Never Forgive Never Forget (Celeste and Philip) novel Chapter 151

Duncan Group

"Our funds are running dry."

"Both of these projects have been put on hold for now. Upper management wants us to front the money, but the people on the ground aren't getting paid, so they have no intention of rushing the work. Without the cash flow, we're stuck."

"And this project here…"

The assistant came in, again and again, with more bad news.

Herbert paced his office in agitation, as restless as a cat on a hot tin roof.

He'd thought that as long as The Gallagher Group won the bid, the funds would come back in and Duncan Group's cash flow problems would ease up.

He hadn't expected the bid to fail—let alone that several other projects would grind to a halt for all sorts of reasons, each snagged in a different way.

For a moment, he was at a loss.

He wandered back and forth in his office, eyes fixed on the volatile numbers on his computer screen, wrestling with a hard decision.

"Those scattered shares of Duncan Group—sell them. Let some minor shareholders buy in and inject some cash. Maybe that'll keep us afloat for a little while longer."

"Understood. I'll take care of it right away."

The assistant hurried out, and almost immediately, Duncan Group's stock price began to fluctuate sharply.

Celeste watched all this unfold, her gaze cool and steady as she scanned the list of stalled projects on her desk.

Herbert had finally caved and started selling off shares, but for her, this was the perfect opportunity to make her move from the outside.

With this in mind, she called Irma over.

"I need you to handle something personal for me. I have a complete identity here—Miss Laurel, with all the necessary accounts and paperwork."

"Use this identity to buy up as many of Duncan Group's floating shares as possible. Don't sell, no matter if there's profit or loss. Figure out how much you'll need—I'll wire the funds within two hours."

Surprise flickered in Irma's eyes.

"I'm an employee of Duncan Group."

Celeste wanted her to use an alias to buy up her own company's shares? If this ever came to light…

"Not in the conference room?"

Celeste sat down with a wry little smile, amusement flickering in her eyes.

Herbert, caught out, coughed awkwardly.

"These market changes… They wouldn't have anything to do with your personal affairs, would they?"

"The Robertson Group won the bid this time, and it looks like they're planning to expand in Asterwynn. We'll be seeing a lot more of each other in the future—it would be a shame to let old misunderstandings sour things."

"We older folks don't have much to do with them, but you used to be on good terms with Philip. Maybe you could…"

Maybe she could leverage her past relationship with Philip to cozy up to The Robertson Group.

Celeste understood exactly what he was hinting at.

What a joke.

Herbert had already bartered her away as a pawn for an arranged marriage with the Hopkins family. Now he wanted to squeeze a little more out of her, using her history to win over another man.