Chapter 169

"Aren't you going to lock the door, Clifford?" Santino asked casually.

Clifford just watched him for a long, silent moment. "You should be more concerned about yourself right now."

With that, he turned and walked to a car waiting outside.

The smile on Santino's face faded slightly as he followed, getting into his own car.

Hiding behind the door, Latisha waited until she heard the cars drive away before cautiously stepping out. Santino's visit had left her with a deep-seated fear; just the sight of his face was enough to trigger a wave of panic.

Meanwhile, Clifford arrived back at the Lambert estate.

Renata and Polly were waiting anxiously in the living room. As soon as she saw them, Polly rushed to Clifford's side, “Clifford."

He gave a slight nod in greeting. "Where's Dad?"

"In his study," Polly said, her voice low. "Go easy on him. He's furious."

Clifford just grunted in acknowledgement and headed for the study as if nothing were wrong. He knocked and entered.

Wallace stood with his back to him, looking out the floor-to-ceiling window. At over sixty, his hair was gray, but his posture was ramrod straight, his body still strong.

Clifford came up behind him. "Dad."

Wallace turned, his angry glare magnified by his reading glasses. "Look what you've done! See for yourself!"

He grabbed a stack of papers from his desk and hurled them at Clifford's chest. The documents scattered across the floor.

Clifford's expression didn't change. He calmly bent down, picked one up, and scanned it. "This was Santino's project."

"He says you signed off on it!" Wallace roared. "And you say he was responsible! Are you two playing games with me? Who am I supposed to hold accountable?"

"I have two of you at the company, and you still manage to screw things up this badly! What good are you to me?"

Clifford looked up. "I did sign it. But there was nothing wrong with the proposal itself. The problem must have been in the execution."

This only enraged Wallace further. He glanced toward the door before lowering his voice. "This was a massive project. How could you let him manage it alone? What were you thinking?"

Santino had been with the family for two years, but it was clear Wallace had never fully trusted him.

Now, his suspicions seemed

1.n

justified. The investments had been spread across several companies and in a remarkably short time, every single one had either gone bankrupt, vanished or been shut down forlegatissues.

The string of

"coincidences" was too neat to be ignored.

"I apologize, Dad. It was my oversight,” Clifford said, lowering his eyes in a show of contrition. "He has been a competent employee f for two years so I didn't feel the need to micromanage him. I trusted him too much."

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Wallace paced back and forth, rubbing his temples in frustration. "What do we do

now? Can we recover the money?"

"That,” Clifford said, "will depend on Santino."

Wallace snorted. "Santino! That

bastard! I'm telling you, Clifford,

suspect he used this project to embezzle company funds. You need to get that money back from one way or another!"

Phin

"If you don't, the company's capital chain will break. The entire Lambert Group will

face a crisis. Do you understand?”