The atmosphere in the living room turned chilly almost instantly.
Old Master Crawford stared coldly at Old Master Mallory and could not help but sigh. "When you and I used to be in the corporate world, you were so shrewd. How did you become a different person after you retired?"
Old Master Mallory snorted coldly as he knew that Old Master Crawford was secretly mocking him. "You said that this bidding document was prepared by Luke. What evidence do you have?"
Old Master Crawford had been waiting for him to say that.
He held out his hand and said, "Glasses."
Zander quickly placed the glasses in his hands.
Old Master Crawford put on his glasses and flipped over the bidding document. "You want evidence? I'll give it to you now. Don't say that I wronged your precious grandson."
Old Master Mallory frowned. Old Master Crawford's reaction made it seem like there was some evidence in the bidding document that could prove that what he said was true.
"Show me what you've got. If you find anything, I'll ask Pierre to kneel in front of you and admit his mistake," Old Master Mallory said stubbornly. After all, he assumed that Pierre and the others would have done their due diligence and conducted a detailed inspection before submitting the bidding document. This content belongs to NĂ´/velDra/ma.Org .
As such, he did not think that Old Master Crawford would be able to find anything.
Old Master Crawford did not speak. He turned to the design draft and put the bidding document on the table. "Look. What is this?"
Old Master Mallory looked at it and said, "It's just a drawing? Why? Luke isn't the only one who knows design."
"Take a closer look. Here." Old Master Crawford pointed to the upper left side of the drawing which had T Corporation's logo on it.
It was a very small logo that was integrated with the drawing. If one did not look carefully, they might miss it.
Old Master Mallory's expression turned ashen.
"It's a mark left by Luke when he was creating the design," Old Master Crawford said as he flipped to the back page. "It's not only in this drawing but in the next drawing as well."
Old Master Mallory was completely speechless.
Old Master Crawford saw his livid expression and added, "Luke prepared two bidding documents for this project, one of which is this one. The reason why he did so is simple. He knew that someone wanted him to fail, so he made sure that he was prepared."
He did not expect Pierre to be involved when he formulated the plan.
Old Master Mallory remained silent. His speech to defend Pierre now felt ridiculous.
It was supposed to be a fair competition, but it became a joke now that Pierre's actions were exposed.
Old Master Mallory was shaking with anger.
Old Master Crawford had a shrewd look in his eyes. The evidence was present, so no matter how Old Master Mallory tried to defend Pierre, he had no good excuse unless he insisted on losing his dignity.
However, if he did so, he would be known as someone who spoiled the younger generation to no limits in their social circle.
It would not be good for his reputation.
"I know that Pierre is back with you. Now, can you get him to come and explain to me what's going on?" Old Master Crawford said slowly. His tone made it clear that he was asking for an explanation.
Before Old Master Mallory could speak, Madam Mallory went downstairs and happened to hear Old Master Crawford's last sentence.
She stepped forward curiously. She felt disgusted when she saw that it was someone from the the Crawford family who was talking. If it were not for Luke, Percy and Nina would have nothing to do with each other.
She said, "Old Master Crawford, it's you. Why are you so free today to drop by for tea?"
"I'm here to get an explanation from your son." Old Master Crawford did not bother to be polite when he saw that it was Madam Mallory who spoke.
"Pierre has been running about the last few days and just fell asleep. What's going on?" Madam Mallory noticed the bidding document on the table and realized that he had come to pick on Pierre because of it.
She did not know that the T Corporation's logo was on the bidding document.
Old Master Crawford looked at Old Master Mallory and asked in a cold voice, "Old Master Mallory, are you going back on what you said?"
Old Master Mallory's expression was ugly as he ordered, "Call Pierre down."
"Father?" Madam Mallory did not understand why he was doing this. 'Wasn't this bidding document prepared by Pierre?'
Old Master Mallory glared at her and shouted, "It's all your fault! You dote on Pierre too much! Look at him now! He even stole a bidding document! Call him down and have him apologize to Old Master Crawford on his knees!"
"Is the bidding document from T Corporation?" Madam Mallory wondered.
'Even if it was, Pierre would have revised it. What evidence would there be to prove that the bidding document was prepared by T Corporation? Assuming that it does belong to T Corporation, Pierre's actions this time didn't cause them any loss. He doesn't need to apologize as long as he doesn't admit it.'
Upon seeing her reaction, Old Master Mallory pointed to the logo on the bidding document and said, "Look at what this is!"
Madam Mallory looked at it and immediately understood that it was T Corporation's logo.
Pierre had gotten someone to revise it, but there was no way to revise the drawing. The logo placement was so obscure that if one did not look carefully, one would not see it at all.
Anyone who was a little more detailed would be able to tell that there was an issue in this design draft.
However, Pierre's employees did not spot it because they were not professionals.
Madam Mallory's expression changed, and she went upstairs immediately.
She woke Pierre, who had just fallen asleep. "Pierre, go downstairs."
"What's wrong? I just fell asleep..." Pierre's temper was not the best. He looked at Madam Mallory sleepily and uttered, "We can talk about it when I wake up."
"Something happened. Get up quickly!" Madam Mallory ripped off Pierre's blanket and threw his jacket on the bed with a frown. "How can you sleep when you did that sort of thing?"
Pierre had no choice but to sit up and look at his mother. "What did I do?"
"Tell me honestly. Did you steal the bidding document from T Corporation?" Madam Mallory looked at him seriously.
She was fine if he messed around but this time, he went as far as to steal a bidding document. What made it worse was that it was T Corporation's bidding document. Old Master Crawford and Luke Crawford would never let him off easily.
"So what if I did? They don't have any direct evidence..." Pierre yawned. He knew that his mother would be on his side. It would not matter even if he admitted to it.
"Old Master Crawford is here demanding an explanation as the design drawing on your bidding document has the logo of T Corporation," Madam Mallory said with a frown.
"How is that possible?" Pierre frowned. They had revised the bidding document, and any traces related to T Corporation were erased. How could there be a logo?
"Those who aren't professionals may only regard it as random lines and won't spot anything. Old Master Crawford is downstairs now. Be good and apologize. You have to admit your mistakes. Fortunately, it didn't cause any damage to them. Otherwise, this matter wouldn't be as easy to resolve," Madam Mallory said.
She knew that if Pierre refused to apologize, neither the Crawfords nor Old Master Mallory would let go of this matter easily.
After all, Pierre had brought shame to the Mallory family when he chose to do such an ignominious thing.
Old Master Mallory cared most about the honor and dignity of the Mallory family.