NOVPUBChapter 932: Chapter 932: Simply Apologizing is Definitely Not Enough _1 Chapter 932: Chapter 932: Simply Apologizing is Definitely Not Enough _1 If not necessary, Lucas Johnson would prefer not to confront Adrian Zhekova directly.
What Lucas and his team didn’t know was that the reason Adrian had not immediately made a phone call was simply because he had overslept.
It had been a peaceful Sunday, a day that should be enjoyed by sleeping in.
Once Adrian finished breakfast and had some time to himself, he went to his study and made an overseas call to Lucas.
Lucas didn’t expect that what he feared most would indeed actually arrive.
He initially hoped that Adrian would not personally make a phone call just for this matter.
To protest in the name of Pingla was already a serious matter.
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Who would have thought that not long after he had discussed the issue with the Secretary General, he received a call from Adrian.
“Mr.
Zhekova,” Lucas said, connecting the call from his secretary to Adrian.
“Mr.
Johnson, has your company received the complaint email that my company sent to you?” Adrian asked immediately.
“We have,” Lucas replied, “our company is investigating Jenny Kirk.
We will complete the investigation as quickly as possible.”
“Mr.
Zhekova, rest assured, I have seen the video too, and it is indeed Jenny Kirk who is at fault here,” Lucas said.
“However, this is just my personal opinion.
Jenny Kirk holds an important position in our company, we can’t just punish her without an investigation.
That wouldn’t be proper and would indeed harm our company’s image,” Lucas explained.
“So, we still need to conduct the necessary investigation.
This morning, as soon as we received the email, an internal investigation was launched in the company.
We should have some results by the end of the day.”
“Once the investigation results come out, we will hold a meeting tomorrow to discuss the details of the punishment for Jenny Kirk,” Lucas relayed.
In fact, plans for Jenny’s punishment had already been tentatively decided.
Precisely as Lucas’s colleague had previously conveyed to Jenny.
But this could not be said to Adrian.
“Such a large corporation as Pingla would never manufacture a fraud over such a matter,” Adrian stated.
“I am aware of this, but an internal investigation is a necessary procedure.
Otherwise, our large corporation would become a laughingstock,” Lucas countered.
“Of course, I understand that,” Adrian responded, “I just want to emphasize that in the email Pingla sent you, every word is true.
The video we sent to you, every frame is real, there is no falsification.” 𝘯𝑜𝘷𝘱𝘶𝑏.𝘤𝘰𝑚
“We were worried that you might not understand Chinese, so we went to the trouble of translating it.
If you are still not confident, you can verify it for yourself,” Adrian affirmed.
“Actually, filing a complaint in the name of the company is already a grave matter,” Adrian emphasized, “but I wanted to personally tell you that I take this matter very seriously and I hope you will accord it the same level of importance and not brush me off.”
“We certainly won’t,” Lucas replied, “even without this phone call, we would still have taken it seriously.
We likewise do not tolerate such violations.”
“That’s good to hear,” Adrian said, “however, there’s one more thing I think I need to tell you.”
“Go ahead,” Lucas replied.
“One of the parties involved in this incident is the victim, Cindy Clarke,” Adrian said.
Lucas of course remembered her.
Although he had some difficulty distinguishing between Asian faces.
They all looked somewhat similar.
But, the low score that Jenny Kirk had given to Cindy was shockingly low.
Because of this, Cindy had more screen time in the video.
This had left a deep impression on Lucas.
Naturally, he remembered her.
“She is my wife,” Adrian revealed.
This news blew Lucas away.
If he had only wronged an ordinary contestant, then at worst it was a disruption of the Pingla Competition’s final.
But now, not only had they disrupted the Pingla Competition, the victim was Adrian Zhekova’s wife!
This matter could not be resolved amicably.
Regardless of Lucas’s initial desire to support Jenny Kirk.
Even while he was still on the call, he was already thinking about how to deal with Jenny.
He no longer considered how to shield Jenny.
“I’m telling you this, not because I want you to punish Jenny harshly,” Adrian clarified.
“But because, the fact that Cindy and I are married is known throughout Hearth Nation; we have not kept it a secret.”
“So, during your investigation, you would probably have discovered this easily,” Adrian said, “I didn’t want to seem like I was intentionally hiding this.
That’s why I’m telling you straightway.”
“I understand,” Lucas replied, “Mr.
Zhekova, rest assured that we will ensure justice for Cindy.
However, the final of the Pingla Competition can’t be held again, and the result cannot be changed.”
“I know that no matter what I do, I cannot change what has already transpired.
But I will make every effort to deliver justice to all those who have had their rights infringed.
We will not show bias in our decision-making process, please rest assured,” Lucas promised.
Only then did Adrian say, “I’ll look forward to the outcome of your findings.”
After hanging up, Lucas murmured to himself, “He says he didn’t want to hide anything from us, but isn’t this just to make us take the matter more seriously?”
This compelled him to change his previous decision to support Jenny.
Should he decide to protect Jenny, he would definitely incur the ire of Adrian.
For someone who wronged his own wife, how could Adrian possibly accept anything less than a substantial punishment?
Just an apology surely wouldn’t be enough.
Lucas immediately summoned his Secretary General to his office.
He told his Secretary General, “We may not expect to receive assistance from Pingla in Hearth Nation, but we definitely do not want them as our enemy.”
“We’re not competing with Pingla in the area of Chinese Cuisine, that will lessen our competition with them,” Lucas proposed.
The scramble for market share does inevitably lead to some conflicts with Pingla.
However, if we’re not competing in the same cuisine, the chances of clashing can be reduced somewhat.
“But if we don’t handle this issue properly, we could end up having Adrian as an enemy,” Lucas warned.
This time the Secretary General was not as cautious as he had been before.
The Secretary General commented, “It might not come to that.
Adrian wouldn’t mix personal with professional just because of his wife.
After all, that would also be detrimental to their interests.”
“Besides, rich men always have more than one woman, don’t they?
This is true in any country and is a common flaw among men,” the Secretary General stated.
“Especially for a successful young man like Adrian,” the Secretary General added.
