bChapter /bb280 /b

    They chose to take the stairs for their private conversation.

    Dawn leaned in and whispered to Maxine, “Mr. Kaden is hosting this meeting. He’s kept everything about it under wraps, and that woman you just saw?

    She’s with him.”

    Maxine learned from Dawn that Bradley Kaden had secretly convened today’s bidding meeting, deliberately excluding Urban while notifying all the other executives. The information was so tightly controlled that Dawn only found out about it yesterday from someone in the nning department.

    Dawn sighed and shook her head helplessly. “I’ve been working overtime non–stop these past few days. They just told us the higher–ups wereing for a surprise inspection and we had to prepare tons of documents. I didn’t even have time to ask questions, by the time I realized what was happening, it was already toote.”

    Dawn turned to Maxine and said, “The meeting room is on the third floor. I’ll wait for you at the entrance. We have to buy time until Mr. Soto arrives.

    Maxine was surprised by how far things had escted. She hesitated before asking, “What about the rest of Urban’s team?”

    Dawn forced a wry smile. “They’ve all been temporarily reassigned for all sorts of reasons, it’s been going on for a while now. Mr. Soto has been abroad for nearly half a month. That’s plenty of time for them to pull off whatever they wanted.”

    As they were talking, the two of them arrived at the first–floor coffee shop. Dawn ordered a coffee for her. “Ms. Hudson, wait here for me. I’ll bfind /bba /bway to get you a copy of the materials in a bit.”

    They exchanged contact information, and Dawn quickly headed back upstairs.

    Maxine sat anxiously on the sofa, checking her phone again. She thought, ‘Vivian’s so well–connected, she’d definitely know how to handle something

    like this.

    Soon after, Dawn sent her a document, then followed up with a message. [This time, it’s a coboration with Peak Technology, apparently an acquaintance of Mr. Kaden’s. If the deal goes throughb, /bMr. Soto could lose at least 20% of his decision–making power in thepany.]

    It was obvious they were trying to sideline Urban this way.

    Maxine nced down at the documents in her hand, hesitated briefly, and then called Vivian.

    Maxine dialed Vivian’s number, but weirdly enough, the usually responsive Vivian didn’t pick up. ‘That’s odd. She always replies right away, Maxine thought, recalling that Vivian had mentioned she’d be busy today. With no other choice, she sent Vivian a text, briefly exining the situation and asking her toe help if she was avable.

    Officially, the meeting was supposed to be about discussing preparations for the coboration. In reality, Bradley had most likely already struck a deal with the otherpany. Today’s meeting was merely a formality to inform the shareholders.

    For the shareholders, it didn’t matter who was running thepany. All they cared about was how much profit they could get. The recent infighting between the Soto siblings had already left them frustrated. Bradley’s move was basically his way of sending Urban a message, showing who really called

    the shots.

    She pulled out her phone, stared at her chat with Urban, and couldn’t help but sigh. She thought, ‘Urban, you’ve reallynded me in deep btrouble /bbthis /btime. Where does he get the confidence that I can actually fix this mess for him?‘

    Two o’clock arrived quickly. Maxine took a deep breath, tightly gripping her phone as she got to her feet. Steeling herself, she bturned /band headed btoward /b

    the elevators.

    b1/1 /b