The Abandoned Wife

New Opportunities: The Queen Family's Offer

"An increment of two percent?"Colby stiffened. "Ms. Pearson, haven't we come to an agreement the other time? We're now about to sign the contract, so why are you increasing the price all of a sudden;"At his shocked response, Aubree folded her legs and replied, "Indeed, we've agreed on it, but almost everything in the crude drug market has risen in price this year. If we were to sign the contract with the price we previously agreed on, we'll be suffering a loss too great. Dr. Galloway, please forgive us."She made it seem so rational.Colby's expression tensed. Just as he frowned and was about to say something else, Roxanne stopped him again."Ms. Pearson, you must want to suddenly raise the price because you saw me. I know the prices in the crude drug market well. We can have a negotiation if you want to increase prices, but raising it by two percent right here and now is far too unreasonable."Roxanne wanted to be professional, but clearly, Aubree did not. Hence, there was no need for her to endure her antics.Aubree knitted her brows in displeasure. She then coldly asked, "Regardless of what the reason is, that is our current price. If you don't think that's suitable, we won't mind letting this business deal go."Roxanne agreed to it. "In that case, let's take this as time wasted. A company that doesn't stick to its words isn't a company we'll be at ease working with."With that said, Roxanne stood up and said to Colby, "Let's go."Colby nodded, and the two exited the café."Is there something between you and Aubree?" Colby could not help but ask when they left the place.He could sense Aubree's clear hostility toward Roxanne during their meeting earlier.Not wanting to dwell on what happened back then, Roxanne simply said, "In a way."Noticing that she did not want to talk much about the topic, Colby did not prod her for more. Instead, he began talking about the crude drug supplier matter. "If we're not going to work with Pearson Group, we'll have to find another crude drug supplier."Roxanne bobbed her head. "Then that's what we're going to do. Horington is a big place. I'm sure there are other crude drug suppliers who will work with us.""Okay," Colby answered with a nod.He would rather deal with the trouble of looking for a new crude drug supplier than to seeRoxanne targeted by someone.Meanwhile, in the café, once Roxanne was gone, a cold look crept onto Aubree's face. She ordered Charles, "Tell all of the crude drug suppliers in Horington that, if they dare to work with VR Research Institute, they'll be enemies of Pearson Group!"Charles did not know what happened between his employer and the doctor carlier, but he could sense that his employer was in an exceptionally foul mood after meeting Roxanne.A shudder wracked his body upon hearing Aubree's tone. Without daring to delay any further, he replied, "Of course. I'll work on it right away."With that said, he stood up and left.Soon, Aubree was the only one left in the café.When she thought about the attitude Lucian had earlier in the morning and the frightening demeanor Roxanne had a while ago, Aubree panicked.Regardless of whether or not Lucian had rejected her because of Roxanne, it was a fact that Roxanne and Lucian were married in the past. Aubree could not be certain what Lucian thought about Roxanne.If things continued to be delayed, she dared not imagine what else would happen.I can't wait any longer.Meanwhile, at Farwell Group..."Mr. Farwell, I've found out information about the man Ms. Jarvis was with last night."Cayden entered the room and stood in front of Lucian.Lucian immediately put away his work and asked worriedly, "Who is he?" Images of Roxanne leaving with a stranger last night started flashing before his eyes."The man's name is Colby, and he's the person in charge of the VR Research Institute. Previously. Mr. Farwell went to him for medical treatment."Cayden instinctively picked up the sudden change of ambiance in the room, and he became extremely wary with his words. "Besides, I also found out that Colby is still single. But by the look of things, Ms. Jarvis is not in any way related to him. The other possibility is that they knew each other when they were studying medicine in the same university."Being made aware of the possibility, Lucian's facial expression softened. "Besides this, did you manage to find out about anything else?"Cayden appeared to be in a dilemma. "This is the extent of my investigation. Regarding Ms. Jarvis, we only know that she returned to the country recently. As to what she did and where she was overseas, we have not been able to find anything at the moment."Lucian furrowed his brows, displeased by the answer. However, knowing that it would be futile to pry further, he decided to change the topic of the conversation. "How is Old Mr. Queen now?"Cayden was about to apologize for his incompetence but heaved a sigh of relief when Lucian started asking about Old Mr. Queen. "It doesn't look good for him. They've consulted all the famous doctors from inside and outside of the country, but they were helpless."Lucian nodded slightly. "Reschedule my agenda planned for tomorrow night. I want to pay a visit to Old Mr. Queen.""Understood," replied Cayden.Cayden, upon being certain that there were no further instructions, left after waiting for a while.When they just arrived at the research institute, Roxanne and Colby sprang into action and hurriedly contacted all the medical ingredient suppliers in Horington.Due to the lack of supplies, many projects in the research institute had to be held in abeyance. If this were to continue, the losses would spiral out of control.Hence, time was of the essence for them to collaborate with a medical ingredient supplier.Before this, Colby tried contacting the suppliers in Horington, but his proposal was rejected instantly. However, since they ran out of options, they were forced to test their luck once again."VR Research Institute? I thought we had this conversation before? Your asking price is too low! We are not interested to collaborate with you!".Just as Roxanne mentioned the name of the research institute, the rejection from the other end of the phone call was instantaneous.Roxanne gritted her teeth. "We can increase the price from our original offer. What about anincrease of half a decimal point? Let's try to work out a feasible plan, and there's always room for negotiations-"The person interiected and said, "It's still too low. We need to increase at least 3 decimal points, or else there's no room for negotiation."Hearing such bold demand, Roxanne hung up promptly.Meanwhile, Colby's expression didn't look pleasant either."I'm so sorry, Dr. Galloway. All of our supplies have been booked by someone else. We do not have any extra at the moment.The answer was obviously an excuse, which indicated the other person's unwillingness to collaborate.Colby simply responded, "All right, I understand."He then hung up the phone after that.After an entire day of cold-calling, there was no positive news even until the next afternoon.Though the suppliers responded differently, some courteous and the others impatient, the conclusion that resulted from the phone calls was that none of the suppliers were willing to collaborate.Even worse, one of the suppliers made it expressly clear to Roxanne that they would never collaborate with the VR Research Institute. But the reason for that was not disclosed.It was clear as daylight that they were sabotaged by someone in the dark.As such, the culprit could be none other than Aubree.Roxanne couldn't help but feel irritated. Ultimately, she was being sabotaged and the projects in the research institute could not proceed because of this.She never expected that Aubree's vengeance toward her persisted even after 6 years. Even worse. Aubree resorted to such atrocious tactics to get back at her!However, it was not the time for her to be bothered by emotions.Roxanne clenched her fists in an attempt to calm herself down. She then looked toward Colby and said, "It's okay. If Horington is not the solution to our problem, then we can try other cities. Surely, someone must be willing to collaborate with us."Be that as it may, it also meant that the costs and time needed to achieve it would be higher.While Roxanne did not mention it, she was very much aware of the consequences.She too hoped to find a suitable partner in Horington. However, the prospect of doing so seemed quite bleak."No, there's no need to head to other cities," Colby uttered.He appeared to have thought of something, and his tone relaxed.Roxanne arched a brow. "Are you saying that there's someone in Horington that is willing to collaborate with us? The small suppliers are definitely out of the picture, and we need someone with larger operations..."Colby nodded. "I know. However, this might require you to personally attend to it."Roxanne was perplexed.Colby then said, "I heard it from you actually. But first things first, have you heard of the Queen family?"Colby continued, "The Queen family supplies medicine and built an empire out of it. The Queen family is a prominent family in Horington, and Old Mr. Queen has a good reputation in the community. However, his health has been deteriorating lately. Because of this, the Queen family has been looking for doctors to cure him, but to no avail. They invited me to try out, but I couldn't do much. However, you might stand a chance in this.""Is that so?" Roxanne replied.She understood what he meant but was nevertheless hesitant. "The Queen family are in the big leagues. When it comes to the pricing, it will not necessarily be lower than what we are being offered right now."Colby replied, "Before this, the Oueen family offered expensive medicines as a reward for whoever can cure Old Mr. Queen of his condition. In the future, they can also come up with an arrangement to supply medicine at half the price!" .