledge his brilliant achievements, but he’s been living in seclusion for many years and is also at a time where age is catching up to him. His eyesight might not be as good as before. Mr. Whitehall, however, is in his prime, and he’s been focused on his career as a handwriting identification expert in the past few years. His achievements are plain to see, and the new generation will almost certainly surpass the older generation! For those reasons, I’m more inclined to accept Mr. Whitehall’s judgment!”

When he praised David at the expense of Hugh, the latter’s face soured in an instant.

Samantha had a mocking look in her eyes, for she had already guessed that Randall would make a desperate attempt to salvage the situation.

Some people simply could not accept that they were wrong!

Samantha did not mind though, because she could always convince him of his defeat!

Samantha glanced up at Randall’s almost warped face and her red lips parted open as she said, “Mr. Crane, did you not do a background check on the man you invited to do the analysis for you? Do you really hold in such high regard the judgment of a person who has no talent, lied about his abilities, and ended up getting expelled from being a student? Are you stupid or are you stupid?”

“What?” Randall was stunned for half a minute before he realized what Samantha meant. “You’re saying that Mr. Whitehall has already been expelled from being Mr. Engelhard’s student?”

He turned around to look at David standing beside him, who had a deflated look despite having such a smug expression earlier. At that moment, David was hanging his head low and did not even dare to say a word.

Randall felt as though a bolt had come out of the blue.

He knew that the tide was no longer in his favor...

He invited David to do the identification on account of David’s reputation, but he simply never expected that David was that worthless of a person.

David had been swindling and cheating over the years in the name of being Hugh’s disciple, but his words were no longer convincing after his lies were exposed.

His words had lost their credibility and carried no weight.

Randall’s entire body turned limp. He slumped into the chair and was no longer able to say another word.

He felt that Samantha was not the kind of woman that anyone could understand easily!

Harmony was on her own if she wanted to make an enemy out of Samantha!

After Hugh and David left the conference room, Samantha returned to her seat again and glanced around at everyone before saying, “Our meeting can continue now, I suppose?”

No one objected anymore.

Samantha smiled with satisfaction and said, “Regarding how we should proceed with Harmony’s case, I believe that her behavior has seriously violated the original objective and meaning of the Barker Foundation, so much so that the Barker Foundation’s name has been brought down. I have decided that the Barker Foundation will take legal action against Harmony.”

A vote was then taken after her statement.

In the end, 80% of the votes supported her decision to formally pursue legal action.

After the meeting, everyone walked out one after another.

Samantha packed up the two agreements and walked back to her office with Rochelle. As soon as the door behind them was closed, the two of them could not help but smile at each other.

They would have lost the battle if they did not prepare well enough ahead.

Hugh was not going to lie for them of course, since a man of his reputation and status would almost certainly disdain forgery. However, manipulating the documents was a whole other matter altogether.

The power of attorney was signed by Samantha, while the previous document that was used for comparison had been switched and replaced by the same agreement that she signed!

That was how Hugh concluded that the two signatures were from the same person!

Samantha smiled as she put the two documents into the paper shredder to be destroyed. That way, there was no evidence whatsoever.

Rochelle said, “I’ve already told my assistant to go to the legal department and stare at the lawyer so they’d hurry up and get the documents ready. It should be done before it’s time to get off work. You can sign it directly and hand it over to the police station, which settles Harmony’s crime.”

“She’ll be going to prison, that’s for sure!”

Samantha curled her lips. “She deserves it.”

Harmony could reflect on her mistakes in prison for the rest of her life.

Everyone had to pay for the mistakes they made!

Rochelle grabbed her phone to check the time and said, “It’s still early. How about we go get lunch and enjoy some afternoon tea too? Then we can come back to the company just in time to sign the papers.”

Samantha nodded. “Okay, let’s go!”

There was nothing else for them to do that day and waiting there was pointless. Since Rochelle had been busy doing so much work for Samantha in recent times, it was about time for Samantha to treat her to a big meal!

The two of them had not gone out to eat and shop together for a long time, and they were both in a good mood that day. After a delightful meal and some afternoon tea, they went shopping until Rochelle’s assistant called and informed them that the documents were ready for them to come back to sign.

They happened to be caught up in the rush hour traffic during their journey back, so the car had to stop at regular intervals. It took them ten minutes to arrive at the Barker Foundation.

Rochelle went to park the car while Samantha went upstairs and headed to the office.

Most of the staff had all gone home and the assistant left too. The assistant had said that the documents were all placed on the desk, so Samantha pushed the door open and walked in immediately.

She saw the documents on the desk as soon as she went in and was about to walk over, but the swivel chair behind the large desk suddenly faced away from her even though it had been facing her initially.

It was as if someone was sitting there.

Samantha paused and frowned slightly.

Who could it be?

Was it the assistant?

...

Then again, the assistant would not dare to sit in Rochelle’s seat...

Samantha had a bad feeling in her heart and she felt that the person who had their back turned against her was there because of Harmony!

After calming herself down, Samantha asked, “Who are you?”